Peak Condition Update | Wetterhorn Peak

Peak:	Wetterhorn Peak
Route:	Southeast Ridge
Range:	San Juan
Posted By:	Chris and Mindy
Date of Info:	6/30/2015
Date Posted:	7/1/2015

Details
We hiked the Southeast Ridge of Wetterhorn 6/30/15 with absolutely perfect weather. We were able to drive our Camry to the "lower" trailhead at 10,300 which is 0.7miles from the official trailhead. There are a few slushy snowfields along the trail just below the ridge that caused us to posthole ~10 times. We found gaiters to be helpful but neither snowshoes nor crampons/ice axe were needed. We brought helmets but didn't use them as there were few other climbers and we were never climbing below them. The ridge itself and the class 3 sections up higher were completely snow free and the rock was very stable. We carried our drone with us and filmed a few sections of the route. We met a few fellow climbers that wanted to see the footage and we promised to share the videos on a trip/conditions report here. So, as promised, you can see the videos which have nice shots of the conditions at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMjyQ3OsCfM or youtube search "Wetterhorn Drone" and see 5 videos posted by MTS Drone.

Details

We hiked the Southeast Ridge of Wetterhorn 6/30/15 with absolutely perfect weather. We were able to drive our Camry to the "lower" trailhead at 10,300 which is 0.7miles from the official trailhead. There are a few slushy snowfields along the trail just below the ridge that caused us to posthole ~10 times. We found gaiters to be helpful but neither snowshoes nor crampons/ice axe were needed. We brought helmets but didn't use them as there were few other climbers and we were never climbing below them. The ridge itself and the class 3 sections up higher were completely snow free and the rock was very stable.

We carried our drone with us and filmed a few sections of the route. We met a few fellow climbers that wanted to see the footage and we promised to share the videos on a trip/conditions report here. So, as promised, you can see the videos which have nice shots of the conditions at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMjyQ3OsCfM or youtube search "Wetterhorn Drone" and see 5 videos posted by MTS Drone.

Comments or Questions

rijaca	Drones in Wilderness Areas 7/1/2015 5:45pm UAS are considered to be both "motorized equipment" and "mechanical transport" as such they cannot take off from, land in, or be operated from congressionally designated Wilderness Areas. http://www.fs.fed.us/science–technology/fire/unmanned–aircraft–systems/responsible–use
Flood	wah... 7/2/2015 5:39am Kudos on he drone shots...I’d like to see some footage
B_2	Drones on mtns 7/2/2015 9:34am We thought it was pretty cool, and Mindy & Chris were very polite about using it, only flying it for short amounts of time and making sure we were ok with the noise. We saw no harm in it, as you are typically climbing with the noise of other around people anyway, but I could see how some people may not appreciate that level of technology on the mountain. Same whoop–de–doo some made about cell phones back in the day, IMHO...
r_grizz	Basin Conditions 7/2/2015 10:58am Did you guys notice the conditions in the basin between Wetterhorn and Uncompahgre? I’m heading down tonight and wanting to hit the loop in the morning. Just wondering if I should bother with snowshoes at all? Thanks.
Chris and Mindy	_ 7/2/2015 2:35pm rijaca: Thanks for pointing out the drone restrictions––we were unaware of this. From now on we will only fly outside of wilderness areas. We apologize for our mistake and hope that we can all continue to climb safely in the mountains and enjoy the wilderness areas as intended. r_grizz: the basin between Wetterhorn and Uncompaghre did not have a lot of snow in it. It would be easy to avoid the few snowfields that are there, and I would not bring snowshoes for that hike.

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