Trip Report
Winter Scramble - Slide Ridge
Thanks to zesty weather we had prime viewing conditions for polar bears having a water fight inside a cloud (albeit a bit warm for the bears ;). A great wet workout with clouds limiting views to the immediately adjacent ridges and valleys.
Dave Morgan
- Sat, Apr 30, 2022
- Winter Scramble - Slide Mountain
- South Slide Mountain
- Scrambling
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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Some of the most troublesome potholes (on the road west of the airstrip) have been grated out of existence (not to worry, some still remain for Prius pothole practice ;). A fair number of downed trees on the lower trail helped with our core conditioning. Snow started on the tedious switch backs at ~3300’ (made even more tedious by the soft snow), necessitating snowshoes from that point on. The traditionally icy traverse at ~4600’ did not require crampons.
About all you can say for this day was a good workout, IFR (instrument flight rules) navigation practice (which included a visit to Point 5585), and world class hypothermia avoidance techniques (accommodated by a snow level bouncing up and down at Point 5986, our consolation summit destination). While munching summit snacks conditions alternated between water dripping from our umbrellas one minute, then snow and chilling winds the next (brrrr!!!). On descent we were particularly focused on (and successful at) avoiding any injuries due to our very damp clothing (yet still warm thanks to the synthetics ;). Although I had no photos from this trip, photos from happier weather times at this venue can be seen here. Total time of 9 hours (5 hours up, 4 hours down). P.S. the title photo was NOT from this trip.