Jay H
New member
Before the ADk 46r winter dinner, Snickers, ADK88, and I did a traverse of Pitchoff in Keene from the Cascade/Pitchoff trailhead to Pitchoff East, going up the west side going east.
Traction aids are ideal for the gradual icy pitches that are still existing, crampons are overkill. There is one fairly steep shoot going east past the summit where Snickers use crampons because of the steep descent which was pretty icy, but I just went around it on the north side to stay in the soft snow and didn't even use any traction aids to downclimb.
Snowshoes would of been useful in a few deep and soft spots on the ridge, but a lot of it is shaded. Personally, not worth carrying but this is a personal decision and it'll be even less snow soon enough.
The steep east approach is free of ice and snow and is just running water from the meltoff.
Time: I think we left around 9:30am and got out around 3pm. We stopped to take a lot of pictures and the snowpack made it soft.
Jay
Traction aids are ideal for the gradual icy pitches that are still existing, crampons are overkill. There is one fairly steep shoot going east past the summit where Snickers use crampons because of the steep descent which was pretty icy, but I just went around it on the north side to stay in the soft snow and didn't even use any traction aids to downclimb.
Snowshoes would of been useful in a few deep and soft spots on the ridge, but a lot of it is shaded. Personally, not worth carrying but this is a personal decision and it'll be even less snow soon enough.
The steep east approach is free of ice and snow and is just running water from the meltoff.
Time: I think we left around 9:30am and got out around 3pm. We stopped to take a lot of pictures and the snowpack made it soft.
Jay
