I know it is quite dangerous at the summit during a Thunderstorm, but what if you are a few thousand feet lower in elevation, is it still just as dangerous? I plan to stay overnight Friday at Consultation lake, but don't want to risk it if its still really dangerous at that level. I plan to arrive around 2-3pm and just hang out for a while and fall asleep early to summit very early Saturday. Can anyone with experience provide some guidance?
I don't think the current forecast (as of this moment) is strong enough to warrant avoiding being up there Friday night, but if an actual thunderstorm starts up, you should hightail it out of there. The entire zone about the treeline is a lightning hazard. Lightning risk is a sliding scale, there are no objectively safe places that high up in the mountains. See the graphic here:
https://www.climbing.com/skills/learn-this-laws-of-lightning/Here's an article about people getting struck in their tent at Guitar Lake:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-19326042
