Ice Mountain

Route: Refrigerator
Posted On: 6/11/2020, By: angry
Info: Dry until reaching the basin. Snow begins around 11,700. Did not use flotation. Crampons from base of couloir. Conditions were so good that one of my climbing partners took a nap about 3/4 of the way up. Steepest slope angle measurement at 50 degrees. You can glissade the descent. 

Route: Refrigerator
Posted On: 6/7/2020, By: dcruz654
Info: Fridge is still in good condition for climbing, for skiing it's questionable. The pencil couloir to get to the upper basin also won't last much longer, there is a LOT of water running underneath it and the choke is REAL thin. Will post pictures later when I get a chance. Left 4wd th at 3:50 One hour to reach the first significant snow (below the pencil) Summited at 7 Took about a little over an hour getting over to N Apostle (route finding is a little tricky, was my first time) Back at the car at 10:50, 7hrs round trip Stream crossing isn't too hard to find. Snow was firm all morning for me, even at 830 on my way out. Couloir's snow was starting to get icy about half way up. I wasn't getting a ton of purchase, but I felt comfortable with one axe (I took two and never brought the second out). The choke is maybe 7' wide and full of small rocks that have been piling up for awhile in the couloir. Wouldn't make for a fun ski imo Pics: 1 the thin snow bridge in the lower couloir 2 couloir between West Apostle and Ice I think, still fat. 3 base of refrigerator 4 part way up, tons of small rocks in the couloir 5 looking at N Apostle 6 looking back at ice/refrigerator 7 all three peaks 8 where I crossed the stream 

Route: Refrigerator couloir
Posted On: 5/27/2020, By: PeakSixTD
Info: Summited ice mountain via the fridge yesterday. Very little snow for first couple of miles. After apostate basin turn off the snow is sporadoc but sometimes deep. Its been pretty well tracked, hit it with a good freeze and the going is easy. Route finding to basin was easier than expected. Took the pencil couloir to gain the upper basin, totally solid. This is avoidable by skirting slopes on the other side of the basin. These were icy on my descent, id go with the couloir if you have ice axe and crampons. Fridge was in good shape. Pretty solid the whole way but not so solid that it felt at all sketchy. Small barrage of rocks let loose on my descent, fortunately below my position. Probably would have been avoidable but still not good to see. Warm temps coming so gauge these conditions and make your decisions accordingly. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 8/9/2019, By: WildWanderer
Info: Summer conditions except for two small snowfields. No traction required unless you're me and slip on ice and land on your tailbone. Traction would have prevented this (happened on the way down, no problems on the way up). Rained this morning, packing down the scree. Creeks are full. For the creek crossing where the trail ends there's a log you can use to cross if you follow the creek after the trail ends towards the basin. It just takes some finding in the dark. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 8/3/2019, By: LetsGoMets
Info: Small snowfields to cross en route to the saddle between North and Ice, but no traction or equipment needed. Ridge is snow free. Water crossings are all easy. Summer conditions on an excellent peak. 

Route: Refrigerator Couloir
Posted On: 7/28/2019, By: supranihilest
Info: The Refrigerator looks like it's still in. It was in amazing shape when I climbed it a few weeks ago, and it still looks nice and stuffed. It might have some alpine ice at this point but otherwise still looks good! Photo: the Three Apostles from the summit of Huron Peak. The Refrigerator is the big couloir splitting the north face of Ice Mountain, the middle peak. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 7/28/2019, By: BKS
Info: Still quite a bit of snow in big gulley, most of which is optional. Several short crossings are mandatory. Traction is not necessary. All of ridge and crux chimney is in dry summer conditions 

Route: Refrigerator Couloir
Posted On: 7/13/2019, By: supranihilest
Info: Refrigerator is in great shape! There's a lot of dead fall across the trail below treeline but it's not terrible to skirt around. There's a little bit of avy debris too but most of the snow has melted. Once you get to Apostle Basin the trail ends and the route turns into a hellacious willow bashing bog thrash. Avoid the standing water and streams as best as you can; every stream/creek crossing on the entire route can be done without getting wet. Stay to the left and go up the tree covered slope instead of through the willows, it's mostly dry and you don't have to fight through. Above treeline there's still a significant amount of snow. I only used my snowshoes for one snowfield but if you get there early enough you can boot it on solid snow. Find your own way to the couloir, there are many. The couloir itself was very solid in the morning, to the point where I could only get my crampons' front points in. It stayed this way most of the morning until the sun hit. I also used an axe and tool both in dagger position for security. On the way down the snow softened a lot and I was able to kick better steps and plunge step the bottom third. There's a small cornice at the top but it didn't seem very threatening. The ridge to the summit is extremely exposed and quite loose but dry and overall easy. Bring shoes you feel comfortable scrambling Class 3 and 4 in if you don't like scrambling in boots. There was tons of snow still on the southwest face so if you plan to traverse to West Apostle be extremely careful. North Apostle also has lots of snow and would be best to attack after down climbing the couloir instead of the standard route off Ice. Photo 1: Three Apostles from afar. Photos 2-5: in the couloir. Lots of snow coverage. Photo 6: the crux headwall at the top of the couloir. This was pretty scary in boots. Easily 4th Class with a bad fall onto rocks and/or down the couloir or southwest face. There's a bypass to climber's right but it's crazy exposed to the south and a slip sends you flying down the southwest face. I found it easiest to go up the headwall and down the bypass but your mileage may vary. Photo 7: the rest of the scramble from atop the headwall. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 9/23/2018, By: Shooter
Info: There's a dusting of fresh snow in the crossover before the final crux. Enough that it made me pause on the way down and put on micro spikes. I kept them on for the dirt and scree part of the descent. It's steep! The rest of the mountain including North is dry. Oh yea, the descent from the saddle with North is a pain in the ars!. Beautiful day! 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 9/9/2018, By: supranihilest
Info: The approach to Apostle Basin is great and the trail is easy to follow. Once in the basin that changes rapidly. Most of the basin consists of steep Class 2 hiking on terribly loose rock and/or dirt. This is one of the few times I would use the word heinous in a non-joking manner. It's thousands of vertical feet of this junk. Once you get on the northeast ridge the rock becomes more solid, thankfully. It's largely Class 2 and Class 3 scrambling up and down towers and across slabs and up gullies. The last 100 or so feet are wet and covered in snow. The crux chimney is exceptionally rotten. This is a bad combo - wet, snow, loose. Be very light on your feet and test every hold. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 7/10/2018, By: desertdog
Info: Summer conditions, no snow at all. 45 minutes from the saddle to summit. Once on the ridge the route was easy to follow. It's easy to miss the right turn on the approach trail as there are some downed trees. 

Route: North to West traverse
Posted On: 7/2/2018, By: goingup
Info: There is still some snow (minimal) but I would just like to add this foot note since I will not be writing a trip report. In the two dozen or so trip reports I read on this traverse, every single one descends a gully off of Ice's SW face and then does a nightmare of a traverse to the saddle between Ice and West. My partner and I chose to take the west ridge of Ice directly to the saddle, no bypass - we never dropped more then 10 feet from ridge proper. It was very exposed class 3, 4, 5 on good and bad rock but I do believe if you are an experienced scrambler and route finder the ridge is a better alternative to the face. 

Route: Apostle Traverse
Posted On: 10/30/2017, By: JtheChemE
Info: West to North. Shoulder season to winter conditions throughout. Approach to W. free from meaningful snow to 12k. The SW aspect of Ice Mtn was in good shape. Deproach from Ice/N saddle full of ankle breaker trapdoor snow. Conditions difficult dropping off of Ice towards N. Apostle. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 7/17/2017, By: zdero1
Info: Very wet down low due to bushwhacking through wet willows, leaves. Hard to not submerge your feet near the stream crossings. In the choss gully, there are a few snowfields on the left you can traverse up. The ridge to both peaks is completely dry. Fun day, but a late summer/fall ascent may keep you more dry. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 5/30/2017, By: justiner
Info: Lots of snow up there, and lots of avalanche debris. Snow in the upper basin had a very strange consistency - top layer (~1") of icy snow, then sugar powder underneath. Plunge stepping down, I would sink from the top of my ankle to my knee ~ 9:00am (yikes...) Lots of wet slide avy debris going up to the N. Apostle/Ice Mountain Saddle - did not venture further. Many bootprints to the couloir on Ice (Refrig?) both up AND down, with marginally better snow conditions that way. Best way to approach climb is to take the creek itself, rather than dropping down and crossing it. No need - snow cover on the creek can support weight of boots/skis all the way to the lower basin.