Trip Report
Alpine Scramble - Mount Ellinor
On a beautiful day, we had Mt. Ellinor mostly to ourselves. Overall, a great scramble, but the glissade chute has deteriorated to the point where we could only glissade a small portion of it.
Fritz Klein
- Tue, May 15, 2018
- Alpine Scramble - Mount Ellinor
- Mount Ellinor & Mount Washington
- Scrambling
- Successful
- Road suitable for all vehicles
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The glissade chute is broken up in several places, one of which is a hole big enough for a person to go through with running water below. It was only safe to glissade the relatively small portion below all such places. Snow is melting fast, making the usual route increasingly hazardous.
After WTA reports indicated that 80+ cars were parked at or near the trailhead for Ellinor on Saturday, we saw only 4 other people who were all descending as we were ascending. It was a gorgeous warm day with great views. We were able to spend some time practicing self-arrest.
The top part of the steep section adjacent to the glissade chute was quite steep. I was concerned about the possibility of slipping into the chute there, so we backed down that section, which was fairly time-consuming and tiring. Although we all had a very enjoyable day, conditions are changing so fast that I wouldn't recommend doing Ellinor as a scramble any more this year.