[pct-l] PCT Snow vs Winter Mountaineering

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

I don't have a lot of winter or snow experience but you are  
absolutely right about all those steep side slopes. That's  
practically all the PCT is. It took me until somewhere around Glenn  
Pass to have my V8 moment: Duh! This is a "Crest Trail." That's why  
it's always up so high.

I had a fantasy much of the way through So Cal anyway that I would  
design the Pacific Appropriate Trail where the trail would go through  
canyons so there was always plenty of fresh water and stay in the  
trees in the Sierras so you could enjoy the wildflowers and pretty  
meadows.

Diane

On Dec 9, 2011, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> I feel at home in the mountains in winter with crampons/ice axe/ 
> snowshoes.
> I feel at home on the PCT in the summer when I've been in 50% snow  
> situations.
> In the winter, not on the PCT, I'm usually going up or coming down.
> What makes me nervous is when I'm on a steep side slope.
> The PCT seems to have tons of steep side slope.
> So even for a person who feels comfortable with snow, I would still
> be worried, if it was myself. Of course snow conditions vary so  
> widely over the course
> of hours that it's hard to imagine saying anything definitive.
>
> Can someone else give me their opinion. I'm kind of ignorant on the  
> situation.
>
> Comfy