Castle Peak E Ridge winter?

[the_hare]

Been planning out some winter routes and was looking for a way to avoid the “valley or death” Montezuma basin on the way up to Castle Peak. I noticed the E ridge of Castle extends all the way down almost to the middle TH by the Tagert ski hut. I haven’t seen a TR for anyone attempting this ridge.

Been poring thru TRs from the area to see if it goes and if it might be a safer alternative to the avy slopes in the basin. It looks like the lower ridge from 12.8k-12.9k can get fairly corniced. The rock on the rib ascending to the ridge proper and the last steep section from 12.9k to 13.6k before you meet up w the NE ridge route might be too chossy to be worth it but perhaps some hard-pack snow on the ridge could help with that.

Posting some pictures of the ridge here from various TRs, was wondering if anyone has done this and could mention conditions or if others had been considering this route too and what their thoughts were.

[the_hare]

More pics