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Trip Report    

Alpine Scramble - Meany Crest

We successfully summited Meany Crest on June 1 with a strong team of four, navigating blowdown, patchy trail, and firm snow conditions. Despite icy slopes and missing crampons, we made excellent time thanks to teamwork, efficient breaks, and a solid boot track. Clear skies and fun glissades made for a rewarding day—topped off with milkshakes in Greenwater!

Michelle Peterson Michelle Peterson
June 02, 2025
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • Conditions:
    We began from the Frying Pan Creek / Summerland Trailhead at 7:00 AM. The trail had significant blowdown and was mostly snow-covered. We lost the trail a couple of times both on the ascent and descent but always regained it with persistence and navigation tools.

    All bridges were passable, though the larger log bridge over the Frying Pan River is cracked in half and tipped, requiring careful crossing. Water was only available at the Frying Pan River—there was no running water above that point.KIMG0373.JPG

    Snow conditions were variable. Above the Frying Pan River, the snowpack was very consolidated—borderline icy. I had anticipated more forgiving conditions (similar to my observations the previous week), and so we carried microspikes, ice axes, and helmets. In retrospect, crampons would have been the safer call for the upper slopes.KIMG0377_01_BURST1000377_COVER.JPG

Route & Travel:
We reached Summerland just after 10:00 AM, pausing only once en route. Some navigation confusion occurred between the meadow and the switchback trail leading up to Summerland, but group discussion and map checks got us back on track.

To keep our day efficient and minimize stop-start fatigue, I set a 15-minute break timer at Summerland for a “one-stop-do-it-all” pause—food, layers, sunscreen, bio-break. After that, we committed to two hours of continuous travel to the summit.IMG_1688.JPG

Despite the hard snow and absence of crampons, we made steady progress thanks to strong teamwork, solid fitness, and a well-kicked boot track. We summited Meany Crest at noon sharp. The weather was ideal—clear skies and excellent visibility. The summit bivy site and rocks were exposed and dry.

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Descent:

After a quick summit break (timed again), lunch, and glissade prep, we began our descent at 12:20 PM. The upper bowl offered soft, safe glissading conditions. As we transitioned off the upper slopes, maintaining a controlled glissade became more challenging due to steeper terrain and firmer snow. The group said glissading was still preferable to plunge-stepping in those sections. I personally found plunge-stepping easier until we were below tree line, where glissading became fun and efficient again.

We were back at Summerland around 1:20 PM and retraced our route down, carefully following our earlier track through the snow.

We arrived at the trailhead at exactly 4:00 PM—an efficient and smooth descent, thanks to steady pacing, minimal transitions, and a solid group mindset.

Reflections:
This was a highly successful scramble. The group moved cohesively, adapted to conditions, and maintained an efficient rhythm throughout the day. The use of timers to structure breaks paid off, keeping transitions short and purposeful.

The only major learning was snow conditions—next time I’ll check for recent freeze/thaw cycles more closely before finalizing gear. That said, our party adjusted well, and the glissade sections added a fun finish.

We celebrated the day with milkshakes at Wapiti’s in Greenwater—back in town with daylight to spare.