Basic Alpine Climb - Unicorn Peak/South Side

3.5 hours TH to summit, 1 h on summit, ~2h descent to TH

Continuous snow from TH, but no major postholes on approach. The final 100 - 200' below the 6800' col was hard enough to justify crampons, but manageable without. 

From just shy of the upper col, we could cut east and directly gain the ridge to the summit block.  This seemed easier than crossing to the south side of the col and circling back towards the summit block.

We climbed the 'classic' (central) line, which has a big piton dead center of the crux.

Ladybugs were just starting to accumulate at the summit.  

We used a 'skinny' 30M rope to rappel down the central line, however, it only reached the bottom when stretched by the climber's weight.  A 40 - 50M rope would be prudent, particularly given the extra distance from the rappel anchor to the longer 5.0 descent line (which may be desirable on a high climber volume day).

We encountered 2 - 3 small parties (one w/Mazamas, one private, one unknown) on our descent.

Long, fast glissades made for a pleasant return to the lakes!