Trip Report
Winter Scramble - Amabilis Mountain
Amabilis Mountain was a back up destination due to the high avalanche conditions. The waist deep powder made it a bigger adventure than we bargained for!
Sherrie Trecker
- Sun, Dec 11, 2016
- Winter Scramble - Amabilis Mountain
- Amabilis Mountain
- Scrambling
- Successful
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- Snow and ice on road
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First half of road groomed for cross country skiers; the last ~2 miles was a thigh deep in soft powder, even with snowshoes on. No avalanche danger observed.
Our original destination was Dickerman Mountain, but the high avalanche danger rerouted us to Amabilis Mountain off I-90. We expected it to be a quick conditioner, given that the entire route is on a road that is popular for cross country skiers. We left our car at around 8:15 AM, making quick progress as we followed a recently groomed trail for 2 or so miles. We left the recently groomed trail and the snow became thigh deep. Our group of 5 took turns leading, taking 30-50 steps at a time before becoming exhausted and stepping aside to let another person lead. This was very slow going, but within an hour a couple showed up behind us, bringing our group up to 7 trail breakers and making the work slightly easier. After another hour, a second pair showed up. With a lot of hard work and some sweat, our group of 9 took turns breaking trail all the way to the summit. We definitely got more than we expected out of Amabilis Mountain: a fantastic workout with a really fun group!
5 hours up, 2 hours down, 9.5 miles and 2200' elevation.