2/24/2024 Route: South Slope Posted On: 2/26/2024, By: chadahooche_ Info: Splitboarded the South Slope on 2/24. Could only get my car 6 miles from summer TH, though others were getting to the 3 mile cut off. Conditions not too bad at all - had to carry my skis at some points on the road but once to the first "Don't go past here" sign, it was skinning the whole way up, minus one part where I put my skis on my back to get over rocks. Snow was variable on the top part of the descent. I descended at 11:30am, so probably should've waited longer for the snow to soften but I was a bit nauseous from the altitude. Full 2-minute walkthrough video of conditions and what I experienced here https://youtu.be/l4IogEfciRY |
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2/17/2024 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 2/18/2024, By: seattleclimber_dm Info: Went to Mount Sherman yesterday. I have a subaru, but the road is pretty rutted and I ended up parking about 6 miles below the summer trailhead (39.18750, -106.06684; 10,300 ft). I brought snowshoes, which helped a bit, but there is not that much snow. Spikes might be useful for the top ridge, but not necessary. |
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1/28/2024 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 1/29/2024, By: madmattd Info: 3 mi road walk on the dot as has been said - everyone's parking right before the first "don't you dare drive any further" sign roughly where the TH description says it is - ~10,900'. From the summer TH we took roughly the standard summer route up to the Hilltop Mine (bypassing the alternate route that goes NW under the loaded snow slopes by Sheridan). From there we opted to try a line fairly directly up the SE face of Sherman as the snow cover was thin with a lot of exposed rocks - no concerns with avvy at this time, but this would NOT be a safe route if loaded up with snow. It is pretty steep, and the thin snow cover with occasional deep spots hiding between rocks was interesting, but it worked well enough and we hit the ridge with the standard route around 13.7k. The ridge to the summit was snowy but best in spikes. We opted to take the standard route all the way down now that we had a full picture of the snow by the Sherman-Sheridan saddle (and our ascent route would have been obnoxious to descend). As reported last weekend, the cornices are small and the ridge isn't too loaded YET. We dropped between the worst of it and had no issues. Alternatively it looked doable to traverse over the lower portion of the Sheridan summit cone and come down the wind-swept E ridge of Sheridan. Extremely windy in places on the ridge (typical Sherman): where down in the basin we had ~10mph wind most of the time, the wind was a fairly sustained 20-30 on the ridge, with some impressive gusts that were likely nearing 50mph. Snowshoes worked best on the lower 2mi of the road, though others are making do with boots - it's still pretty soft so we were happy with the snowshoe choice. The upper mile of the roadwalk is hit-or-miss with snow, nothing is perfect gear-wise. Lower portion of the standard route is also best in spikes/boots, though we ascended in snowshoes. Ridge is best in spikes. |
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1/20/2024 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 1/20/2024, By: MMAfightingClimber Info: Summited Sherman today, looks like nobody has been up there in awhile, broke trial for the first 3 miles. Currently you need to park about 3 miles before the summer TH, adding 6 miles RT to your hike. We were the only group to make it up today. Whoever attempted the first 3 miles without snowshoes, remember that using someones trench without them just ruins it for everyone in the future! Bring snowshoes for sure! Ditched snowshoes about 2.5 miles in. The cornice isnt too bad, we stayed left of it on less wind blown terrain. Theres a decent amount of exposed rocks to safely bypass any avalanche danger near the cornice, you should be able to follow our tracks unless wind covers them. 11mi and 3300 gain RT. |
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12/22/2023 Route: Via. Sheridan and White Ridge Posted On: 12/22/2023, By: 14er101 Info: Winter parking "Stop here" signs are in place, Both Sheridan, Sherman, and White Ridge in decent shape. Only needed microspikes and had snowshoes but never put them on. The cornice is getting bigger, but the standard route looked to be traveled pretty well. |
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12/9/2023 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 12/9/2023, By: Willhf1011 Info: Lower half of road snowy and then it clears up reasonably well up to the gate (around 12,000). Mixed conditions up 12,500 or so where the snow is pretty well set in. At the last switchback below the big mine there are a few snow fields drifted across the trail that seem a bit questionable. Cornice along final ridge is very set and steep and the standard trail up is totally drifted in. I took a direct route up, making the ridge 200 or so West of the typical intersection because I didnt trust climbing along under that cornice. Summit ridge is very windswept with some deeper drifting sporadically but very passable. Very cold today, -7* at the summit around 11am and steady winds. |
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11/19/2023 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 11/19/2023, By: Da Legit Master Info: Lots of snow. Much more than Quandary and Decalibron. Route finding was difficult with no tracks and limited visibility. Like the previous comment stated, the saddle cornice was very firm. A fall here could lead to a very long and dangerous slide. Bring microspikes at the very least. Crampons and an ice axe would be best. There may be a good way around the cornice, but I could not see one with the extremely limited visibility. |
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11/18/2023 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 11/19/2023, By: eredden7 Info: Some snow, post holed a couple times. No spikes needed, gaiters might help some. Road was clear mainly, few spots with packed snow/ice but nothing terrible at all. I did use some poles on the way down. |
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11/15/2023 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 11/15/2023, By: elarson8 Info: Conditions were good today. Sunny not much wind. The cornice to the saddle was quite firm today. Micro spikes were minimally effective imo. Any harder and I would have wanted my crampons and an ice ax. |
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10/23/2023 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 10/23/2023, By: Jan van Tilburg Info: Confitions the same as George Kaplan posted from the day before. 10/22/2023. Did not see them when I posted this one. Mostly dry, except for route through the boulder field on the west side of the mountain. The west side had stretches of the trail with snow and ice, which were especially tricky going down. That will not go away this time of year. Luckily the stretches are not long. Once around the corner and going up to the saddle between Sherman and Sheridan there was no snow and ice. The ridge to the summit of Sherman was completely dry. Only the summit had snow, but easily avoidable. (as one can tell and already twice posted, the Iowa Gulch road; 2B, is open) |
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10/22/2023 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 10/23/2023, By: George Kaplan Info: Road to the Iowa Gulch trailhead is open. The first incline heading up towards the gully is pretty much filled in with ice, but I was able to rock-hop around most of it without needing to put on microspikes. After that, the trail up the gully to the Sherman-Sheridan saddle was mostly dry with a few short icy patches. |
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10/22/2023 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 10/22/2023, By: sarahmariekirk Info: Climbed Sherman today along with Gemini and Dyer Mountain. There are some small snow patches along the route but they are all easily avoidable and extremely short. Microspikes were not required today; parked at the gate - no snow on the road and the ice flow hasnt started yet. |
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10/20/2023 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 10/20/2023, By: Curtro Info: Maybe a dozen patches of snow on the way up; spikes not necessary. Many 14ers in view from the summit. |
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10/15/2023 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 10/15/2023, By: AlessiaAscent Info: Fun lap up Sherman today. Brought spikes, but didn't put them on. Patchy snow all the way to the summit, although any deeper snow on the trail is well packed down. No postholing, so definitely don't need floatation yet.Took a little less than two and a half hours, car to car. |
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10/13/2023 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 10/13/2023, By: tlgold1990 Info: Patchy snow along the route. Just below the knee in a few spots but nothing crazy. I wore spikes but ran into a few people that didn't have them and they were fine. |
