Thanks for the response, bobpickering. I appreciate your insight given our shared experience in Colorado. I usually tend to stick to this general rule of thumb for steep snow lines: solid freeze at tree line the night before, be off East aspects by 8-9 am, South by 9-10 am, West by 10-11 am, North by 11-Noon. So unless things are substantially different than Colorado, I would hope the snow is still fairly agreeable in late April compared to mashed potatoes. Consolidated lines in crampons/axe is pretty manageable on Colorado class 3 even if I pucker the whole way, but ice/mixed conditions on California class 3 does give me pause. Thanks for the advice. Thanks for the link to the Trip Report!
