Great Gulf Trail in Winter??

[Bombadil]

Are there folks out there that have done or attempted the Great Gulf Trail in Winter? I've done it in the warmer months and loved it but would relish the challenge of heading up there in winter. It goes without saying it'll be a long snowshoe/crampon/ice axe hike but how bad is the avalanche danger off the cliffs of Clay to the right (as well as the top of the headwall)? With western wind after a snowfall obviously this hike would be a very poor choice, but if the forecast for tucks/huntington looks good any reason to pause for concern??

Thanks in advance for any info! Feel free to join in the fun too, it's a small group interested so far

 

[DougPaul]

The Great Gulf has some steep slopes in directions that differ from those in Tuckerman/Huntington Ravines. While a stable report for T/H is better than an unstable report it still does not mean that the snow in GG is stable.

There are some steep ski gullies below Clay--skiers tend to wait until spring when the snow tends to be more stable.

Doug

 

[mirabela]

I don't think I'd go up there without knowing my stuff re: digging and reading a pit on-site, and transceivers. It's the real deal.

 

[freighttrain48]

I don't think I'd go up there without knowing my stuff re: digging and reading a pit on-site, and transceivers. It's the real deal.

+1 on this, I wouldnt go In the gulf in full winter with out a good foundation of avy knowledge, It could be very likely that you snowshoe all the way out to the gulf just to turn around because of avy risk. Judging by you avitar you probally have some of this knowledge

 

[Bombadil]

I missed Winter by about a week but I went up the Gulf yesterday; trail conditions: http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?48614-Great-Gulf-Trail-3-30-13

We went in with the hopes of doing some practice with self-arrest, running belays, and ski some turns. Turns out the Gulf is surprisingly mellow and easy. Felt silly going in there with an 8 mm rope and pickets since you couldn't slide on a fall with a running start. Dug a pit which was unnecessary since windslab was the primary avy concern according to the USFS ranger reports for the other side of the mountain. Boarded down from near the top of the headwall which was probably the equivalent of a blue square. The tough trailbreaking made the single run much more rewarding with the super long approach. Next time I'll just drop in from the headwall having done it the hard way once.

long walk in but nice and easy up

 

[DougPaul]

Next time I'll just drop in from the headwall having done it the hard way once.

I believe that skiers often come in from above, but, of course, climbing the slope first gives one the chance to look it over before committing to the run. There was a fatal skier accident in 2004 in Pipeline Gully (below Mt Clay).

There is a section on Great Gulf in Goodman's guidebook.

long walk in but nice and easy up

Looks like some possible cornices to the upper right...

Doug

 

[Bombadil]

I believe that skiers often come in from above, but, of course, climbing the slope first gives one the chance to look it over before committing to the run. There was a fatal skier accident in 2004 in Pipeline Gully (below Mt Clay).

There is a section on Great Gulf in Goodman's guidebook.


Looks like some possible cornices to the upper right...

Doug

Yes, I would expect almost everyone would come in from above in Winter but that's not much of a challenge (not throwing stones, I was just looking for something hard). It's a ~3 mile hike up a virtually always broken out trail versus trailbreaking for the better part of 8 miles for the same lines. Pipeline is pretty darn intimidating looking with that ice cliff in the middle of what is already a super tight line. It makes The Chute look like a resort cruiser, no surprise people have died on it.

And yes there were cornices on the cliffs between the top of the headwall to Clay as expected given it's eastern exposure. It might not be obvious from the third photo but unless something came off way up high at the top of the headwall the fall line is more center/right of the slope so it's hard to envision something sweeping the full span of the Gulf, especially under the present conditions. It's common sense to stay to the climbers left when you have an open sunny slope protected by a small dip in the fall line versus walking under cornices. Not that I think the presence of cornices means you shouldn't climb--far from it.

Pat