Any fun ridges/scrambles around truckee to climb in winter?

I feel like the title is self explanatory. Have mountaineering boots and that type of thing. 

Castle Peak --> Basin Peak --> Peter Grubb Hut --> Andesite Peak (or reverse direction) is fun. Probably involves some postholing with the recent dump of snow.

Mt. Lola is also a good one. Might be difficult to get to the trailhead depending on what type of vehicle you have.

Truckee & Lake Tahoe are surrounded by grand ski -mountaineering peaks that are ascended until late Spring . Rent or buy  back-country ski gear .

Mike Morley wrote:

Castle Peak --> Basin Peak --> Peter Grubb Hut --> Andesite Peak (or reverse direction) is fun. Probably involves some postholing with the recent dump of snow.

Mt. Lola is also a good one. Might be difficult to get to the trailhead depending on what type of vehicle you have.

Cool thanks! Is this technical at all?

Gerald Adams wrote:

Truckee & Lake Tahoe are surrounded by grand ski -mountaineering peaks that are ascended until late Spring . Rent or buy  back-country ski gear .

Woah, thanks

Bug Boy wrote:

Cool thanks! Is this technical at all?

Not technical, but I can't attest to current conditions. Maybe someone more "local" can chime in.

Any ridge scrambles around Tahoe are going to involve winter mountaineering skills until well into spring. Approaching any said ridges will require a backcountry setup or snowshoes. Conditions found on said ridges are fully alpine right now. Even a "non technical" outing will involve some shenanigans. This isn't really the time of year for scrambling. 

David A wrote:

Any ridge scrambles around Tahoe are going to involve winter mountaineering skills until well into spring. Approaching any said ridges will require a backcountry setup or snowshoes. Conditions found on said ridges are fully alpine right now. Even a "non technical" outing will involve some shenanigans. This isn't really the time of year for scrambling. 

I think my parents are getting me an ice axe for Christmas so I should be all set 

 How the hell did you do all the ice Climbs in your tick list without an ice ax.

 Are you trolling us? What type of Scrambling are you specifically looking for? Rock? steep snow?

splitclimber wrote:

 How the hell did you do all the ice Climbs in your tick list without an ice ax.

 Are you trolling us? What type of Scrambling are you specifically looking for? Rock? steep snow?

haha yeah, i was just kidding. just out here with the family for the week and the only gear I could bring in my carry on was my mountaineering boots but I could borrow an axe if needed. I prefer rock, comfortable soloing up to 5.6ish in my boots in snowy conditions. Honestly just need something to get out of the house and keep my sanity through the holidays. The hike/traverse mentioned earlier in the thread seems sufficient. I have snowshoes (i know, i know) for flotation but no access to skiis. 

Most everything will be deep snow slogging. Castle Peak and Donner Peak have little rocky summit outcrops.  School rock at Donner may be your best bet even if it's the lower angle slabs on the far left side.  

A few options mentioned above would work. Just S of Billy's peak to 8761 is about as ridge traversy as it gets in Truckee but it's a solid walk back there in snowshoes. If you were to go further afield, just rock climb, or ski mountaineer, your options would increase significantly.

A backcountry ski setup is advised for just about anything in the Tahoe area. There are very few technical summits and most of the peaks are popular for skiing. Don’t be that person postholing or snowshoeing in the skin track.

grubbers wrote:

………Don’t be that person postholing or snowshoeing in the skin track.

Exactly! Nothing more annoying than that.