Mt. Sherman Trip Report 06/12/2008

Peak(s):	Mt. Sherman - 14,043 feet
Date Posted:	06/12/2008
Date Climbed:	06/08/2008
Author:	LONEWOLF45

Mt Sherman Four Mile Creek
This past Sunday, 8 June we made the dubious decision to get up early and go out to South Park for a nice, simple, snow climb of benign Mt Sherman. When we opened the SUV doors at the TH, a dose of reality blasted thru the vehicle with the force of a freezing 35 Kt gust which is about what it was. One other vehicle was parked at the TH. As we started to recover from our shock and began to suit up, the occupant of the other vehicle came out and started to gear up as well. He told me he had been waiting for about an hour for the vis to clear enough for him to haul his Black Diamond skis up to the top of Sherman for a ski trip down. I kinda knew I was talking to a hard core guy. He was quickly off while my son and I slowly tried to get excited about this endeavor. Meantime, my son‘s long suffering girlfriend was ready and slowly freezing waiting for us. Then we were off up the road. Visibility was limited so we tried as best we could to stay on the wind swept road........easy to do down low but harder as we climbed higher. We passed thru the road gate and headed up to the Dauntless mine. (By the way, the road above the Leavick ruins was excellent. There is a small parking area just short of the road gate.) We came out of the Dauntless area and made a turn to the west a bit too early. Then we got lucky and the vis cleared enough to allow us to see our mistake and backtrack. We made our way up a shallow scree ramp and entered the Hilltop mine area. We took shelter behind one of the structures to assess our situation. Wind was now a pretty steady 40 kts with gusts higher. We could see our friend from the parking lot up on the ridge. The decision was made to proceed on. I knew from climbing Sherman years ago that the scree ramp and gully we were headed toward was a tough and frustrating climb but the large cornice on the regular route to the saddle between Sherman and Sheridan looked too dangerous to be climbing under. This decision was validated by a group of three who followed us up on our route. Their leader was another hard core guy who summmited while the rest of his party waited at our turnaround point. The snow covered scree ramp started easy and grew progressive tougher. When we reached the point where this route really steepened, we traversed west and gained the main Sherman trail just above the saddle. We were finally on a nice trail but the wind was occasionally forcing a rapid adjustment of footing to prevent being blown over. Our 30 lb packs did not help; we are training for Rainier. At this point, we were on a good route, at 13, 800' with about half a mile to go. Weather was clearing but the wind was obnoxious. We meet the skier coming down, and he described conditions above as approaching unsafe due to winds. We decided the mountain was not going anywhere so we turned and retreated down the main trail and over toward Sheridan. The idea was to go around the enormous cornice mentioned above which we did. A picture of the cornice is included. We hiked back down and returned to the SUV. We had the gear to stay warm in these conditions. We put it on at the TH and kept it on until nearly back to the TH. Had I stopped a second and gotten out my goggles, I would not have spent the past three days feeling like I had sand in my eye from wind blown snow pellet abrasion. My Oaks just did not provide the needed protection. Another lesson learned. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Mt Sherman Four Mile Creek

This past Sunday, 8 June we made the dubious decision to get up early and go out to South Park for a nice, simple, snow climb of benign Mt Sherman. When we opened the SUV doors at the TH, a dose of reality blasted thru the vehicle with the force of a freezing 35 Kt gust which is about what it was. One other vehicle was parked at the TH. As we started to recover from our shock and began to suit up, the occupant of the other vehicle came out and started to gear up as well. He told me he had been waiting for about an hour for the vis to clear enough for him to haul his Black Diamond skis up to the top of Sherman for a ski trip down. I kinda knew I was talking to a hard core guy.
He was quickly off while my son and I slowly tried to get excited about this endeavor. Meantime, my son‘s long suffering girlfriend was ready and slowly freezing waiting for us. Then we were off up the road. Visibility was limited so we tried as best we could to stay on the wind swept road........easy to do down low but harder as we climbed higher. We passed thru the road gate and headed up to the Dauntless mine. (By the way, the road above the Leavick ruins was excellent. There is a small parking area just short of the road gate.) We came out of the Dauntless area and made a turn to the west a bit too early. Then we got lucky and the vis cleared enough to allow us to see our mistake and backtrack. We made our way up a shallow scree ramp and entered the Hilltop mine area. We took shelter behind one of the structures to assess our situation. Wind was now a pretty steady 40 kts with gusts higher. We could see our friend from the parking lot up on the ridge.
The decision was made to proceed on. I knew from climbing Sherman years ago that the scree ramp and gully we were headed toward was a tough and frustrating climb but the large cornice on the regular route to the saddle between Sherman and Sheridan looked too dangerous to be climbing under. This decision was validated by a group of three who followed us up on our route. Their leader was another hard core guy who summmited while the rest of his party waited at our turnaround point.
The snow covered scree ramp started easy and grew progressive tougher. When we reached the point where this route really steepened, we traversed west and gained the main Sherman trail just above the saddle. We were finally on a nice trail but the wind was occasionally forcing a rapid adjustment of footing to prevent being blown over. Our 30 lb packs did not help; we are training for Rainier.
At this point, we were on a good route, at 13, 800' with about half a mile to go. Weather was clearing but the wind was obnoxious. We meet the skier coming down, and he described conditions above as approaching unsafe due to winds. We decided the mountain was not going anywhere so we turned and retreated down the main trail and over toward Sheridan. The idea was to go around the enormous cornice mentioned above which we did. A picture of the cornice is included.
We hiked back down and returned to the SUV.
We had the gear to stay warm in these conditions. We put it on at the TH and kept it on until nearly back to the TH. Had I stopped a second and gotten out my goggles, I would not have spent the past three days feeling like I had sand in my eye from wind blown snow pellet abrasion. My Oaks just did not provide the needed protection. Another lesson learned.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

skimrg81	Hey that was me with the skis 6/12/2008 10:46pm Sorry that you guys did not make it up. Good trip report. The skiing on the way down was good. You were right not to test the wind. When I was up there I was getting tossed around and had to drop my skis. So you on another 14er.
huffy13	Wow 6/13/2008 4:02am I sure hope Sherman has cleared up a little before mid-July. I‘m taking a brand-newbie up there on the 11th of July. Good report, it‘s keeping my up-to-date on those conditions. Glad you were safe.

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