La Plata Peak

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/23/2024, By: Ejthomd
Info: Climbed the NW ridge in my trail runners to the summit. A couple of easily managed snow patches as mentioned. Skied the N face in some fantastic conditions. Dropped 9a with some warm convection cloud covered conditions. Seems to still be getting good freezes in the couloirs but the apron is very soft. The exit is bad recommend climbing up the ridge to the summer trail for the exit. 

Route: NW Ridge to ski North Face
Posted On: 6/15/2024, By: ericahlstedt
Info: NW ridge route is mostly dry. The few patches of snow are easily bypassed or have good bootpacks. No crampons or ice axe needed. North face skied as fantastic corn around 9am. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/25/2024, By: Will_E
Info: Lots of snow on LaPlata, did a variation on the standard route up a gully that slid, worked pretty well to gain the ridge just past the headwall. Ridge is holding a lot of snow, spent most of the day in snowshoes, snow was generally pretty good, wind today was not pretty good. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/20/2024, By: wmanke13
Info: The road through private property is mostly snow free to La Plata Falls, but there is quite a bit of standing water on the road. Snow intermittent snow starts at the falls and is continuous by the time you split from the trail (winter variation). Microspikes are recommended at the least from La Plata falls to the hard right hand turn towards the south. From there, snowshoes a must. I used snowshoes up to the head wall, where I exchanged them for microspikes. The route description is not kidding when it says the head wall is no joke! At the top of the head wall, snowshoes went back on all the way to the summit and back to the head wall and were crucial in the warming snow. Spikes went back on for the head wall descent, then snowshoes again until I hit patchy snow. I definitely took them off too early, so in general, it may be a good idea to keep snowshoes on longer than you think. Snow was not super supportive in the trees, even with snowshoes at 5am and was kind of a nightmare in the afternoon. 

Route: North Face
Posted On: 4/22/2024, By: slawrence2011
Info: Started just after 5, full snow coverage from TH, but melting fast on lower road. Attempted to go up the NW ridge, ski down SE gully, re-ascend and ski N face, but didn't realize that the main tracks headed toward La Plata basin for the N face route until I got to the headwall where you break out of treeline. From that point, I decided to boot up the N face, which was a poor decision given I was sinking around a foot each step due to new but stable snow. No evidence of wind drifting anywhere. Reached treeline around 8, base of couloir shortly before 11, and summit ridge around 3. It got very windy, cold, and low vis, so when I hit the ridge, I didn't summit, just transitioned as quick as I could so I wouldn't freeze. Ski down was exciting due to very low vis, I intentionally timed my sluffs to see the angle of the snow below me. Very good conditions, maybe an inch of wind drifted snow on a fairly stout but edgeable base. Visibility didn't improve significantly til I was almost in the trees. Be wary of the low snow, I triggered a loose wet about two ski widths wide, two feet deep, and a hundred feet long, I was almost caught in it, and it moved slow like a glacier. It was at around 10,500. I submitted a report on CAIC. Very trapdoor conditions down there due to not getting overnight freezes. I think it would be better if that stuff melted out, because it is getting tricky to navigate safely late in the day. 

Route: Northwest Ridge - Winter Variation
Posted On: 4/15/2024, By: lukedog
Info: My second attempt this season, this one successful. Similar to the report from the previous day, there was a good trench pretty much the whole way to the headwall. MUCH different than the last time. That portion took me 1:45 this time, while it was 4-5 hours last time with deep snow and no trench. Highly variable conditions. Lots of crusty snow before 10 am, turning mushy and unpredictable as the day warmed into the 30s and 40s. I wore boots from the car to the headwall, then microspikes to the top of the headwall, then switched to snowshoes to the summit and back down until thinning snow maybe 1/4 mile above the headwall. Then boots, then spikes down the headwall, then snowshoes to the car. That worked well for me with crusty, hard snow in the morning and all of the slop in the afternoon. (Spikes from the car could have worked as there were occasional slick spots.) I don't mind wearing snowshoes on some rocks, so some may prefer more changes up high. It was quick to the headwall but overall still a surprisingly challenging day for me. Thanks Lubellski for the TR from Saturday. Hats off to La Plata! 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 4/13/2024, By: Lubellski
Info: Beauty of a day on La Plata. Road clear and dry to TH. Good boot/skin track below tree line. Hard crust, but still punching through enough to warrant show shoes. Couple options emerged at tree line to gain the ridge, I went west and eventually made my way onto the ridge. Ridge was a mix of snow and rock, I ditched snow shoes at about 12,500 and just booted up. Was mid afternoon by the time I got back to the truck. Snow below tree line was a MESS of post holing (even in snow shoes). I would not want to be on that trail in the afternoon without some kind of floatation! Great day, only 3 other humans. Evidence of wet loose slides in the surrounding steeps, but saw no sign on La Plata. 

