summit conditions?

[edorsh]

Has anyone been to the summit recently? I was wondering what the conditions were like? I went up 2.5 weeks ago and you couldn't even find Barr trail there was so much snow. I would really like to start at the summit and run down to Barr Camp soon. Thank you.

[Mark]

I am planning on A-frame from the bottom this weekend and BTMR the following weekend. Hope to spend the next few weekends until the race on top...
Will this work out???
Anybody been up there???

[Yoni Fridman]

I hiked Pikes from the Crags/Northwest route yesterday.  On that route, there was only one small snowfield that was trivial to walk across, and the rest was dry.

I haven't been on Barr above treeline, but folks I asked yesterday at the summit said they had to cross 3 or 4 snowfields, but it wasn't a big deal.  I also found this source for updates on trail conditions:  https://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=95183826053

Hope that helps!

[windy902]

I ran the whole trail this morning and there are 2 snowy 'fields' that you have to cross within the last mile, roughly 20 yards? long. It is definitely passable, but I took extra caution when crossing... I didn't want to slide down who knows how far and get hurt. 

[Jasper]

I broke down and went bottom to top on Saturday. Wow, do I need the Altitude.

I counted over 100 total steps in snow. Almost all are not in any kind of 'deep' snow, but you are generally at the top of a sheet of snow you would NOT want to fall/slide down, and the 'Path' over the top of these sheets of snow is generally not more than 8-12inches wide. I did not look down, and made every effort to put my feet exactly where they should go.
I went through in the 9-10am range, finishing about 9:45am, and jumped on the 1st Train down. At that time, the paths were stable, but already slightly slushy. Air Temp at the top was only 31-32, but the Sun on Saturday made it feel SO much warmer, I had no need for the jacket or gloves.

The first Snow-Free day on Barr Trail in 2009 was July 19th... http://skyrunner.com/snowpeak.htm
Barr Trail Mtn Race is next Sunday, so go Saturday or go SUPER Early Sunday if you want to start at the bottom and see if there's Snow at the Top.
Happy Training!

[jemahon]

On Monday June 20, the only half bad area was at the bottom of the downhill/dip in the trail a few minutes from the finish.  I counted 53 "baby steps" as I slowly made sure the foot I was placing down was not going to slide or sink before I picked up the trailing foot.

[Mark]

Was up on the summit this morning for a 3-2-1 workout and a couple of stud runners were shoveling and picking the snow that was left on the trail. looked to be about 4 to 5 feet deep, they had a pretty good chunk knocked out when I had to leave early due to training partner having a pretty nasty fall about 2 mile. Thanks guys for working on the trail, hopefully will be totally clear come race day!   

[Mark]

Trail up top is almost totally clear, just about a 10' section with 6 to 8" snow, really not a factor at this point. Should be totally melted by raceday, unless it snows! Several volunteers up there clearing some of the larger rocks out of the way as well. Thanks guys, we appreciate it! Almost there, getting psyched!

[Seth Jayson]

Any opinions on how the rest of the trail look in terms of footwear necessary? I'm thinking of going with a fairly flat-soled road shoe for the ascent, as it's light and going up, at least last year, I didn't feel like I needed a lot of traction -- as opposed to the downhill, where the risks of sliding out (and the potential falldown fallout) are greater. For the marathon, I'll go a more cushioned trail shoe. I learned my lesson last year with a more minimal shoe that had good traction but not nearly enough shock absorption for the down.

[Mark]

The trail has more erosion than last year in several spots but in my opinion not overly excessive, whatever shoes you wore last year and are happy with should be fine again this year.