Wind forecast, when do you pause

[Gulf_Coast_Hiker]

I was on Mount Columbia yesterday and winds were gusting up to 55 mph. It was certainly doable but made the expedition a lot more tiring as there were times I was fighting to move forward and getting blown over.
Would certainly not want to do any difficult moves in those conditions; would cancel anything like Capitol Peak with such a forecast.
On a positive note I kept my early morning cold weather clothes on all day without getting overheated

Thanks for the update! Where on Columbia did the winds get bad? Ridge, treeline, ?? Thanks!

[Ryan P]

OpenSummit forecasted over 45mph sustained and 93mph gusts on Shav/Tab on 6/28. We went for it anyway, and it honestly wasn't that bad. Shielded from most of it due to approach aspect. I've come to adopt a "just try it anyway, and be ready to bail" policy. I'm starting to forget how many times the forecast has been bad but real conditions were fine.

[Gulf_Coast_Hiker]

OpenSnowSummit forecasted over 45mph sustained and 93mph gusts on Shav/Tab on 6/28. We went for it anyway, and it honestly wasn't that bad. Shielded from most of it due to approach aspect. I've come to adopt a "just try it anyway, and be ready to bail" policy.

Thanks! I'm coming out this weekend for a few day of mountain fun, will do what I can!

[JohnKLovesMtnGoats]

I was on Mount Columbia yesterday and winds were gusting up to 55 mph. It was certainly doable but made the expedition a lot more tiring as there were times I was fighting to move forward and getting blown over.
Would certainly not want to do any difficult moves in those conditions; would cancel anything like Capitol Peak with such a forecast.
On a positive note I kept my early morning cold weather clothes on all day without getting overheated

Thanks for the update! Where on Columbia did the winds get bad? Ridge, treeline, ?? Thanks!

Hey- sorry, I was out of town past few days- I was coming from Harvard on standard below the ridge traverse; the whole time past the 12,800 foot turning point and in the "difficult routefinding" area below the ridge/bunny ears the wind was a non-issue. When you make the turn and the final ridge comes into view, corresponding to pictures #22, #23, and #24 in the route description, the wind was terrible- especially the #23 picture area, as the wind was previously being blocked by the ridge. Could barely move during gusts.
A guy coming down Columbia back toward Harvard kept yelling at me and pointing, so as to say just a few feet lower on the ridge the wind would disappear and it did (well into picture #24). So I remained low as long as possible and it wasn't bad again until close to the very top.
I also got to see an ENORMOUS bear running at high speed up the ravine, across the path about a hundred feet in front of me, and up the hill about 1.5 miles from the trailhead on the way back. TERRIFYING but also, really cool!
By the way, what do you mean by "Gulf Coast Hiker"? I'm originally from New Orleans myself!

[Gulf_Coast_Hiker]

Hey- sorry, I was out of town past few days- I was coming from Harvard on standard below the ridge traverse; the whole time past the 12,800 foot turning point and in the "difficult routefinding" area below the ridge/bunny ears the wind was a non-issue. When you make the turn and the final ridge comes into view, corresponding to pictures #22, #23, and #24 in the route description, the wind was terrible- especially the #23 picture area, as the wind was previously being blocked by the ridge. Could barely move during gusts.
A guy coming down Columbia back toward Harvard kept yelling at me and pointing, so as to say just a few feet lower on the ridge the wind would disappear and it did (well into picture #24). So I remained low as long as possible and it wasn't bad again until close to the very top.
I also got to see an ENORMOUS bear running at high speed up the ravine, across the path about a hundred feet in front of me, and up the hill about 1.5 miles from the trailhead on the way back. TERRIFYING but also, really cool!
By the way, what do you mean by "Gulf Coast Hiker"? I'm originally from New Orleans myself!

Hey thanks for the reply. I actually did Columbia on 7/6 via the standard route and the wind was very slight. It was actually very warm in the sun, so the wind was welcome. It was quite smoky, so the views weren't so great.

We now live in Mobile, so definitely a challenge to fly into CO and hit a couple 14ers. My girlfriend's daughter lives in NOLA, so we visit occasionally. I love running up and down St. Charles and around Audubon Park, it's quite beautiful. Cheers!