Hey guys,
I'm thinking about attempting Frosty Mountain (Manning Park) in a couple of weeks but could use some words of advice. Has anyone tried this in winter? It's supposed to be quite easy in summer, but what about a snowshoe or boot/crampon ascent? I know the snow has been pretty lousy this year so far, which may actually work in my favour. I don't have format avalanche training, so that's my biggest concern right now. Am I foolish for giving it a shot?
Thanks!
Marlaina
I've done the higher West Summit before in Winter (not the regular hikers summit)... it wasn't particularly hard, just a long ways for a day with short daylight. That said, that route would be doable on snowshoes (with some on foot scrambling for the last couple hundred vertical metres to the summit). As far as I know, the hiking trail to the usual summit is fine too on snowshoes. That said, I wouldn't go to either summit without proper avalanche gear and with everyone in the party knowing how to use it.
Geoff's advice is good. You really should have avalanche training if you want to go to the summit.
Other than that, it's definitely doable in winter, but it's a long day, and it's easy to get lost in the trees.
Thanks for the advice, guys. ill save Frosty for another time. I am planning on doing avalanche training this year, but it just hasn't been offered a whole lot for snowshoers yet this year.
Any recommendations on peaks that can be done safely in Winter (preferably this weekend) without avalanche training? Snowshoe or boot/crampon ascents are good, but I don't ski. I bet there must be some routes where the terrain is simply not suitable for avalanche! :-)
We just skied Frosty last w/e. We went up and down the north face on snow. The hiking trail to the larches has no avalanche danger. The last bit of trail up to the east ridge is pretty much bare rock. There is 30 cm new snow reported this week but I think it unlikely to make the hiking trail prone to avalanche. I put some photos on ClubTread under the title "Frosty Mountain E1 NF ski".