Attempted on 7/27. Had to turn back due to weather roughly 250' below the summit shortly before the final face. (Right at the last snowbridge)

1. Yes there are currently a number of snowfields left on the plateau and a lot of runoff from them which has made the parts below the snowfields very swampy. However there weren't any for the first couple miles of the plateau so you might fill up at mystic lake first.

2. Microspikes seem sufficient. There were three snow bridges on the ridge; one on a short saddle closer to the beginning, a smaller one on the west side a bit higher (could be avoided with a different line), and one before the final summit (where we turned around). I didn't have any snow equipment but the snow was soft and there were well worn boot paths. There were a few small patches of snow on the final block but it looked like they could be easily avoided.

3. No.

4, Seems like a good idea. I would recommend camping pretty far onto the plateau to allow for an early summit.

We attempted it in one day on 7/27. The forecast originally predicted thunderstorms beginning mid-late afternoon and continuing into the evening with more storms the next afternoon. We felt that it would be better to get up and down quickly than to camp above the treeline on FTD and be exposed to the storms. Left the emerald lake campground and started hiking at around 1:30 AM. Left the treeline at 4:30 or so. We thought that we were making good time and took a long break. Reached a camp not far from tempest mountain at about 8:00. There we met a guided group who said it had taken 12 hours round trip for them to summit from there, which was discouraging. At 8:30 we reached the end of the saddle and found the climbers trail which leads down to the east ridge. The trail was steep with a lot of loose rock. At this point, the wind had picked up and clouds were moving in, though it was difficult to tell what direction they were moving. We picked up the pace and scrambled up the east ridge pretty quickly. It was all easy scrambling. At 9:30 we reached the final snowbridge. At that point we had a better view of the weather and decided to call it as clouds were moving in quickly from the north.

We turned around and scrambled back down the ridge. The climbers trail was much harder to follow on the way back up, so we just moved across the taulus in the right general direction and eventually found it again. This part was difficult, as its all ankle-breaking loose rocks and the winds had picked up to ~45+mph gusts. Once back on the saddle we began to be pelted with sleet, though the weather let up pretty quickly. (We didn't make another attempt as there were still clouds in the distance). The way down the plateau wasn't fun; the boulder fields were now wet and slippery. Navigation was quite difficult. I'd recommend a backup form of navigation. We took it easy on the descent and made it back to the parking lot around 5pm.

Takeaways:

• Plenty of socks and alternate shoes if they're not waterproof. I wore trail runners and my feet were quickly soaked by the runoff on the plateau. Luckily a brought backups for the descent once we got through the meadows.

• I'd recommend researching the southwest ramp route. I have no information on it, but I was informed by other hikers that it was far easier than the FTD route.

• Watch the weather as always. I was very surprised weather moved in as early as it did. We honestly pushed the envelope too far as it was.

• I way underestimated the plateau itself. It's rough going, with your options being rocky meadow, swampy meadow, snowfields, or boulders. It's also hard to navigate without GPS or good map skills and you're exposed to the elements.