Mt. Bross

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 7/13/2020, By: bryanthomaslamb
Info: ***!!!Mt. Bross Alert!!!***

If you are descending, at half way down the spine / ridge, people have taken an abrupt left turn down a 60* slope of skree with little ground.

This is incorrect. the correct route continues down the spine and then cuts back left to connect to the other side. There is visible wear on the correct trail, on stable ground.

Completed the loop in excellent fashion Sunday 07/13/2020. 

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 6/12/2020, By: madmattd
Info: One minor, not-long-to-live, snowfield on the traverse below Cameron's summit when going between Bross and Lincoln. Otherwise dry to the summit and 98% of the descent. The lower sections around the fields near the trailhead are still under snow. Snow is collapsing near the stream, so beware. The scree-filled descent of Bross is as miserable as advertised. 

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 6/10/2020, By: runupatree
Info: Gate is open and road passable with 4WD/AWD.
Snow and ice on trail going up Democrat from TH: mix of ground cover, shin deep, and holy-snow-patch deep. It's doable without extra traction, but take extra care; deep patches to and above the saddle were sketchy/impassable without someone else creating a path/steps beforehand.
Some snow/ice ascending Cameron and Lincoln, easily passable or avoided other than the first pitch from Dem/Cam saddle.
Bross is almost clear of snow until halfway down the descent, whereupon it's shin deep or more in large patches. Parts of trail are hidden under snow. Last pitch to the creek is primo for glissading! Deep snow over creek is collapsing in places, so be warned. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/29/2020, By: djj2504
Info: Gate still closed ~1.5 miles from the trailhead but saw an excavator headed up later in the day presumably to finish up clearing the road the rest of the way.

Headed up Bross from the trailhead to do the loop counterclockwise. Trail up Bross is clear of snow/ice all the way to the top.

Partner started to feel pretty crappy on the way to Lincoln so we decided to just head straight over Cameron and back down.

Snow on the descent from Cameron but could be partially avoided and probably won't continue to hang around too long.

Still seems like a good bit of snow on the trail back down to Kite Lake from the Democrat/Cameron saddle. Managed to catch a few glissades but then ended up post holing back to the trailhead. 

Route: "S Gully"
Posted On: 5/17/2020, By: Trotter
Info: S Gully is still in, barely. Bottom and top are good, middle has pinched out, but only need to climb the melted out scree for about 20 yards to get back onto snow. Sunlight doesn't hit the gully until 2 hours after sunrise, so no hurry to get on it. Snow goes almost to 14,000. Summit area of bross is snow free.

Snow in basin below decalibron got super postholey by 11 am. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/7/2020, By: jsnbabcock
Info: The gate to kite lake is still closed for the season. The road leading up to it was snowed in about a quarter mile ahead. On my way out, I noticed the mining company had blocked any access past their premises, so parking further up the road may be necessary. Flotation was helpful between kite lake and the car once the snow had softened. Beyond this point though, regular traction should sufficed as almost all of the snow had melted away by the time I was done. 

Route: "Dolly Varden Gully"
Posted On: 4/5/2020, By: JephgonnaSteph
Info: Parked at Paris Mill. The road is well packed all the way to Mineral Park TH. The gully holds snow till approximately 13600 ft. Snow was mostly windblown. From 13600ft to summit we chose to hike on rocks. Overall good condition for hiking. 

Route: "S Gully"
Posted On: 3/19/2020, By: dummycode
Info: No snow coverage 600 feet from the summit. Variable conditions in S Gully. Kite Lake also variable and wind blasted. Road closed at Paris Mill - but skiable .2 miles from mill to lake. 

