West Tiger Mountain No. 3 Cable Line

Our group of five took advantage of the mid-week holiday to do an early morning training hike up West Tiger #3, ascending the Cable Line trail and descending the less-steep Tiger 3 trail. When we left the TH at sunrise conditions were clear and dry but cold, about 25F. The trail surface was frozen hard but easily navigable with only slightly more care than usual. We encountered a few patches of ice during the ascent, but nothing that wasn’t easily stepped around. Trailside surface hoar was on display most of the way up. At an elevation of 400’ below the summit we encountered continuous compacted snow on the trail, but traction remained acceptable. On reaching the summit we emerged into glorious full sun and windless clear skies. Conditions were so pleasant the group felt no need to move so we happily lingered on the summit longer than planned. The first few hundred feet of our descent were slow due to slippery conditions. Two of our group elected to use traction devices. On reaching clear trail we stowed traction devices and enjoyed an uneventful hike back to the cars.

Total ascent time: 90 minutes (approx)
Total trip time: 3:08