Granite Mountain, Granite Mountain - Winter — Thursday, Mar. 7, 2013

Snoqualmie Region > Snoqualmie Pass

Perfect day for a snow climb up Granite Mountain--sunny, warm, almost no wind. And low avalanche danger! Ice and snow from the parking lot upward. Some bare patches on the trail for first half mile or so, but beyond that, all snow all the time. Sometimes a few inches, sometimes deeper than my hips, all sorts of texture and consistency. Very frustrating at times. I tried crampons early on when I was slipping at the avalanche chute, then just post-holed every step for ten minutes. In frustration I switched to snow shows but mine are not right for steep climbs, so I could not toe-in properly and slid back a lot. Went vertical for a few hundred yards on left edge of the avalanche chute in tracks made on prior days (snow compressed somewhat meant less post-holing), then headed left and uphill through the remains of the trees. Above treeline, crossed over the ridge a bit in search of better snow (Aided largely by the very helpful Paul, who passed me on trail and led the rest of the way after I was ready to call it quits because of all the back-sliding. Glad he was there and I finally topped out.) All in all, took me 5 hours up and about 2 down. Glorious day up there--some sparse clouds moved in to spoil some pictures but mostly very clear. Some real steep sections, but the snow was not solid enough for an ice axe to arrest, making sliding always a belly to the mountain affair on descent (and when the snow balled in my crampons, I slid a lot). Compared to my two climbs from Paradise to Muir (higher altitude and greater elevation gain but a more defined trail), this was considerably tougher and took longer. Funny, two adjacent signs at the trailhead indicate that it's about 1,800 (I forget the exact altitude) and 2,000 ft above sea level. I adjusted my altimeter watch to split the difference at about 1,880, and it registered about 5,780 at the summit--about 150 ft higher than the actual elevation. Ah well.