6/12/2014 Route: East Slope Posted On: 6/13/2014, By: samuelnoble1893 Info: Still lots of snow up there. I would say 75% of the climb I was going through snow. Still cant drive up to kite lake due to snow drifts half a mile down the road. |
|
6/4/2014 Route: East Slope Posted On: 6/4/2014, By: Nelson Info: I climbed Democrat today. Although I took and used crampons most of the other people did not. For me it is safer, easier and faster to use crampons. Your call. Snowshoes were not necessary because I went early. I was on top at 8:30 and back at the car at 10:30 and the snow was pretty supportable. If you go up there you will see lots of horrendous post holes. Most people are going up too late. |
|
6/4/2014 Route: North Couloir Posted On: 6/7/2014, By: mdmss Info: Approach still snowy, but minimal postholing even on the hike back. Couloir itself in good condition, mostly step kicking. Some old avalanche debris. We descended the easternmost continuous snow slope on the N face with a combination of plunge stepping and glissading. Had to detour to the unstable talus slopes a couple of times when the snow was too firm (crampons off at this point.) |
|
4/19/2014 Route: South Slope Posted On: 4/19/2014, By: DanielL Info: Climbed Mt. Democrat via the East Slope route (FYI there is a continuous ski on this route), got to the top and opted to ski the South Slope chutes. Visibility was low and the snow was rough off the upper South Face but we made an interesting ski out of it. Skiing is continuous down this route from a few feet off the summit. Beta: S-Gully on Bross is looking quite thin and is not in from the summit. The couloirs on Cameron's south face looked like they might allow for a good ski. Sidenote: I figured I should get nominated for 14er Ski Fail of the month. We dropped into the South Face and I had an amazing amount of trouble turning, every single time. I blamed it on the rough snow and poor visibility, but I was still very confused. I kept asking myself, "Why is this so hard?!" Well, once we got down to Lake Emma, I noticed both my ski boots were in walk mode. AGH! What a waste of a lot of fun. Lesson learned: Don't ski in walk mode - especially a steeper route like the South Face chutes. |
|
3/9/2014 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 3/11/2014, By: JohnnyDangerous Info: My friends and I climbed Democrat‘s North Ridge on Sunday. It is an absolutely fantastic climb. The snowshoe in is manageable on the approach, and we only sank through the willows a few times. From here our primary concern had been the slope to access the North Ridge. However, it had been fairly cold on Saturday night allowing for a stable snowpack. We did have one crack in the snow by a rock outcropping, but we saw no avalanche activity all day. The ridge itself was awesome. There was waist deep snow in places even on the ridge. This made for a tough but fun day. As far as the climbing we took a half rope, a set of nuts, and a few cams. With all of the snow we had to be careful about our route, and because of this we had 2 roped pitches, and 1 rappel. We summited at 3:30 and then used the couloir off of the Democrat/Cameron saddle to descend. Winds were light most of the day, but picked up on the way out. Also, the rock is very solid for most of the climb and allows for some fun axe work. All in all I give this route an A. |
|
12/26/2013 Route: North ridge Posted On: 12/26/2013, By: Monster5 Info: Road to Montgomery Res: Snowpacked/dry 2wd. Platte Gulch/Wheeler Lake Road: wind drift over bootpack for at least a mile. Donned snowshoes a mile in and trenched along the road (thank the gazelle Furthermore - might do TR) past the Wheeler Lake turnoff, gaining Democrat's North Ridge via the prominent gully cutting just north of it. N. Ridge: spicy, mostly class 3 with a bit of 4. Crampons/axe used. The notch was bypassed via a W/R dihedral. Most technical ridge bypasses were to the W/R. Democrat to Cameron: windslab and talus. Windslab made for a quick descent; plenty of safe lines. Can stick to talus easily. Cameron to Bross: Mostly bare. The usual crap. Bross to Lincoln: Mostly bare, some bootpacked snow towards the summit. Signs look like people. Disheartening. Descended Lincoln east via the ridge bordering Lincoln Amphitheater to the south. Got cliffed out and hit a bypass off the S. side, contouring around to Lincoln Falls and descended the left/W side. Crampons recommended. Descent route not recommended. Car shuttle to Kite would have been dandy. |
|
11/9/2013 Route: East Slope Posted On: 11/10/2013, By: bmodak Info: My buddy and I did Democrat-->Cameron-->Lincoln-->Bross. Conditions were great. There is little snow on the peaks. We both brought microspikes but they weren‘t necessary (I put them on for part of the ascent and they helped, but my friend never used his and was fine). The wind (gusts from 30-60 mph I‘d guess) was brutal but aside from that no problems. As of this weekend, you can get by if you bundle up and protect yourself against the wind. |
|
11/3/2013 Route: East Slope Posted On: 11/4/2013, By: thurs Info: DeCaLiBron loop -- Very snow-free except for lower and western parts of Mt. Democrat. Snow is packed into all the trails, but intermittently. Surrounding talus relatively free of snow. Boot chains were not required though were helpful in places, but the snow was a little too patchy to warrant leaving them on. Alternative route up the south ridge saw a few snowdrifts up to the knees or waist, but only in chutes. Mt. Bross and Mr. Cameron almost completely absent of snow, Mt. Lincoln looked pretty dry as well. Ridgelines are blown clean. Drive up to Kite Lake had a couple inches of snow at the end and would be passable with a 2WD vehicle. |
|
10/19/2013 Route: East Slope Posted On: 10/19/2013, By: SaraMiller Info: Brutal. The wind was strong from the beginning at 7am...and all the way up. At summit, tons of clouds and wind so strong that for the two seconds I took off my glove for a pic, my hand became painful very quick. The temp was around 20, but with the 60+ mph gusts, it was WELL BELOW ZERO. Drifts were at 2ft+ in many places and trail was covered with snow the entire route. |
|
10/12/2013 Route: East Slope Posted On: 10/16/2013, By: stevevets689 Info: Gaiters were useful but no traction devices needed yet. Decalibron is in fine shape. Trail is still quite easy to follow. This loop is definitely not in winter conditions yet! Definitely colder than summer, though ;) |
|
7/5/2013 Route: East Slope Posted On: 7/5/2013, By: reedgmi Info: Nearly completely clear to the summit - just a couple of very short snow fields above the saddle. |
|
6/19/2013 Route: East Slope Posted On: 6/19/2013, By: Flyingfish Info: The trail up Democrat from the saddle is very hard to follow because of snow fields. But other than up Democrat the route around to the other peaks is very dry. |
|
6/16/2013 Route: South Slope Posted On: 6/16/2013, By: mrickers Info: Climbed Democrat‘s south slopes this morning. Snow starts just below Emma Lake, continuous from there. We stopped ~13,950 and bailed down the standard route due to some nasty storms moving in quick. It looked to be continuous snow all the way to the top. We climbed wider chute on the right. Image #1: Below Emma Lake Image #2: Democrat S face from Emma Lake Image #3: Close up of the right-most chute |
|
6/15/2013 Route: North Couloir Posted On: 6/15/2013, By: screeman57 Info: Climbed the North Face from Montgomery Res. this morning. It‘s in very good shape for climbing, and the low overnight temps helped (27 deg. upon starting). It‘s starting to ice up in the more narrow portions, but continuous up to the North ridge. Sorry I don‘t have any pictures. Camera battery died after a week on the road. |
|
6/9/2013 Route: East Slope Posted On: 6/10/2013, By: Elliot Info: Emma lake chutes appear to be skiing well. Pinko also looked very smooth, great access with almost ski to the car descents. |
