Trip Report
Alpine Scramble - Silver King
A very pleasant scramble, although visibility was poor and glissading conditions weren't great. Fortunately, the freezing level was low, so all the precipitation was snow.
Fritz Klein
- Sat, Apr 28, 2018
- Alpine Scramble - Silver King
- Silver King
- Scrambling
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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In many places the snow is still quite soft. This caused us some difficulty between about 6200' and 6400' on the NE ridge. It might have been better to access the ridge at around 6600', which is where we left the ridge on our descent. We saw a couple of places where there had been small recent avalanches, probably during the sunny days earlier in the week. There are still some unstable slopes to watch out for.
It was cloudy all day with frequent snow showers and infrequent wind. All in all, the conditions were pleasant, but it was disappointing not to be able to see Rainier. We wound up accessing the NE ridge of Silver King from the east, gaining the ridge at about 6100'. The soft snow on the steep part of the ridge made progress difficult.
Although the conditions weren't ideal, we all got to practice various snow skills, and it was also a good experience for navigation.