14er this weekend... No snow?

[ClydetheClimber]

Hey everyone. I was just wondering if anybody knew which of the 14ers has the least amount of snow on its summit/around the top. I'm going this weekend (May 20th or 21st), and I would like to hike a mountain with minimal snow. And by minimal, I just mean any amount that doesn't require crampons or snowshoes or anything like that. Any accurate info would be appreciated, and I do understand that all summits likely have a decent amount of snow on them right now.

I was thinking maybe Pikes? I can't decide from the recent trip report pictures if I would need all the snow gear. Thanks.

[mattpayne11]

Most of the mountains have tons of snow on them right now. It is a (near) record year for snowpack. I think Pikes Peak may be a good bet. Not sure about Quandary, etc. I saw Shavano had a fairly good melt, and is always a good early season choice by way of the Angel. Good luck!

[jagiammaria]

Not sure about Quandary, etc.

My brother climbed Quandary yesterday and told me there was snow the entire way to the top. He carried snowshoes, but I'm not sure how much he actually used them.

[Yikes]

Shavano had a bit on new snow from the storm on sat/sun. And I imagine more snow will fall tonight.

[peter303]

Does anyone in this forum ever look outside their windows?

[Toni Marie]

I'm currently looking at Pike's, and there's a decent amount of gray up there. I'd suggest bringing Microspikes, but I don't think you'd need snowshoes. However, this is just my observation from my window; I haven't heard from anyone who's actually climbed it recently. Unfortunately, most of the mountains are supposed to get snow throughout this week starting this afternoon, so you'll be hard-pressed to find any routes w/o snow.

[halestorm]

A friend and I went up Pikes from Crags on Monday morning. The trail is 99% snow free to treeline. There is a relatively consistent blanket of snow & ice from treeline to summit, but barring any new snow this week the trail/route is tracked out and postholing on the way up and down was a non-issue. We had snowshoes and microspikes with us and never used either (although I would still recommend taking microspikes just in case). LMK if you need any more beta.

[ClydetheClimber]

Thanks for the info..... yeah it looks like a decent amount of snow is going to be unavoidable. Oh well, still probably gonna go for Pikes and just come prepared.