Trip Report
Alpine Scramble - Red Mountain (Commonwealth Basin)
Turn around at about 5100' level due to hard snow and no crampons.
Charles Powrie
- Tue, Apr 30, 2019
- Alpine Scramble - Red Mountain (Commonwealth Basin)
- Red Pass & Mountain (Commonwealth Basin)
- Scrambling
- Turned Around
- Road suitable for all vehicles
-
Due to the freezing conditions overnight, snow conditions were hard packed snow for the entire route.
Parked at the ski area as the parking lot for the trailhead was full of snow. We put on our micro spikes on at the trailhead and did not take them off for the rest of the day. We followed (roughly) the commonwealth basin trail to about 4800' and then head up. At about 5000' while adjusting gear my pack when bouncing down a gully about 500', dumping some of my gear as it when. It took little more than a half hour for me down climb and back up to retrieve my pack and gear. Did not find one ski pole.
When I rejoin the group, we had a discussion about continuing due to the hard snow and lack of crampons. It was decided to turn around.
Overall it was nice day to be in the mountain even though we did not make our summit and the bouncing pack.