Grays Peak

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/19/2025, By: slawrence2011
Info: Started from Argentine Pass trailhead around 5 am. We had to cross one snowfield on the right side of the basin to get past the cliff bands, it was quite firm and we did not use traction, fortunately it had just enough suncupping to make it safe. Microspikes would have been a lot more comfortable. The rest of the basin and ridge was dry to the summit, summited around 9. Dropped into the SE face for skiing around 9:30. It was continuous from around 20 feet below the summit to 12,7. Linked a few snowfields including taking off skis, and got to 12,1. Hiked in ski boots to the left and got on one final snowfield and followed a barely intact snowbridge and managed to get to 11,7 on snow. Back to the car before noon. Thanks to Eric Ahlstedt for the beta on this last weekend that inspired the trip! 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 6/17/2025, By: tate_voeller
Info: Arrived at 530 am lots of parking still during the week, the trial in the first 2 miles is snow free and then you will have your first snow crossing, not super hard or anything just a little wet and slippery. We did Torrys first and then grays. Torrys was dry on the ridge, the path up to grays still has a good bit of snow on it. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/17/2025, By: ochres
Info: Road is pretty wet/icy in the mornings but I managed to keep my feet somewhat dry. A few snow crossings (2-3) that I didn't find avoidable if you want to stay on trail, but the steepest was glissade-able on the way down which was nice because the snow was starting to get slushy/posthole-y on the descent. Holding snow on the ridge, but the trail trends left of the snow on dry ground. Gully holding a lot of snow and still ski-able! 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 6/14/2025, By: carmitz001
Info: Trail is about 75% dry. Snow was supportive but slippery from 9-11 am. The trail from 12.7k to 13.0k was a narrow line of footsteps in the snow, which made it tricky to pass other hikers. Spikes would have helped. At 13.6k feet, I detoured south to reach the Continental Divide trail on the Grays-Edwards ridge. It was much drier than the upper standard trail, although not as easy to follow. Snow was annoying on the descent to Torreys at 11:30 am because it was very slippery but not steep enough to glissade. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/13/2025, By: ericahlstedt
Info: Route is mostly snow free to the summit ridge where there is snow. The SE face still has close to 2000ft of skiing off the summit. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/13/2025, By: carmitz001
Info: Great day for a fun alternative route! A few avoidable snowfields around 11.8k to 12.5k feet. The rest of the trail is snow-free. Lots of runoff on the gravel road, which made it difficult to keep my feet dry. The upper slopes are steep but manageable, especially if you can stay on the faint trail. Snow was in good condition for three separate glissades on the descent, totaling 1100 feet. Had to avoid a direct glissade from the summit, though, as there were cornices and deep, crusty snow. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 6/10/2025, By: Michael Underwood
Info: Lots of postholing during the warmer parts of the day. Traction for your footwear is helpful, and a trekking pole will allow self-belay in the event of a slip. Gaiters are very nice to have, even if you're wearing boots. 

Route: Lost Rat Couloir
Posted On: 5/28/2025, By: jmanner
Info: Lost rat is in! Great conditions off the summit on the south side of the ridge at 11:10am and the couloir skied awesome at 11:15 when we skied into it. 

Route: Lost Rat Couloir
Posted On: 4/3/2025, By: ajeski
Info: This is a bit late, but my buddy and I hiked and skied the Lost Rat Couloir on Saturday 3/29. The hike up the couloir was rough and fairly deep snow, lots of post holing. However, the snow in the couloir was phenomenal on the way down! We were dragging hard once we got to the ridgeline at the top of Lost Rat all the way to the summit. The ridgeline is fairly bare, but you can drop from the summit. Left my ice axe up there, so if anyone finds it, let me know! We skied from the summit all the way to the car. It was a fantastic day. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 3/9/2025, By: bangerth
Info: From the winter parking lot down by the interstate, the road up to the summer parking lot is hard packed by snowmobiles and skiers. From the upper parking lot, to our surprise, the trench only extended perhaps half a mile. There was a pair of skier tracks down in the bottom of the creek, and now there is also a fully formed trench to about where the trail to Grays/Torreys splits from the trail that goes to the base of Kelso Ridge. This is about as far as we made it before we decided to turn around because one of us didn't feel well. There are places where the switchbacks on Grays are covered by snow fields I would not want to step on. But it seemed clear that one can stay on the rocky rib on the left side of the north slopes -- either all the way to the ridge, or to the highest switchbacks. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 12/25/2024, By: gcepeda22
Info: Started at the lower trailhead at 5am. Forecast conditions predicted clear sky. Road up to the upper trailhead was walkable in spikes. Coming to the main trail, any trail that was made previously disappeared or barely recognizable. Switched to snow shoes and proceeded to break trail. Made a break at 11800 ft and followed a path to avoid the avalanche area and rebroke that in. Resumed on the normal trail around 12200ft. And proceeded to break trail to the summit. Wind only became a problem after sunset. Got to Gray at 4:20pm right before sunset. Used the remaining light to climb Torreys and an hour a half more. Before making my way back to the lower lot at 9pm. Worth it. Recommending bringing snowshoes if you want to take anything from this. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 12/7/2024, By: shaines90
Info: Road was still packed in all the way from the lower trailhead; booted it all the way up and snowshoed it back down. Didn't pop on snowshoes until about a mile after the upper trailhead, but there's enough coverage to do so before then if you'd rather wear than carry them. Seemed most people were taking the alternative route to avoid the Kelso Mountain slide path, so it's very well trenched now ahead of the next round of storms. Around 12500-12700, the snow got very soft and punchy, but the postholes people have hit are stable now and can be stepped in. Most of the upper mountain is pretty well wind-scoured, but there's still a crusty layer across the standard trail that I'd recommend spikes for. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 12/4/2024, By: SarahT
Info: Road is well tracked by snowcats. I was happy to have snowshoes from the summer trailhead to about 12,500 ft but if you're one of those people who like to posthole in boots you can make it without. The upper part of the route is very windscoured. The main established track currently follows the summer trail and crosses the known slide path on Kelso Mountain. This slope has deceived more than one person in the past, not just noobs, and it cost them their lives. Treat the slope with respect and give it a wide berth. One lone snowshoer had had the sense to choose a safer path below the summer trail and I improved that track. Reinforcing this safer variation will encourage others away from that avy path and could even save a life down the road. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 10/14/2024, By: PearsonJohnP
Info: Made it to the upper trail head in a Jeep by 6:15, and the parking lot only had 5-6 cars in it. 4WD recommended. It was light by 6:45 when we set off. Conditions were excellent and the trail is in A+ shape. The summit of Grays was windy and quite cold, persisting down to the saddle in between it and Torreys. We saw a beautiful white mountain goat on the large outcrop about 500 feet below Grays, off to your left. There were people at the top of Torrey's who had come up the Kelso ridge route, and they said it was in great shape, too. This is an eminently doable double as long as the weather holds. Enjoy! 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 9/30/2024, By: sukumarst
Info: Reached the Parking lot around 6:00am and it was around 35F. Started to hike around 6:30am and returned back to the parking lot around 1:00pm and it was around 55F. That was a total of 6Hr and 30Min. In between, I had many short breaks for Photos, Water, Snacks, may be a total of 1Hr. Entire trail route was dry with short patches of Wet soil due to snow melt, No snow on the trail anywhere. Reached the Grays Peak summit around 9:10am. Started from Grays Peak around 9:30am and reached Torreys Peak around 10:20am. Started from Torreys Peak around 10:40am and reached the parking lot around 1:00pm.