10/9/2015 Route: Southeast Shoulder Posted On: 10/9/2015, By: awake Info: Snow is 100% avoidable. No need for traction. Just bring some trekking poles, as the rocks were a bit slick in the morning. It looks like there is a small dusting of snow on the north facing side of most of the Tenmile peaks. |
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7/4/2015 Route: Southeast Shoulder Posted On: 7/5/2015, By: ChrisinAZ Info: Pretty much summer conditions. No snow up to main ridge, then just a few short knife edges of snow along the ridge, all of which are mild, avoidable, or not exposed. 98% of the ridge is dry. Had to bail off the ridge about halfway back due to thunder--most of the south slopes are dry, but there are a few long (and steep!) patches of snow that can expedite descent if you have an ice axe (I would NOT try glissading them without). Low in the basin are lots of willows and wetness, including on the road. |
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6/21/2015 Route: Southeast Shoulder Posted On: 6/21/2015, By: jeremy27 Info: Surpisingly fun snow conditions on the ridge above 13000. A number of windblown "knife-edges" that made forward travel easy, mixed with a little scrambling in between. Snow was very soft by 10am so I doubt conditions will remain long. Good luck. |
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6/7/2015 Route: North Couloirs Posted On: 6/8/2015, By: Col_Forbin Info: Had a blast climbing one of the North-facing couloirs on North Star Mountain yesterday. A bit punchy down low, but nice and firm up high. Snow melting fast. Wet slide evidence on almost all aspects on surrounding peaks. Get off the snow early. Snowshoes were unneeded for the descent to Hoosier Pass. |
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4/29/2015 Route: Southeast Shoulder Posted On: 4/29/2015, By: kenichi4692 Info: hiked to the mine gate without traction. there are snowmobile tracks to the top of the hump. had to break the trail with snowshoes beyond the gate. snow was crusty in the morning my poles sunk about 10 inches. then changed to spikes & an axe right below the summit ridge where it gets steep. easy post holing on the ridge most of the way but there is a couple of thigh deep spots near the summit. and there is a few sketchy cornice on the ridge. |
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3/28/2015 Route: Southeast Shoulder Posted On: 3/28/2015, By: mdmss Info: A beautiful but very windy day. Took snowshoes, crampons and ice axes and didn‘t use any of them! Good boot pack all the way to the summit, minimal postholing, really no ice at all. We were back at parking by 12:30 and the snow was softening, but still plenty firm. Except for the poor fools who drove their Honda Civic type car about 50 feet from the parking lot before becoming irretrievably stuck. |
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3/14/2015 Route: Southeast Shoulder Posted On: 3/15/2015, By: rambis_21 Info: Hiked North Star Mountain from Hosier Pass on Saturday 3/14. Snowshoed from the parking lot to the top of the first high point on the ridge. Left the snowshoes and hiked across the ridge of about 2 miles with microspikes. Crampons would have made it feel safer but microspikes worked. The sun was out and the wind was non-existant. Perfect day. Lots of snow up there. Should melt fast from the ridge with the warm sun. Had a few whomps while crossing the ridge in a few spots, but only occured right on top and some of the wider points on the ridge. There is a point on the ridge that was pretty sketchy as it was steep on each side. Had to be careful where you step as you don‘t know what was powder immediately and what was hard snow/rock. Great day! Looking forward to a great hiking season. I need to get some skis for days like this. |
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2/14/2015 Route: Southeast Shoulder Posted On: 2/14/2015, By: benners Info: Hit North Star Mountain today via the Southeast Shoulder route from Hoosier Pass. The road is covered with packed snow from the parking lot all the way around the south side of the big mound to the base of the actual Southeast Shoulder, with only one short dry section of road that is not skinnable. From the gate at the base of the Southeast Shoulder I was able to skin to around 13,200' before dry ground forced me to ditch skis. The East Ridge is in great shape for booting all the way to the summit, and I saw a few sets of ski tracks dropping off the south side of the ridge just past the false summit down towards Montgomery. On descent I was able to ski from 13,200' back down the shoulder to the parking lot with only a single ski carry. Cheers! |
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1/3/2014 Route: Southeast Shoulder Posted On: 1/4/2014, By: d_baker Info: The conditions we encountered on North Star were the same as the last conditions report for North Star posted by Sunny1 on Dec 27. From Hoosier Pass, trail is super packed leading to E facing slope. Once above slope, the snow is softer because there's less traffic on top, but it's short. Once out of the trees, which is rather quick, snowshoes were not used or needed. Spikes didn't seem necessary either, depending on your comfort level. I'm posting a few pix of surrounding peaks if anyone is interested in coverage. 1st: Silverheels 2nd: Fletcher's S face, Atlantic's E face, & Pacific's SE face (l. to r.) 3rd: The E/W running ridge on N Star |
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12/27/2013 Route: SE Shoulder and Ridge Posted On: 12/27/2013, By: sunny1 Info: Road to beginning of SE shoulder is packed snow, easy walking. Ridge had some unconsolidated snow, but nothing too sketchy today. Did not need snowshoes or microspikes. Carried snowshoes, but stashed them. |
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10/1/2013 Route: Southeast Shoulder Posted On: 10/2/2013, By: highcountryhiker Info: Road, trail and ridge mostly dry. Minor patches of snow in a few spots that were almost entirely avoidable. No gaiters and/or traction needed. Was a beautiful day with aspen at their peak in Breck. |
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4/21/2013 Route: Southeast Shoulder Posted On: 4/23/2013, By: winmag4582001 Info: Snowshoes are definately useful. We shoe‘d from Hoosier to the saddle between the first and second bump. Took off the shoes at the first cornice before the middle bump. Avy risk is fairly minimal if you stay on top of the ridge. |
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1/5/2013 Route: South Face Posted On: 1/5/2013, By: jswiftcervelo Info: Sorry I don‘t have any pics - no camera :( I did North Star from the Montgomery reservoir trailhead by walking up the road toward Wheeler Lake and climbing the south face directly near its western end. Made a big mistake - snowshoes are definitely necessary. I‘m guessing 3-4 feet off the side of the road. Looking over at Lincoln and Democrat the ridges were nearly completely windswept so there would be no problem there. Wheeler, Traver, and Clinton were covered from this side. Silverheels was completely clear above treeline and Quandry was almost the same. So if you‘re heading up there I‘d definitely recommend snowshoes but once you‘re up on something windblown you‘re good. |
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3/9/2012 Route: Southeast Shoulder Posted On: 3/9/2012, By: JosephG Info: Hard-packed or windblown to the first false. Minimal snow from there to summit. The "exposed" section has some cornicing, but nothing dire. Snowshoes unnecessary. Spikes/traction as to preference, but can be done without. When you first leave the trees, there is no reason to head straight up the hill unless you want to (i.e., going left on the road instead of right/straight up will not pose problems). The jeep road is fine. No avy concern through the first false's slopes if you're on route. |
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12/24/2011 Route: Southeast Shoulder Posted On: 12/24/2011, By: Monster5 Info: Followed road up to higher mine, descended more or less along the ridge. No snowshoes needed - deeper stuff easy to avoid. Ice axes/traction were not used. First avy spot is still tame with a bootpack and cornices along ridge are not fully developed and easy to hike through. Not ski-able. I have pictures of N Star and surrounding peaks if anybody wants them. |
