Trip Report
Cowboy & Big Chief Mountains
Alpine scramble up Cowboy Mountain with the Mountaineers was cut short due to avalanche risk and poor visibility.
Dmytro Gayvoronskyy
- Mon, Apr 28, 2025
- Cowboy & Big Chief Mountains
- Scrambling
- Turned Around
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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Wet snow with very mild postholing at times. Small avalanches at the upper slopes of Cowboy Mountain. Poor visibility above 5000 ft due to fog.
Alpine scrambling with Mountaineers. Our original plan was to climb Cowboy Mountain and possibly connect the ridge to the Big Chief. However, as we were at the bottom of the final climb at around 5400 feet, we observed several wet slab slides slowly shushing down the slope. Considering the avalanche risk and foggy conditions with low visibility, we decided to call it off for safety reasons. Despite this setback, it was still a great experience breaking the trail, glissading, and using an ice axe.