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any one been up there or have any thoughts?

A few years ago, I went up in the late fall. Lower down on the slope, I was setting off some deep fractures. Nothing slid but it was 'rather uncomfortable.' I contoured left to the rock ribs and started to poke around. I hadn't really meant to, but I ended up climbing these ribs to the ridge.
It worked well enough in getting to the top but the rock was pretty chossy & loose. Probably something I wouldn't do again.
If yer not sure about the standard route, take the west slopes from Chlosey Lake. It's tons safer in winter. Not sure about the mileage but I believe it's fairly comparable.

Plus it gives you the added advantage of getting Iowa & Emerald!

January 9



Sorry I don't have anything down lower. You can see the standard route gaining the ridge above. A couple spots look like they could be interesting but they might be nothing (think alpine perspective).

The Rockdale approach (Clohesy Lake) that Kiefer recommends is pretty slick. Miles and vert are comparable. TH is about two miles further down CR 390, parking for maybe one or two vehicles, a couple of cabins mark the turnoff.

Good luck.

Papillon wrote:The Rockdale approach (Clohesy Lake) that Kiefer recommends is pretty slick. Miles and vert are comparable. TH is about two miles further down CR 390, parking for maybe one or two vehicles, a couple of cabins mark the turnoff.

Good luck.

Currently, the TH is approachable in most any vehicle and the route is semi-broken. (The track is a couple weeks old, but easier to follow than if it had never been broken.)

If you gain the ridge earlier on the standard route you avoid the danger. This adds some vert though and is a long ridge run both ways.

http://14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.ph ... ki=Include" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (See picture #9)

as always, you must evaluate specific conditions as you find them.

The route from Rockdale is a fun one as well.

A couple of things from our ascent of Missouri via Rockdale on January 5 (if anyone chooses to go this route):

1. The talus leading to the ridge was tedious down low. Snow on the rocks made each step an uncertainty (sink to knee or thigh, wobble, etc.). We all agreed we would not want to descend this stuff in the dark.

2. Snow along the ridge to the summit was starting to get interesting in one spot. We had to downclimb about 30-40 feet to avoid the snow and then sidehill on scree for a bit. A little more snow and a little more wind since then might make it more interesting (I'd like to see what it looks like in late spring).

3. Steve put a nice trench in to just above the lake. Jamie improved it the morning of our ascent, and then our group cut it left to the talus.

Overall, I was glad to have taken this route. Nothing like visiting a new drainage (and avoiding that 1600 foot grunt to the cabin right out of the gate in Missouri Gulch).

I haven't been up the standard but I will give another hearty recommendation for the Chlosey/Rockdale west ridge route.

Papillon wrote:2. Snow along the ridge to the summit was starting to get interesting in one spot. We had to downclimb about 30-40 feet to avoid the snow and then sidehill on scree for a bit. A little more snow and a little more wind since then might make it more interesting (I'd like to see what it looks like in late spring).

Not sure this spring will look anything like spring 2011 but here we are heading down on the west side of the summit ridge. That was memorable.

Excellent post, Kevin. Great shot, Kimo!
Hopefully I can add something helpful regarding the east side approach.

I can't speak to the west side approach except to say that this is the way I had originally planned to go, but ended up taking a variation of the standard route: once in November 2010, and once in January 2012. (There are trip reports for each.)

I suspect the section of the ridge seen below is usually dry in winter. The completely dry part (to the right) is somewhat loose, but the two ribs to the left have afforded reasonable, low-angle winter travel.



Here's what it looked like in November 2010:




Here's what it looked like last January: