4/2/2023 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 4/2/2023, By: jeffmpls Info: Snow melting up to the cell towers, and very manageable. About 1/4 mile paste the towers the consolidated trail deteriorated and without snowshoes post holing knee to waist was common. I turned back at 11,400. My guess is the the trail past the towers will be 70-80% snowed in until May 1 or later. |
|
2/11/2023 Route: Via Trigger Posted On: 2/12/2023, By: Thevirtualsherpa Info: Beautiful day on Princeton yesterday. Windless, mid 20s and sunny - can't ask for much more in February. Don't try to drive road or you may end up like guys who's truck took a tumble (see road update). Well traveled to radio towers then a single track which cuts a bunch of road switches to rejoin standard route. Ended up taking Trigger which I don't recommend unless you enjoy type 2/3 fun. Just not enough snow coverage to cover up loose scree and massive holes in rocks. Almost no snow coverage on standard route and avi risk is likely very low there. Trigger east slopes are wind loaded in areas and although likely not a problem right now, could present avi risk down road. Conditions to Trigger summit and then on to Princeton are mix of bullet proof snow, sugar snow that's thigh deep and lots of plunge stepping at any given moment. Wasn't enjoyable at all, very long day. Recommend hiking poles and spikes if you choose right line(s) up trigger. Crampons helpful for about 100/200 yards then an overkill. Axe useful for descent. Princeton's east snow lines are really not in (see pic) unless you like a traverse or hike down to snow whose depth could be questionable. |
|
2/10/2023 Route: Tigger NE Ridge Posted On: 2/11/2023, By: Veory Info: Road to towers is an easy walk, snowshoes recommended on the ridge up from there. We were able to largely follow the consolidated snow from the trench last week even though it was filled in, there is again a trench temporarily from our group of 3. Ditched snowshoes near the base of Tigger and rock hopped/ ridge walked with microspikes to the summit. Lovely day to be out, all 3 of us summited. |
|
2/3/2023 Route: Tigger NE ridge Posted On: 2/4/2023, By: the_hare Info: Snowcat tread tracks and bootpack all the way to the towers. Past the towers there is a trench up the the ridge cutting the switchbacks up to 12,000 ft thanks to someone this week and several parties today. Snowshoes would be very helpful here since some areas are drifted and postholey. Didn't make it to the summit, been out with an injury and just didn't have the conditioning to keep going past 13k. I found the rocks up Tigger to be pretty stable and fun to scramble up. I stuck to stepping on the rocks with spikes on for the most part, the snow in between can be very deep. Nice to meet Max and friends and users Stratosfearsome & Zerodark30 on trail. Found and packed out a huge old water jug with a frozen mouse inside buried in the snow, nice trail booty. |
|
1/27/2023 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 1/27/2023, By: JasonCrane Info: Bid at snowflake immortality in the Sawatch denied on Friday in some blustery, severe wind conditions. Tangoed with Princeton for nearly 9 hrs while battling sharp winds & frigid windchills above tree-line. Summit was shrouded in clouds & snow plumes all day with only a brief glimpse of the summit from TH at sunrise. Road hike starting at 8.9k summer TH is snowcat freshly treaded up to Comms Towers. Keep an eye out for the snowcat unless you want to end up like actor Jeremy Renner. A mix of postholing, side-hilling, patchy gravel & significant wind drifted snow past the Comms on 322A to the East Slopes trail junction. Micros are useful on 322A, but post-holing was short & too intermittent for snowshoes. East slope of Princeton isn't holding a lot of snow, however the avy chutes are filled-in & could provide quite a ride like Chevy Chase in the saucer scene of Christmas Vacation. Weather conditions significantly deteriorated as the day progressed & sporadic wind gusts became sustained. Day started with a Smartwool base layer, but snow blasting & frostbite windchills took over & required multi-layering, gloves upgrade & goggles. Rather than a shot at 'Winter Hero,' opted to turnback @12.3k ft. when I honestly felt the winds were becoming extreme and made the mountain too dangerous to climb. The great Nirmal 'Nims' Purja himself may have had the bravado to continue climbing in those conditions, but we'll never know because he wasn't there. |
|
1/21/2023 Route: Over Tigger Posted On: 1/21/2023, By: illusion7il Info: When I rolled up to the parking area, there was about 4" of over night fluff. Snow shoes could be useful past the radio towers, but not necessary if you don't mind post holing. Microspikes were nice. The new snow made lots of fun ankle traps going up and over Tigger. It was a cold one today. |
