Trap Dike (summer) 

Fantastic route, makes for a great (but LONG) day in the mountains. About 13 miles total. If you have GPS or an altimeter, exit the dike around 3650-3700' to gain the upper slabs. Angle up and right until you can see the summit. Rock shoes are nice on the slab, especially if wet, but certainly not essential. Gear + rope would be overkill.

If you exit early, the route is easy 5th class with rock shoes recommended. Don't Fall!

much fun. Exited right immediately after the second waterfall by the island of birch trees. Some fun 5th class. Spicy without climbing shoes, but not absolutely needed. I aimed for the islands of trees to take breaks from the exposure. Would not recommend without gear if damp.

Incredible climb. The views, scrambling, and exposure are all excellent.

I highly recommend the 1990 slide on the other side of Colden for a descent. It makes for a real adventuresome day.

hopefully someone will post a winter version of the trap dike, im trying to gain some knowledge on the best time of season to go for it (avoiding avalanche) ive heard its a fantastic winter ascent

Jaysen,

The Trap Dike(winter)

Regarding avalanche risk. Early and late season when it's not packed with snow are best. Consequently, that's when the climbing is best because you actually get to climb ice and not just slog through snow. That said, early and late season doesn't eliminate avalanche risk. It all depends on a myriad of factors.

There are times where a weather event will create a blanket "no go" for any avalanche terrain (or anything subject to the runout from that terrain). Rock and River runs an ice report on their website during the winter and is good about noting these periods. As well, NEIce will usually be abuzz and the DEC will note these periods as well. It's important to note though that the DEC does not do forecasting/observation like the snow rangers in the White Mountains in NH.

The best thing to do is to take the AIARE Level I course and it will cover the basics and give you a toolset to make more informed decisions. I believe the MountainFest in Keene Valley always offers an abbreviated Level I course and I know PetraCliffs in Burlington, VT runs a few full Level I courses in the winter.

the dike is fine post-Irene. I'd be nervous if the upper slabs were wet.

Climbed it today, exiting via the new slide. This was my first time doing it. Like the previous link said, all trees and other vegetation in the dike are gone. It was also chossy enough that we wished we'd brought helmets.

We kept looking for an exit out right but never saw something that looked enticing. Not sure if Irene changed that or if we didn't look hard enough (probably the latter).

We ended up exiting onto the new slide. There were a couple of ways to get up on it; both had one or more moves of easy 5th with real fall potential. Not too experienced in ADK slab grades but I suppose the top was 4th going on 5th. It steepens up in the last 100 feet or so.

did this back in early October. Was my first time there so can't compare pre and post Irene. Only a couple of climbing moves required in the dike itself. Exited a fair ways up (not at the first exit point) on two diagonal cracks that brought me onto the slab. Irene may have changed to route enough to make earlier descriptions difficult to apply.
Brought my climbing shoes just in case, but never put them on. On the slabs toward the top, it gets a bit thoughtful at times.
left camp at Colden Dam around 7:30 and topped out on Colden around 9:45. Chilled out for about an hour on the top to recover, eat and relax then descended and then hiked to the top of Marcy on the same day. (a long, but memorable day)

Does anyone know if there any way to exit at the top without climbing over the bushes? I looked for an opening, but never found it.

Like many of the backcountry slides, this one was changed considerably by Hurricane Irene on August 28, 2011. In addition to the devastating floods that hit the region, the landscape of the backcountry was significantly changed, including the west face of Mt. Colden. A new slide was created that extends from the top of the Trap Dike to the summit of Mt. Colden. The debris scoured the dike, stripping it clean of vegetation and dumping the resultant slurry into a debris cone that extends halfway across Avalanche Lake. Not only did this create a new (and most excellent) slide climb, but it improved the exposed alpine feel of the dike itself, making this modest scramble feel like a "big mountain" route.

Enter the dike as normal and climb past the second waterfall (crux). The easiest climbing is in the water. There are no longer any trees, so if you need a rope, you'll also need gear to establish anchors. Above this, the walls of the dike are now totally visible and obvious, and you can easily find the traditional place to exit the dike onto the Colden Slide to the right. For the new slide, continue up the dike to its top where a clean, white slide enters on the right. The rock is beautiful, white, dimpled, and awesome, if not a little sandy on the feet. Unlike the Colden Slide, this new slide is unbroken—-no tree islands or other features; imagine an endless parking lot tipped on an incline. There are three bulges where care is needed, the steepest at the very top. From there, walk 40' up to the trail, then 100' right to the summit.

For the Colden Slide, if you aim properly, you can climb directly to the perched boulder on the summit, so no bashing through bushes is necessary. The new 2011 slide ends 40' shy of the trail, so there's a minimal bushwhack at the top. Because of the scouring of the dike and complete absence of vegetation, the only bushwhack you'll encounter is going around the south end of Avalanche Lake to reach the dike itself.

Both slides can be 3rd classed by competent climbers in approach shoes (with sticky rubber); no rope or gear necessary. It can easily be done in a casual day from the car.

I just read a report that there is now apparently 'a bolt and piece of climbing line at the crux' ...

The above comment was posted here:
www.adkhighpeaks.com/forums/showthread.php?p=198270

This feature was hiked/scrambled in 1850 with no such aids. Unless it's some sort of official rescue thing, I hope it gets removed ASAP.

In reading that thread Jim, it sounds as though the object in question may actually be a pin with some tat rather than a bolt and fixed line. Still not necessary, but more easily remedied than a bolt and fixed line...

climbed on 7-22. there is a piton with webbing at the crux on the right side of the waterfall...no bolt no rope. reading the thread the guy clearly has no idea what a bolt looks like or what rope is. i will give him credit for making it up though.