Has anyone done the Sawtooth ridge in winter? I was tring to do both mountains soon but with a good snow amount. I heard it is harder than it looks. Any info would be great. Thanks
Has anyone done the Sawtooth ridge in winter? I was tring to do both mountains soon but with a good snow amount. I heard it is harder than it looks. Any info would be great. Thanks
Attempted it a few late Novembers ago. Sketchy when there is little snow on the "connector". Take a trekin ice pic for sure. I heard its a lot easier with more snow, but never done it then.
Did the traverse last June. Just a little snow left then. From the pass to summit was 2 hrs, to Evans summit was 4ish, then another 4ish back around and down through the willows (which suck a lot but avoid going back over the sawtooth and Bierstadt).
Our group of 4 in shape guys got slowed by one person with AMS and took 10 hours. I would guess that a fast group without issue takes 8 hours in summer. I would guess that winter would be more like a 12 hour day but glissading might cut this down as would skis. Bring 4l of water per person or more - remember that almost your entire day is spent above tree line and above 13,000.
With enough snow for solid footing the Sawtooth shouldn't be a big deal but ice axes, crampons and knowing how to use them would be needed (big exposure here). The sawtooth looked a lot worse than it was from Bierstadt's summit. Solid snow would be an improvement on summers lose rock and dirt. IMHO, Sean
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