North Twin Sister/West Ridge

Saturday 4/30/2016. Left bridge 8am and we were 11:30 hrs car to car. Pushed/rode bikes to 3.3k where trail leaves forest road and hid bikes along road. Walked to 4.1k to get a better look at W ridge. It looked mostly snow free, so decided to give it a go. Stashed snow shoes. West Ridge was 99% free of snow; excellent scrambling on super grippy rock. Stopped for lunch waiting for a two-person party ahead of us to down climb from 5th class terrain and regain the scramble route. We brought rock rope and alpine rack but didn't need it. Summit at 2:30pm.

North Slope snowfield looked steep but in good shape. Down climbed 120 meters, plunge stepped another 120 meters, and glissaded the rest. Belayed one of our party the first 60 meters (steepest part) of the north slope. Traversed back to the ridge (regaining a little 'tude to stay on snow and remain in the open) and walked back down to our bikes.

Make sure all in party check bike mx for gear shifting and good brakes!