High Sierra Topix

King Col Alternates?

https://caltopo.com/m/M4VH7

Anyone tried any of these? Just looking at topos and Google Earth it looks like there may be a few alternates that may be safer options going northbound, but I can't find any info online. Alt 1 seems like it might have a short 3/4 section crossing the second saddle, personally I'd probably rather take my chances on a less exposed up-climb than a super sketch down-climb. But if that's not possible, Alt 2 looks pretty straightforward, or worst case take Alt 3 all the way down. My only concern is that these seem somewhat obvious so is there a reason that King Col is the standard route?

Those north facing slopes up from Castle Domes are avalanche chutes. I think getting up these may be as important to check out as King Col itself.

Here are two photos. I am not sure exactly which chute is shown in the first photo. The second is the broad gully from Woods Creek. Sorry the photos are not better. The photos are 2011. There may be more avalanche debris in other chutes after this last year's snow. The second photo does not show what it would be like getting up into the valley from Woods Creek.

After studying Google Earth it appears the first picture is the chute just east of the decent from King Col, I'd be aiming for the one to the west, which looks a bit more slabby at the bottom.

I think the second photo is along the PCT part way up to Rae Lakes looking back at Pyramid peak.

Thanks for the photos though, it was fun trying to match them up to their locations

haven't been myself but Skurka talks a fair bit about Alt 1 and Alt 3 in the comments here - search for "King Col Central" https://andrewskurka.com/eye-candy-thru ... sin-route/

Thanks, great info!