Route: "Dolly Varden Gully"
Posted On: 3/17/2020, By: ClimberSkierDave64
Info: Started skinning at 7:30 from just below the Paris Mill. We did the 3.5 miles to the Mineral Park Trailhead in around 1:30. There were snowmobile tracks up the road but once we got to the gully, there were no tracks since at least the last storm. Snow conditions in the gully varied from having a wind crust on top to having soft recycled powder. Underneath the top 3 inches of soft snow from the last storm, there is a solid consolidated base. Going up the gully, avalanche danger was almost non-existent except for 1 or 2 small steeper slopes that funnel into the gully shown in the upper part of photo #1. Snow conditions above 13,200 were sastrugi with chalky snow in between.The snow extends to about 13,600 and the upper portion from there doesn't quite have enough snow to make a descent from the summit. The ski down was fairly creamy except for places with the wind crust and the lower portion even started to change to corn snow. The road out is slow and takes a lot of skating. All in all a great day! 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 3/5/2020, By: davebobk47
Info: Snowshoes worked best up the road. Stashed them just past Kite Lake TH. Carried microspikes but never used them. 

Route: "S Gully"
Posted On: 1/26/2020, By: Posthole Pete
Info: Was able to drive up to 11,100 when the road became blocked by wind drift. A car had attempted and failed to pass the wind drift so this where I decided to start. Was quite windy down low but just lots of gusts and not too much sustained. Very easy finding the mouth of the gully. Once in the gully the wind died down. Snow was easy to climb on my split all the way up until about 13,450. Ditched the split there and hiked dry rock and scree all the way to the summit. Had a fantastic ride from 13,450 all the way back to my truck. 

Route: "Dolly Varden Gully"
Posted On: 1/26/2020, By: srtaylor1317
Info: Parked near Paris Mill and snowshoed to Mineral Park trailhead. There were 3 or 5 inches of fresh snow, and I was making fresh tracks at 7am (photo 1). The gully is easy to find, and you just keep going up (photo 2 is of mineral park trailhead area). There were a couple places down low with deep drifts to plow through, but snow was mostly consolidated once in the actual gully. Photo 3 is looking up from maybe halfway. Snow is continuous until around 13,500', and then it's rock-hopping (scree) to the summit. Photo 4 shows the elevation at which the snow finally gives out to rock. Snowshoes or equivalent flotation are a must-have, and ice axe recommended for easy self-arrest on the return trip (I glissaded/slid around 800 vertical feet in all, near as I can tell). I brought microspikes and never used them. Never having taken this route to the summit, I was nervous about the description of the gully and only being fun with good snow coverage. I suspect the conditions right now are basically perfect. Definitely recommended! Also, there is no risk of avalanche at present. The slopes above the gully are wind-swept and bare, even though the gully has plenty of snow coverage. 

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 12/23/2019, By: CaptainSuburbia
Info: Did full loop starting with Democrat. Conditions for the most part same as previous report. Another mostly windless day until I got to Bross. Wore microspikes for entire day, snowshoes could be useful for road but not neccessary. Not another soul out there. I was surprised not to see any other snowflakers on such a great weather day. 

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 12/22/2019, By: dwoodward13
Info: Did the loop today starting with Bross. Bross is mostly windblown once gaining some elevation out of Kite Lake. There are 1 or 2 snow slopes, but you could bypass them on rock if you wanted. Route to the base of Cameron is dry. The trail bypassing Cameron is starting to load up a bit in spots. Might be better to go over Cameron both ways after the next storm. Trail to Lincoln is a mix of snow and dry rock; similar story for the trail from Cameron down to the Democrat Saddle. Snowfield on the upper reaches of Democrat can be avoided. Heading back down to Kite Lake, we followed the trail until it started down a headwall near 12,500 and stuck to a rock rib. The trail crossed a loaded slope and the party that put in a booter from Kite Lake up to there sidehilled some steep slopes, with steep slopes above it. We followed the old mining road back down to the lake thats just to the east of the summer trail on a rib. Brought spikes, crampons, and snowshoes and only used the snowshoes from 12,500 back to the car. Shockingly windless for most of the day today! 

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 10/26/2019, By: Wentzl
Info: Did BroLiCa yesterday, 10/25/19. Cold and windy. Started up Bross. Some deep soft snow on the flats leading to Bross. Once on the mountain, not bad. Circuit to Lincoln Cameron and Democrat, carried axe and crampons but didn't need either. Too worn out to finish Democrat, bit snow coming off from the Democrat/Cameron saddle was the worst for postholing all day.