Ascent of Mount Grant on 2013-11-15| Others in Party: | David Barnhill
Jeremy Hall
| | Date: | Friday, November 15, 2013 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Motorized Transport to Trailhead: | Helicopter | | Peak: | Mount Grant | | Location: | USA-Nevada | | Elevation: | 11280 ft / 3438 m |
Ascent Trip ReportThis summit was a long-anticipated bonus activity during a Navy Helicopter Mountain Flying School event. I've been hoping to summit Grant in this fashion for over 2 years, and we finally made it happen. After flying for over 2 hours in the back of the helicopter, we finally caught a break in the clouds to get above the weather that had socked in most of the mountain. There is an established zone around 10,300', but I was confident after looking at maps and scouting the area that we could safely land at a higher zone around 10,600'. The crew dropped Jeremy, Dave, and me off at the newly discovered LZ, and we started making our way uphill. The true summit was not visible, but we headed for the high ridgeline. A steep, rocky/snowy climb went quickly, even though our lungs were not ready to struggle at 11,000'. After about 15min, we reached the ridgeline, and after a slow hike over the sharp rocky ridge, I found a suitable spot to scramble the last 20-30ft of elevation to the true summit. Dave made it to the scramble, but because he was hiking in flight boots, opted out of a tricky final push. Views of the ground were non-existent because of the clouds, but it made for a magical scene nonetheless, especially watching the helicopter circle the peak, tracking our progress. We quickly made our way back down to the helicopter, just in time to meet our minimum fuel for return. It may not be the long hike up from the town below, but a quick summit still felt like a victory for me. |
| Summary Total Data | | Total Elevation Gain: | 680 ft / 207 m | | Total Elevation Loss: | 680 ft / 207 m | | Quality: | 4 (on a subjective 1-10 scale) | | Route Conditions: | Open Country, Snow on Ground, Exposed Scramble | | Weather: | Cold, Breezy, Low Clouds
Overcast layer below summit, clear skies above. | | Ascent Statistics | | Gain on way in: | 680 ft / 207 m | | Distance: | 0.8 mi / 1.3 km | | Route: | North Slope | | Start Trailhead: | HLZ 10600 ft / 3230 m | | Time: | 30 Minutes | | Descent Statistics | | Loss on way out: | 680 ft / 207 m | | End Trailhead: | 10600 ft / 3230 m | | Time: | 20 Minutes |
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