UKH

It would be great to hear from any folks who have been on Ama Dablam climbing independently in early Spring before season's lines are fixed etc. We plan on hiring agency to provide porters and yak support to base camp but then will be climbing independently and so there is no guarantee that any new ropes will be in place and there may still be a lot of snow.. just interested to hear any experiences. Interestingly one option the agency suggested is that we fix line from Camp 1 through the technical challenges to Camp 2 so that we can have climbing porter support to establish camp and come down to rest but I am wary of fixing line on a popular trade route and want to be respectful of the local guides who normally set the ropes - I imagine they may not be enthusiastic about this! Anyone able to share experiences of an alpine style ascent? 

It's rarely climbed in spring pre-monsoon (spring). Occasionally a Sherpa company will fix it and guide it then if they have enough clients but mostly it's climbed post-monsoon in Oct-Nov. The weather below 7000m is much better at this time of year.

A climbing partner tried it one April - cloudy, constant afternoon snow, generally unstable. Soft snow on rock.

I heard that it's mainly guided post monsoon because most of the commercial outfits are busy on Everest in the Spring! But interesting to hear your partner had poor conditions..

No, that's why they guide Manaslu in the post-monsoon, despite that not being the best season for it.

Sub-7000m snow conditions are often poor in pre-monsoon Nepal. Lingering winter snow melting, no refreezing, clouds building up from late-April to start of monsoon, getting warmer and cloudier when you want it to be clearer and colder.

Anyway, if you want the stats check the Himalayan Database.