SJ Peak conditions

[SoCalJim]

Summited today via Tamarack. Sunny and very windy. 40's and comfortable near Mountain Station, 30 and strong cold wind at the peak. Soft snow over hard layer in a lot of areas, even in the morning, and south-facing slopes are melting out fast. Even Miller and Cornell have bare areas. Used only Microspikes when I started up the steep slopes and kept them on until back on gentler terrain. A couple of other folks were up there with me and they used snowshoes most of the trek. Bolder climbers might have been comfortable just kicking steps... as long as they don't slip...

[mattytreks]

Thanks for the trip report, SoCalJim.

So having been up there recently, in your estimation do you think in the 1st or 2nd week of May that there will be a need for microspikes at all from Tram to Summit -- provided this nice warm weather keeps up?

Thanks!

[SoCalJim]

Looking at the weather forecast for the next week, it's calling for overnight lows in the 40's. Snow won't be refreezing overnight, so it's probably going to get and stay a lot softer and slushy. I'd say, if anything, might want snowshoes to keep from wading through it.