Willey in Winter

[SherpaTom]

Interested in feedback from those who have climbed Willey in the Winter from Ethan Pond & Willey range Trails. The plan is to attempt it in Jan.

I have read from different sources that summitting Willey in the winter is best done by going up to Field and accross to Willey and back. I have summitted Field in the Winter twice so I know what that hike is like. I assume the col between is rather easy (although probably drifting in winter depending on usage). I am curious if anyone can report what the hike is like going up Willey. I know it is steep once you hit Willey Range for the last 1.1 miles from my previous summer climb

Do you believe that it would be normal (Ha, what is normal) that crampons would be needed or would snowshoes be ok? I have both but some members of the group do not have crampons and I'm thinking of advising them to beg/borrow or steal them to be safe.

If we chose this route, we can go on to Field for nice butt sliding or come back down Willey, although the steepness may be a concern.

I have no seen many trip reports for Willey in winter. I post now since those pics of Lafayette from today with snow on it gets me excited.

Thanks

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

Do you believe that it would be normal (Ha, what is normal) that crampons would be needed or would snowshoes be ok? I have both but some members of the group do not have crampons and I'm thinking of advising them to beg/borrow or steal them to be safe.

I once went up Field and the down to Ethan Pond. We were wearing crampons and grabbing hold of trees

Of course, conditions are everything. But as you know the trail has a long section that is bloody steep, and if it is icy it can be ... hmm ... "interesting" (may you live in interesting times!!!).

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Willey is most often done as an out-and-back from Field. Doing 3 peaks in a day (Tom, Field & Willey) is a solid workout, but not an epic, especially if there are multiple people in the event you need to break trail.

There are at least 2 reasons Willey is not done as often by itself. One is that it is rather steep in the last mile, and the second is that parking is limited. The access road to the TH is not plowed in winter, so sometimes you have to hug the snowbanks to keep out of the road. A possible 3rd reason is - if you've done all that elevation why not get 3 peaks instead of just 1.

As for crampons vs. snowshoes - that is impossible to predict. It seems that at some point in most winters there's more boilerplate than snow, but it's usually a temporary situation. Willey is not a particularly icy trail by itself (as contrasted to say, parts of Lowe's Path).

The usual order they're done are - Tom, Field, and Willey (and then back to Field).

Hope this helps.

 

[HockeyPuck]

I summited Willey on an up and back Via Ethan Pond / Willey Range in Dec 03, The trail was unbroken and snow was knee deep.

Snowshoes were essential. I'd recommend crampons or at least some sort of stabilizer.

As you know the last mile is steep however in winter the ladders were buried and not a significant hinderance.

 

[Chip]

I've gone straight up Kedron Flume Tr to Ethan Pond/Willey Range Tr and across to Field and Tom and back to the Highland Center. Your questions are largely dependent on the conditions, but I'd probably avoid going down Ethan Pond/Willey Range Tr & Kedron Flume in winter. I'd hate to butt-slide those ladders. Our conditions weren't horrible; some ice and snow, and I don't remember having to use crampons or snowshoes at all. We jogged the ridge between Willey and Tom, that's not bad, and you're familiar with Field, down. Like all winter trips your group should have crampons and snowshoes regardless.

Here's some pics of that trip.

 

[RoySwkr]

I've gone up Willey from the S twice and down 4 times, every time it was unbroken and snowshoes were highly necessary and crampons would have been useless. These were all before the present ladders but the previous ones were buried except for 1 handrail. But as KR says, you can't predict 3 months in advance what you'll need - get some heavy rain and a hard freeze on a packed trail and you can leave the snowshoes home & wear crampons.

 

[BobC]

I did Tom/Field/Willey as my first winter 4Ks in February 2007. We came down from Willey and the snow was so deep that the ladders were completely covered. The descent was slow and tricky - lots of tree-hugging. But it was made somewhat easier by the fact that the snow was soft and not broken out, so it tended to slow us down and prevented any slippery out-of-control slides. If I was to do this again though, I'd probably just do Tom & Field first, and then turn back at the Willey summit (as Kevin Rooney suggested) and perhaps go down via the Avalon trail (just for a change of pace on the way back). Unless I knew that the conditions were the same as I had before, I wouldn't want to decend down Willey again.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

What? And miss out on the awesome butt sliding?!?! There are ladders on the way down Willey???

Tim

 

[BobC]

As BIGEarl put it after our trip, "On one section a parachute may have been helpful".

 

[DougPaul]

go down via the Avalon trail (just for a change of pace on the way back).

Don't miss the view from Avalon. It is spectacular.

Doug

 

[skiguy]

I agree with Doug...Avalon is the Gem of the range. With increased Winter Climbing on Webster Cliffs across the Road the Webster Cliff Trail sees alot of down traffic. This trail is directly across the road from the access road to Ethan Pond; therefore the DOT has been plowing an area for cars to park at the head of this road.