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From parking area up Ethan Pond to intersection of Willey Range trail there was a fresh dusting but someone had been there earlier in the morning to break the trail. This section was pretty easy going with snow falling but tapering off, we got a late start about 11:30am. Once we hit the Willey Range trail, trail was unbroken with an approx. 8" of fresh powder. We hit the steep sections, going got tough quickly, snowshoes were on the whole way, but traction became difficult at times. I am not sure crampons would have been any better because the snow was pretty soft. Poles became inadequate and resorted to using hands to dig into the snow at times. When we approached the ladders we could not even see them, except for once step barely sticking out of the snow. We cleared some of the snow off of them as we climbed, however more of that was taken care of on the way down. Steps are now exposed but with snow pack still covering. This was a long 1.1 miles, once we reached the summit most of the cloud cover dissipated and there were some decent views from the outlook. The way down was pretty wild with a lot of sliding. 30 Minutes from summit to intersection of Ethan Pond. Forecast for snowfall were definately underestimated but made for a fun/challenging day. Glad we made the trip.
