Quandary - West Ridge Conditions...

[hmelch]

Hey folks,
no luck in scouring any of the reports for route beta....
Anyone have insight into what the West Ridge route might be like this weekend?
Would love to get out on it....unless covered in snow. Might the entire route be exposed with rock?
We'd probably hike down the east ridge....where flotation might be needed still, i imagine?

Cheers,
Howard

[polar]

I did Cristo on June 4, and there was still quite a bit of snow on Quandary. From the summit I saw a set of track going toward the west ridge, but that doesn't really tell you much about the condition of west ridge. The latest condition report with photo was from June 8, in the middle photo you can get an idea how much snow there was (in fact, the faint track you can see in the photo is probably the same track I saw from the summit).
http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/peakstatu ... ecnum=6581" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The crux on the west ridge is pretty much right before the summit of Quandary, on the north side of the ridge. I would guess it still holds snow due to its elevation and aspect. Depending on your comfort level with scrambling and snow, it may still be doable though.

[hmelch]

thanks, polar, i opted out a couple weeks ago....

bumping in case any one has been up the west ridge in the last couple weeks. looking at giving it another go this weekend....

[bergsteigen]

I was on Fletcher on June 16 and took a zoom of ol Quandary. West Ridge is looking fairly dry. I would expect most snow to be melted, except in a few pockets.

[hmelch]

sweet, thanks for the photo berg!

[atalarico]

I've climbed the West Ridge twice and I'm still tempted just looking at this! It's such a phenomenal route and can be as hard or as easy as you want (opted for some questionable 4th maybe 5th class business the first time I went).

Just curious, is the saddle between Quandry and Fletcher still holding a lot of snow?

[polar]

Just curious, is the saddle between Quandry and Fletcher still holding a lot of snow?

Condition report on 6/19: http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/peakstatu ... ecnum=6773" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[hmelch]

I've climbed the West Ridge twice and I'm still tempted just looking at this! It's such a phenomenal route and can be as hard or as easy as you want (opted for some questionable 4th maybe 5th class business the first time I went).

Just curious, is the saddle between Quandry and Fletcher still holding a lot of snow?

How did you descend?

Possible to down climb the west ridge? East ridge all the way down to the standard route parking lot, then back up the road? East ridge a bit of the way down and then down the steeper south face toward the west ridge parking lot?

Planning this as a solo mission on Sunday, if you're (or anyone really) feeling inclined to join....

[kaiman]

I've climbed the West Ridge twice and I'm still tempted just looking at this! It's such a phenomenal route and can be as hard or as easy as you want (opted for some questionable 4th maybe 5th class business the first time I went).

Just curious, is the saddle between Quandry and Fletcher still holding a lot of snow?

How did you descend?

Possible to down climb the west ridge? East ridge all the way down to the standard route parking lot, then back up the road? East ridge a bit of the way down and then down the steeper south face toward the west ridge parking lot?

Planning this as a solo mission on Sunday, if you're (or anyone really) feeling inclined to join....

It is possible to descend the West Ridge back to your vehicle and some people do this. Others will take the standard East Ridge route down and walk back up the road to the parking area. Or if you have skis and the conditions are right you can ski the Christo Coulior route back to your car. I wouldn't recommend forging your own route down the south face though for the obvious environmental reasons, plus it's pretty steep and loose as you will see.

As far as the Quandary/Fletcher saddle holding snow, I haven't been there this year, but my guess would be yes. There is a head wall coming out of the valley above the Reservoir that holds snow late and I've had to use traction (microspikes or crampons) to get up it when climbing Fletcher/Drift in mid July.

Kai

[polar]

East ridge a bit of the way down and then down the steeper south face toward the west ridge parking lot?

Definitely not. It's very easy to get cliffed out on the south face, and I think there has been at least one or two fatalities on the south face.

Most people hike down the east ridge, then either walk or hitch a ride back to Blue Lake. Some hike down Cristo Couloir, which is probably the shortest way back to the Blue Lake trailhead. It's also possible to downclimb the West Ridge, that's how I did it the one time I hiked the West Ridge. Double the scrambling fun!

Bring microspikes if you do it this Sunday. You may not need it, but if you do you'll be glad to have it. The picture above may look mostly snow free, but that's lower on the ridge and mostly class 1/2 terrain. The class 3 terrain is not visible in the photo, and it's hard to say if there's any lingering snow on the crux of the route. I did the west ridge around the end of August about two years ago, right after a day of bad weather. There was snow and rim ice everywhere, and I was very glad to have microspikes with me.

[atalarico]

Yeah, if OP still is interested:

The first time we descended Cristo when it was 80% dry. It's pretty steep and loose (partner fell and snapped a trekking pole), but we were able to stick to a mostly defined trail-ish thing. It's not something we should advertise because, yeah, erosion is real and it can be especially pronounced on steep and loose terrain. We were already committed before I really understood this, but I vowed not to descend that way (unless it was snowy and I had a plank on my feet) again because I wasn't proud of contributing to that mess.

Second time, we descended the standard Eastern route. God that sucked so much. It takes so much longer, it's boring (compared to the route you just did), and then you still have to walk all the way back to the car at Blue Lakes. We couldn't ask for a ride from anyone else on the mountain that day because no one else was up there (I know, surprising). We got very lucky and asked these two guys hanging out in front of their house on the nearby road (such nice guys too!). So yeah, definitely never descending the Eastern route again unless there's a car waiting for me.

To me, it sounds like descending the West ridge would be the safest option barring any weather urgencies (because the last place you want to be in a storm is on class 3/4 terrain with significant exposure). All of the harder scrambling is above 14k feet, so you can get the more technical down climbing out of the way while you still have some energy and morning hours left. Then you can keep an eye on the weather for the rest of it since you're looking west already! Plus the glissade down that saddle between Fletch and Quandary looks fun!

[beazleys]

Was on it today. The ridge proper has little snow on it, having to cross two small snowfields holding on in the shades of the notches. Ice ax and traction were needed, or an axe at a minimum for safety, for snowfields in the high valley leading to Fletcher.