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Cascade, porter, dial, nippletop

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  • Cascade, porter, dial, nippletop

    Hello all,
    A group of us are doing two day hikes next weekend. One being Cascade and Porter, the second being dial and nippletop. Just wondering what the conditions have been and if snow shoes are needed. Is the nippletop slide able to be climbed this time of year just using microspikes? If anyone has any cool off trail areas for those mountains please let me know, much appreciated!

  • #2
    I don't think snowshoes are needed anywhere quite yet.

    Bad idea tackling any slide in this transition season with just microspikes. Any slide that has ice requires crampons. More importantly, it requires ice climbing experience. Nippletop slide was the scene of a recent VERY serious accident.

    Off trail options are limited for Nippletop and Dial, due to the private land on the AMR side. If you know the route, a bushwhack down Gravestone Brook to the Dix trail is cool.

    There are bushwhacks to be done from Cascade and Porter, but they are challenging, and I would not recommend any of them unless you have experience with that sort of thing. Especially this time of year - unpredictable conditions, dark at 4:30.

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    • #3
      Thanks TCD, do you have any experience with Elks Pass? Is that portion of Nippletop as bad as the slide or much easier? Thanks.

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      • #4
        Sure. Like a lot of folks here, I have been up Nippletop via the trail from Elk Pass, and also via the slide. A marked trail is ALWAYS technically easier than a nearby slide. The trail up from Elk Pass is steep. But the steepness is mostly a long series of big steps to relatively flat rocks. Microspikes will probably be sufficient, and there is not much potential for long falls. The slide is similarly steep, but not broken up into steps. Thick ice, and the potential for long sliding falls (and death) are present on the slide, and that's why it requires crampons and climbing experience.

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        • #5
          cpoit,

          I recently became aware that my micro-spikes, Hillsound Freesteps, have smaller spikes than others. The Freesteps have 6.35mm spikes. They do have twenty one spikes per foot though.

          Hillsound Trail Crampons (which slip over your shoe like other micro-spikes, not clamping on like crampons) have spikes that are 15mm. Eleven spikes per foot.

          Kahtoola microspikes are 10mm. Twelve spikes per foot.

          I am not suggesting you choose micro-spikes over crampons for your adventures; just sharing that it was news to me that not all micro-spikes are equal. We have done trail ice with our Freesteps and they definitely provide an advantage but we may replace them with their toothier big brothers.

          Oh, and please share a trip report. We are looking at Dial & Nippletop too. Were supposed to head out Thanksgiving weekend but it did not work out.
          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
          Eyes on the Forest, not on the Trees

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          • #6
            FWIW, the two front teeth of the Hillsound Trail Crampon are slightly longer than its other teeth. Every little bit helps when you're ascending.


            Front teeth: Trail Crampon vs Microspikes.
            Thoughts on these as an alternative to Kahtoola or Hillsound spikes? They're a tad heavier, but may be more secure with the additional plate on the ball of the
            Looking for views!

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            • #7
              Originally posted by tenderfoot View Post
              cpoit,

              I recently became aware that my micro-spikes, Hillsound Freesteps, have smaller spikes than others. The Freesteps have 6.35mm spikes. They do have twenty one spikes per foot though.

              Hillsound Trail Crampons (which slip over your shoe like other micro-spikes, not clamping on like crampons) have spikes that are 15mm. Eleven spikes per foot.

              Kahtoola microspikes are 10mm. Twelve spikes per foot.

              I am not suggesting you choose micro-spikes over crampons for your adventures; just sharing that it was news to me that not all micro-spikes are equal. We have done trail ice with our Freesteps and they definitely provide an advantage but we may replace them with their toothier big brothers.

              Oh, and please share a trip report. We are looking at Dial & Nippletop too. Were supposed to head out Thanksgiving weekend but it did not work out.
              Thanks for the info, I have the Kahtoola's but didn't know all spikes are different. My buddy found spikes that slip on over your shoes and are not quite crampons but better than micros for ice, I forget the brand name. I've used them multiple times after trying to use yaktraks (garbage) doing the ultra 6er challenge in December a few years back. I had to stop in the middle of the climbs and hit the EMS in Lake Placid to get actual micros to complete the mountains! We may take a peak at the slide and make a determination from there, broken limbs or death is not something I have in the plans, at least not for this trip. I'll type a trip report for you when finished. THANKS ALL FOR THE INFO.

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