Peak Condition Update | Mt. Sherman

Peak:	Mt. Sherman
Route:	South Slope
Range:	Mosquito
Posted By:	vdavidoff
Date of Info:	2/27/2016
Date Posted:	2/27/2016

Details
Summited Mount Sherman today via the South Slope. CR18 is totally clear until 9mi in (which just happens to be where you want to stop to get your 3000' gain for the day) after which point it is basically totally snow covered until 11,600'. Just past the 9mi mark there is a stretch of deep (at least 1'-1.5') soft snow, and signs that a few people have gotten stuck there. Past that the snow pack is mostly sun crusted and firm, but there's plenty of places where you'd sink. I personally wouldn't try to drive further unless you were very confident in your vehicle, skills, and had been in similar situations. From 11,600' until the drainage the road is effectively totally clear, with a handful of spots totally covered in snow. Sherman and the surrounding slopes look fairly bare for this time of year. Almost all the snow pack near the route is heavily sun crusted and very firm, though there are certainly places you'll post hole if you wander around enough. The current route splits at the drainage. The route everyone except for me (I was first out) took today went up the drainage (didn't bypass it like the route description here suggests). The route I took did attempt to bypass the lower part of the drainage and followed some existing tracks, but I wound up way too far west. I sort of saw this happening but by the time I was sure it didn't make sense to do anything but forge ahead. It wasn't really a problem except that it made for a small amount of elevation loss and gain and put me on generally less gentle terrain. Ultimately my route met up with the south slope. I followed the other route down. The wind was pretty brutal today. 10-15mph winds in your face the whole way, which wasn't too bad, just kind of draining. But the last 500' vertical or so dished out 40-45mph sustained winds. I couldn't feel my hands for a bit there. I used microspikes the whole way and even though I generally like snowshoes I think at this point the snowpack just doesn't call for it. There were a number of other people on the mountain today, mainly snowboarders. Two of them and another solo hiker passed me just before I reached the summit, so I guess I was the slow one today. 9.1mi RT ~7h. ~5h15m up, ~1h45m down.

Details

Summited Mount Sherman today via the South Slope.

CR18 is totally clear until 9mi in (which just happens to be where you want to stop to get your 3000' gain for the day) after which point it is basically totally snow covered until 11,600'. Just past the 9mi mark there is a stretch of deep (at least 1'-1.5') soft snow, and signs that a few people have gotten stuck there.

Past that the snow pack is mostly sun crusted and firm, but there's plenty of places where you'd sink. I personally wouldn't try to drive further unless you were very confident in your vehicle, skills, and had been in similar situations. From 11,600' until the drainage the road is effectively totally clear, with a handful of spots totally covered in snow.

Sherman and the surrounding slopes look fairly bare for this time of year. Almost all the snow pack near the route is heavily sun crusted and very firm, though there are certainly places you'll post hole if you wander around enough.

The current route splits at the drainage. The route everyone except for me (I was first out) took today went up the drainage (didn't bypass it like the route description here suggests). The route I took did attempt to bypass the lower part of the drainage and followed some existing tracks, but I wound up way too far west. I sort of saw this happening but by the time I was sure it didn't make sense to do anything but forge ahead. It wasn't really a problem except that it made for a small amount of elevation loss and gain and put me on generally less gentle terrain. Ultimately my route met up with the south slope. I followed the other route down.

The wind was pretty brutal today. 10-15mph winds in your face the whole way, which wasn't too bad, just kind of draining. But the last 500' vertical or so dished out 40-45mph sustained winds. I couldn't feel my hands for a bit there. I used microspikes the whole way and even though I generally like snowshoes I think at this point the snowpack just doesn't call for it.

There were a number of other people on the mountain today, mainly snowboarders. Two of them and another solo hiker passed me just before I reached the summit, so I guess I was the slow one today. 9.1mi RT ~7h. ~5h15m up, ~1h45m down.

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