|
1/13/2023 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 1/14/2023, By: Kiefer Info: The lower road is hard packed and dry in spots. Upper road to treeline is packed from old cat tracks (prolly for radio tower maintenance). Past that, it's packed powder with some bulletproof side-hilling (old drifting). I wouldn't recommend the standard trail at the moment. Granted, the northern aspect of Tigger is "dryish," but the northern chutes are holding snow. Crossing them is a bit sketch. A fair amount of side-hilling on the trail is also unavoidable. The ridge and upper mountain is 70% dry and no problem. I did not use flotation all day. I went over Tigger and I'd recommend doing that. |
|
11/19/2022 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 11/20/2022, By: emilyexplores Info: Parked at towers, road was passable with AWD and mostly clear of snow. Wore microspikes the entire way. Took standard route up, slide areas were unsubstantial, but stable and passable with spikes (carried ice axe for peace of mind). Light layer of snow obscuring talus, but mostly windswept and clear once you gain the ridge. Elected to take winter route via Tigger down, talus fields were extremely annoying in mixed snow conditions - lots of trap doors and loose rocks, but manageable. Snowshoes definitely not needed at any point. |
|
11/12/2022 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 11/13/2022, By: mtn14 Info: Hiking the road to the upper trailhead is no problem. Post-holing and rock testing throughout the Tigger peak section made for slow going. Speaking of Tigger peak, the final of the three avalanche shoots seemed pretty sketchy to me - might have taken the winter route if I had to do-over. The rocks that indicate the new(ish) reroute to the switchbacks up to the ridge were snowed over enough to make them look like part of the terrain, and saw at least one guy post-holing through the old route - GPS was helpful. Weather was perfect, as was the peak and the views - even got to see a couple mountain goats! |
|
10/28/2022 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 10/29/2022, By: taymayday Info: Deep, heavy snow through the boulder field and to the summit, about 8-12". We trail blazed up to 12,600' and had to turn around. Snow continued to look deep after that to the summit. The road was melting quickly as we were coming down from our hike, but it was still wet/icy/snowy in some spots. Took a 4WD Tacoma up to 10,800' and had to stop there due to heavy snow on the road, which seemed to have melted some by the time we left. |
|
10/16/2022 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 10/17/2022, By: theshortone Info: A small amount of snow in the shady parts of the trail. not enough to need traction. mostly avoidable by just stepping around it on rocks. |
|
10/8/2022 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 10/8/2022, By: Troyister Info: Beautiful morning for a hike. The trail has some very light snow in the shade of rocks, 95% snow free, no traction needed at this time. I made it up to just past the cell towers in a 2012 Nissan Murano AWD, with no problem just took it slow and easy. Nice trail till about 1 mile from the top where I missed the switchback then it becomes choose your own adventure. Very easy to see where you need to go. Be careful many rocks were not stable and rolled or slide when off trail. Great day. |
|
9/18/2022 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 9/18/2022, By: skinker2 Info: It was a beautiful fall day. Leaves are starting to change. Not a cloud in the sky. Zero snow or ice the entire hike, including the summit. |
|
7/12/2022 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 7/12/2022, By: blessed13 Info: Clear all the way, no snow on trail. Parked at Princeton towers and ran / hiked up and down. I would not take a dog on this one, as there is a lot of big rocks that I saw one couple with two dogs having a hard time! |
|
6/24/2022 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 6/24/2022, By: dean20170 Info: Great conditions bottom to top. 1 snowfield about 40 feet long that's easy to cross. A little bit of wind going up, but not nearly as much as predicted...guessing 10-15mph on top, sunshine, and in the 40s. The "4WD" road up to the 4WD trailhead is quite easy if you have a little bit of clearance, and a little bit of wheel placement knowledge; you really don't need 4WD, just a little bit of clearance and skill. Having said that, if it were wet, you'd want 4WD. I took my stock Jeep Renegade with all-weather tires up to the camping spots above the radio towers with no issues. Be prepared to walk on rocks over half of the way! |