Route: Northwest Ridge - Winter Variant
Posted On: 3/10/2024, By: Blanch_hard
Info: Successful summit via Northwest Ridge headwall ascent. Left trail to bushwhack up the slope to headwall approximately 1.25 miles into the hike, trail breaking through previous week's fresh snow (about 6 - 12"). Powder was waist deep in sections even with snowshoes. Snowshoe extensions for extra float recommended. Headwall was class 3. Light snow loosely settled on frozen dirt and talus. Loose rock and lack of handholds made for instable climb. Snow had melted considerably in the afternoon making the headwall even more unstable. Helmet, crampons and ice axe recommended. Once gaining the ridge it was easy-going technicality-wise, with the exception of some annoying boulder fields that were snow-covered enough in places to warrant snowshoes, but also with enough rock exposure to make microspikes a better choice to avoid tripping up on rock edges. I changed footgear often, interchanging between snowshoes with trekking poles, crampons with ice axe, and microspikes for the varying terrain. There was very limited cell service throughout the hike, except for up high near the summit. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 1/29/2024, By: lukedog
Info: I ran across the update from ShakyLegs18 from 12/29/23 and realized my conditions update would be almost identical. It may be a year old but it describes conditions from yesterday (1/28/24) and the experience my group had almost exactly. Three of us traveled the loosely packed road briefly, then veered off on the pretty obvious (and signed) turnoff to the left, which had a good trench thanks JQDivide and others from last weekend. At least for a little while. Boots were fine until here, snowshoes mandatory from here until the headwall. Unfortunately, once the previously trenched section ended, we faced unrelenting knee- to waist-high loosely consolidated snow all the way to the headwall clearing. The combination of steepness and loose snow turned our day into a bit of a death march, with our snowshoes barely keeping us afloat. We wallowed and slogged to the headwall, but were thoroughly thrashed by then (at least I was!), having spent 4.5 hours and much of our energy just to get to what we'd hoped would be the beginning of the fun. Given the time and energy used, we knew we were unlikely to summit but decided to climb the headwall and explore a bit of the ridge before deciding. The headwall was spicier than I'd expected - steep, loose and a little unpredictable - but it was a welcome relief from where we'd just been. I made it up in snowshoes, down in microspikes later. Spikes both ways is probably a better choice. Once on the ridge, we saw all of the beauty and more typical winter ridge conditions we'd been looking forward to. Snowshoes could still be useful on the ridge, and maybe spikes too, with conditions varying. Taking stock of the time it would take us to summit and get down (we still had ~2k vertical feet) and our energy levels, we decided we should call it a day and hope the work we put in could help someone else get the summit before the next storm. I think both other climbers in my party could have made the summit safely but I think we made a good call to not take the extra risk of returning exhausted and/or hours after dark. It was definitely the right call for me. Anyone thinking of La Plata this week...go get it! 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 1/20/2024, By: JQDivide
Info: No one has been on the trail since the last snow. We did a short afternoon snowshoe on Saturday. Went to about 10,600 and put the trench back in. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 12/31/2023, By: ShakyLegs18
Info: Attempted for the summit of La Plata via the NW Ridge winter route. The standard trail is well-packed, well-defined snow. Veered off at 39.05545, -106.49420, heading SE for the headwall. I broke through knee-deep snow all the way to the headwall . . . The terrain proved far steeper than I anticipated. The headwall was intermittent snow, shale, and rock. Steep but mild. The ridge was in good shape with avoidable drifts before meeting up with the standard trail. From there it was snow-covered rock. I made it to ~13,200 and, exhausted, called it a day. The weather was absolutely incredible. Cloudless blue sky and, unbelievably, windless! If you've got your eye on La Plata this winter enjoy that broke-in path to the headwall while you can. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 11/4/2023, By: nrobsaihttam
Info: Hiked this morning up to about treeline, and then turned back because it was a bit steep and because we got a late start in the morning. Weather was perfect for November, warmer than last week, no wind, and clear skies all day. There was about 4-5 inches of snow constantly on the sections we hiked, but never got very deep, so post-holing wasn't an issue. Poles with microspikes mandatory. Probably don't need snowshoes as long as snow was similar above treeline too. When we got to the steep part by treeline it was like a 45 or 50 degree slope with soft snow, and the ground underneath was a bit slippery, so climbing up part of it was challenging (but possible) because you couldn't really kick in steps. We were only 1 of 2 groups on the mountain the whole day, it was great. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 10/22/2023, By: Zleisure
Info: Brought spikes: didn't use. Small short icy spots when the trail is right next to the creek, but can walk on the trail edges and avoid, then basically dry until ~12,400, the flat spot before gaining the ridge. After that flat spot, it's dry again until ~13,000, starting the steeper ridge gain. Snow on the trail was booted in well up along the ridge to the peak. 3 cars in the parking lot at 6:30am. 6:45am start, 10:15am summit, 1:15pm parking lot. Saw ~8 people all day. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 10/15/2023, By: CharleyReynolds
Info: Snowdrifts up to knee deep but the ridge and the way in was 1-4. Pretty easy to follow the trail up until the talus field. There are wayyy too many cairns making the navigation difficult with the slight snow cover. A lot of the snow was melting below 13,000ft on the way out. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 10/7/2023, By: Brandon0135
Info: Snow free until you gain the ridge. Then you will be dealing with 4-8 inches of snow the rest of the way. Spikes were very helpful. Aspens are well past peak amd mearly all dropped but there was still a little yellow at the trailhead and peaking down by twin lakes. It looked like the entirety of the sawatch is dry on the south sides and snowy on the north side. Glad I brought my winter layers, it was very cold until well after noon.