Diamond Lake, OR - Mount Thielsen, West Ridge

Mt.Thielsen from the East with high winds whipping up snow on the ridge

As a continuation of the "Cascade Volcano Quest" this easy summer summit turned out to be an all out winter conditions festival in May. We had the mountain to ourselves but with 30+ mph winds, lots of fresh snow and a mid-week ascent I should think so. The climb took us about 8 hours round trip with about 10+ miles and 4000 feet covered for a great training day. We finally broke through the clouds after navigating in cloudy and foggy conditions up to the 8000' mark. We took the MSR Lightening snowshoes and they worked great for the whole trek. They are lightweight and have a secure "cookie cutter" vertical frame rail that provides amazing traction for alpine climbing, hard pack and steep terrain without the need for us to have to use crampons.

Westy has a few more days of snow before summer

Weather looks like crap but let's just see how far we can go...

Lots of white stuff but still having fun

Winds pick up and the ninja suit comes on

Getting serious 30mph plus gusts that almost knock us over

Still makin tracks

She finally shows herself

Hard pack and wind scoured

Time and alti check

Very sweet ridge line to trot up

Cool rime snow ghost formations on the conifers

Heading to the summit block