I am a 48 yr old male with a fundamental aptitude in the back country, mostly focused around single day technical rock walls. I’ve been blasted off of Bear Creek Spire in a snowy thunderstorm in late July and I have stood on the summit of Russel after a sunny, albeit windy ascent of Mithril Dihedral, a must do which I would climb again in a heartbeat given the oppty. (previous as examples only). I have spent weeks at a time in the back country peak bagging and have been pinned down more than a few times not only in the Sierra, but also the Rockies and the Winds.
So once upon a time, I decided that I would wait to do the PCT and it turns out that the year that Karma has thrown me in terms of everything aligning in “real life” is this year. For those of you who had not heard, the La Nina this year was supposed to keep the Jet Streeam farther north…NOT. And so a plan morphs and adapts.
I know it is a little early to make generalizations about what specific sections of the Sierra are going to be like in mid-may of early June, but I am curious if anyone has any first hand experience with the objective avalanche danger along route that one might choose to navigate the PCT in a high snow year. My initial thought is to leave KM early and hope to beat the worst parts of melt and bring along a bit of climbing gear (assorted nuts, a few’biners, a few 60 foot sections of Cordage and a maybe 6 double length runnners to protect sketchy river crossings and potential rock and ice moves if necessary. I also plan to carry/use snow shoes at least to Red’s Meadow.
We have a lot of winter to go, but I am hoping to get honest and objective feedback from someone who spends time during the winter above between Forrester and Bishop passes. I’d ask Pete Croft but I don’t have his number so any constructive feedback is appreciated.
Cheers,
Todd
Todd Cantor