Lane Peak/Zipper (winter)

Climbed Zipper on 02/25. Beautiful bluebird day, though a fair bit warmer than ideal. The gate opened a bit later than expected - 9:30. Snow on approach was breakable crust. Roped up and climbed the route in 2 long running belays swapping leads half way. No ice to be had for screws, and pickets were mostly worthless. Used cams in 0.3-#1 range and a couple of medium sized nuts.

Topped out the couloir shortly before 2 pm. Decided against going to to the summit since we did not have quite enough time before the gate closure, and the avy concerns were becoming a bit significant on the sun-baked slope. Back to cars a bit before 5 pm.