Wondering if anyone has beta on Mount Massive - how far you can get up the road, how the snow is, etc?
Thinking about hiking and skiing it next weekend...
Thanks in advance!
Mount Massive Conditions
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hberry
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RobertPetrowsky
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Re: Mount Massive Conditions
You can only drive to where the trees start right now. It would be a very long hike (5 miles?) to the trailhead. I haven't been on the slopes at all but if you can snowshoe through the trees the ridge is starting to melt out. It looks a lot more like spring snow from Leadville right now. From treeline to the summit should be almost snow free on the ridge. I would expect deep snow in the trees though.
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hberry
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Re: Mount Massive Conditions
Thanks for the info - I'll wait a bit for this one
Need to get a sled next year.
Need to get a sled next year.
Re: Mount Massive Conditions
I climbed/skied Massive from the fish hatchery trailhead via the east ridge back on March 16th.it was about 13 mi roundtrip, and luckily I didn't have to break trail until near treeline. From what I read, this is the preferred (shortest) route in winter when the halfmoon road is still closed. I'm not sure what the conditions are like right now, but it was a great trip and I highly recommend it.
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hberry
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Re: Mount Massive Conditions
Is this the basic route you followed: http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/3 ... ry-th.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ??
I can't see the pictures at work but from the TR it sounds like it should be pretty easy to follow.
How long approx did it take you round trip?
I can't see the pictures at work but from the TR it sounds like it should be pretty easy to follow.
How long approx did it take you round trip?
Re: Mount Massive Conditions
Yep, I followed their route almost exactly. It was easy to follow the route through the trees since the trail was broken up to the point where the highline trail turns north, and from there it's pretty easy to see how to get to the east ridge. I do remember thinking it would be pretty hard to follow if the trail wasn't broken...in this case you'd have to be really good with a map and compass (or GPS) because you're in dense woods for a LONG time. I guess I lucked out and probably couldn't have done it if the trail wasn't broken, because I started at 730 am and summited at 330 pm (and got back to the car at 7 pm), so breaking trail would've taken a lot longer. I could've done it faster if I had a lighter AT setup (K2 coombas + marker dukes are pretty heavy), and also it was during my spring break so I had only been at altitude for 3 days coming from sea level. So therefore this climb kicked my butt! The skiing was okay though, and I'm definately glad I brought skis because it made the return from the summit a lot faster, especially the last part through the trees. Another advantage of this route is it takes you directly up to the summit, so you don't have to traverse along the ridge.
