Granite (MT) Aug 14-17

[NotTimid]

I will be driving up from Denver on August 14 and taking August 15-17 to attempt Granite Peak via the "easier" Southwest Ramp route. Would love company for this one, please reach out if you're interested!

[NotTimid]

Bumping this! I'm still planning on driving up from Denver on August 14 and taking August 15-17 to attempt Granite Peak via the Southwest Ramp, and would love company!

[swadmin]

Curious how was the condition of the ramp, any snow/rice?

[NotTimid]

Soooo... this was "only my first attempt" of Granite and I made it to the base of the scree slope but did not make it up the ramp or to the summit on this attempt due to Reasons, so I did not see this for myself - but I spoke with a few parties who did and they reported that there was one small patch of snow that was totally avoidable, and a few areas of running water but nothing problematic. Sounds like it is doable with no ice axe or crampons needed. This was as of August 16th. I did hear a lot of rocks coming down whenever climbers were on the ramp.

I will also note that the only parties that made it were camped quite high - above the "causeway" where you cross from the west to the east of the series of Sky Top lakes about halfway up that basin - if you can't picture this, let me know and I'll send you a map of what I mean. Really it is imperative to camp as high as possible, otherwise you leave yourself with way too much time-consuming and tedious boulder-hopping on summit morning. I thought I knew this going into it but didn't fully realize until I learned the hard way, you really must camp at least as high as the causeway to have a shot at the summit. I would say about 90 percent of the people I talked to were either on their way down from a failed first attempt, or on their way up for a second or third attempt, mostly for this reason. Next time I will do the pack in over two days to camp at the absolute highest possible campsite at the very top of Sky Top without it being a one-day brutal death march to be better positioned and better rested going into summit day.

Hope this helps and let me know if I can provide any other info or details! If you're going for this soon, good luck and I hope you make it - and if you don't and want to join my reattempt next August, reach back out!

[swadmin]

Thanks a lot for the tips! Sounds like camping at high as possible is the key. Bounder hopping is no fun, rock fall is probably worse

[Ptglhs]

I took 3 days when I did it. Went from lady of the lake to lone elk lake to rough lake to upper sky top lakes. Camped just east of upper Sky top, sort of a long the line between The Spires and Cairns Mountain on Google maps. Next day got up early, climbed the Peak, spent night #2 in the same spot, hiked out the next day. It's possible to hike out the same day as summiting, but it would be a long and tiring affair.

[NotTimid]

Yes exactly! With cooperative weather it is possible as a three-day, but you must camp at least as high as precisely where Ptglhs suggests, after you have passed the larger lake with the island in it, in order for it to work. swadmin let us know how it goes!

[swadmin]

Big thanks to NotTimid and Ptglhs for the beta and tips. We got lucky with the weather, on day 1, we hiked 11 miles to an alpine tarn at 10,800' and camped. Ran into two guys hiking out near Star Creek. The day before they turned around at the second fixed rope due to high wind and rock fall danger. Day 2 we summited via SW Ramp and were able to exit the steep and loose section before the next party showed up. The route is currently free of snow/ice. Fixed ropes are set up at three spots on the ramp. At the top, we ran into a group of 3 coming from the East Ridge route.

[NotTimid]

HOORAY!!! Thanks for sharing this update - I'm so happy to hear you made it! Hopefully you found the high camp helpful and were not cursing us those last few miles to the high lake. That extra-high camp is central to my reattempt strategy for next summer so it's encouraging to hear it was successful for you. Also helpful to know that there are three spots with fixed ropes right now, as I knew of only two from my research. It's a demanding peak, congrats on summiting and I hope you feel great about it!

[Istoodupthere]

Big thanks to NotTimid and Ptglhs for the beta and tips. We got lucky with the weather, on day 1, we hiked 11 miles to an alpine tarn at 10,800' and camped. Ran into two guys hiking out near Star Creek. The day before they turned around at the second fixed rope due to high wind and rock fall danger. Day 2 we summited via SW Ramp and were able to exit the steep and loose section before the next party showed up. The route is currently free of snow/ice. Fixed ropes are set up at three spots on the ramp. At the top, we ran into a group of 3 coming from the East Ridge route.

Congrats. I’m assuming you didn’t run into any grizzlies…I did the ramp 4 years ago in late-August. Just curious about how things have changed. So there’s no glacier left to walk on? I heard it was melting out. Also interesting that there was no ice at the first rope. Thick ice made things sketchy in that area for me. The 3rd rope broke on me on my descent, so for those thinking about doing this route in future, try not to use them. That being said, did you see a way up the face without using the 3rd rope? I did it solo and it’s all a bit of a blur at this point

[swadmin]

Thanks again! It wasn't too bad on the way in as we were fresh. It took us about 45 minutes to move from the Sky Top lake with an island in it to the 10,800' tarn. The camp site seems well established, people definitely camped there before. The hike out was a death march

HOORAY!!! Thanks for sharing this update - I'm so happy to hear you made it! Hopefully you found the high camp helpful and were not cursing us those last few miles to the high lake. That extra-high camp is central to my reattempt strategy for next summer so it's encouraging to hear it was successful for you. Also helpful to know that there are three spots with fixed ropes right now, as I knew of only two from my research. It's a demanding peak, congrats on summiting and I hope you feel great about it!

[swadmin]

Thanks! There was still some snow around those alpine tarns below the face, but all avoidable. We didn't step on snow at all. No snow left on the ramp itself, only a few wet spots with water dripping. We didn't feel the need to use those ropes on the way up. The 3rd rope near the top of the ramp looks in questionable shape, and not long enough. I carried a 30m rope and used it to rappel on the way down for that section.

No grizzlies. There was a goat family of 5 circling around our camp day and night. They were not shy

Congrats. I’m assuming you didn’t run into any grizzlies…I did the ramp 4 years ago in late-August. Just curious about how things have changed. So there’s no glacier left to walk on? I heard it was melting out. Also interesting that there was no ice at the first rope. Thick ice made things sketchy in that area for me. The 3rd rope broke on me on my descent, so for those thinking about doing this route in future, try not to use them. That being said, did you see a way up the face without using the 3rd rope? I did it solo and it’s all a bit of a blur at this point