by pkirkham » Fri Mar 17, 2017 11:02 am
Cynthia23 is quite right! I did Snow Creek with experienced mountaineering friends in May 2007. It was my first time using crampons and an ice axe! Thank god they knew where we were going regarding route finding etc. We did it an as over-nighter, camping on some rock slabs commonly called the 'ledges', about half way up. We needed a rope to get around the chockstone and higher up the next morning when it started to get icy. There had been significant previous avalanches in the gullies with a lot of debris evident. Personally, it was an awesome experience as a first-time alpinist....it gave me a real taste of adventure and has led to many more successful, and some unsuccessful, summits of higher mountains since. It definitely is NOT Skyline or C2C, which I have done in all conditions, many times. There are many navigational decisions that need to be made when climbing Snowcreek that only experienced people know how to correctly make. Timing definitely is of the essence. When we went in May '07 it was also a high snow year. That being said, the chockstone was snow-free, requiring rock climbing the slabs to the right of it and the lower snow tongue was starting to melt out above it with significant danger posed by moats etc. Having the technical knowledge and skill-set to manage these objective dangers/hazards, or with at least one person in the party who has these skills, is a MUST!!
Having said all that, it is quite the alpine experience in our backyard that, if conditions are right, and the right people are present, make for an unforgettable experience!!