Crestone Needle

Route: Ellingwood Arete/Ledges
Posted On: 8/3/2026, By: bsiegs
Info: I think we did the direct start, though it’s very confusing to know which system to be in. We got quite a bit off route through the initial pitches and lost a good chunk of time. Regardless, the lower pitches are all sorta chossy and the gear placements are there but require a bit more creativity in not as great rock. Soloed the middle section (mostly very low 5th) before the headwall. The headwall pitches pitches are great. The 50 meter 5.9 pitch felt super chill even with a pack and was mostly 5.7 with a few harder moves. It also took gear really well. I saw a lot of comments about cams not being as useful as passive gear on this route, but I didn’t find that to be the case.

Started hailing on us for the final headwall 5.6 pitch, but then cleared up and sun came back out. Decided to add on the Crestone Traverse from Needle to Peak. Rap anchor on the traverse looked very new and was bomber. Ended up getting stormed off the traverse a bit before where it branches off from the standard route up Peak. We navigated down some other 4th class gully that looked like it would go, and it mostly did with some careful terrain management.

Long day. Fun route. Was the juice worth the squeeze? I think so overall. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 7/15/2026, By: BigC
Info: Conditions as of Monday were absolutely spectacular. I'm convinced that if your vehicle can overcome the first two miles of road between the 2WD trailhead and the 4WD trailhead, you'll make it to the upper trailhead. That said, the first section looks rough. There are large boulders and a few deep ruts that you will need to overcome if you attempt this.

For most of Monday, the winds blew the smoke ENE and NE out of the valley. It did finally billow in after 2:00PM. We are in peak monsoon season, and I will highlight the marginal 10% risk of storms after 12:00PM on Monday that turned into a 100% risk of cloud cover and dry lightning by 12:30PM. The Sangres never disappoint.

Regarding the rest of the route, you will not encounter snow. As of Monday, there was also no water or moisture in the gully to the summit. It was completely dry.

It's worth pointing out the general underestimation of Broken Hand Pass. It may not be more technically difficult than the final pitch to the summit, but I believe it's the harder of the two simply due to mindset and fatigue on the descent. There was at least one CSAR mission this weekend which lasted from Sunday afternoon into Monday morning when I was ascending. It was a broken leg on Broken Hand Pass, to my knowledge.

The fine dust and loose rocks should not be perceived as any less risky than the different hazards of the final gully push. Rather, hold that risk in higher regard, especially when you're fatigued and in a hurry to descend and get home. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 7/13/2026, By: BB
Info: Climb date: 7/11/2026. 50 and 70 -- that's my 14er count and age, respectively. First 14er was Longs in 1982, 44 years ago! Damn :-/

Class 4 context... Going up I didn't even notice the change from Class 3 to Class 4. I just kept climbing and then realized I was above the dihedral on the "platform". But coming down, which on steeper angles is always more difficult, you do notice the increase in difficulty of the Class 4 section. A slip would not be pleasant. Website photos don't show the steepness. So, I took a profile photo of the Class 4 section holding my phone as level as possible. Looks to be a touch over 45 degrees.

Beautiful climb! 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 7/13/2026, By: bschiff
Info: Solid route, no snow and fully summer conditions. Came up from cottonwood and willows weren't too bad, just keep watching for cairns. Takes much longer than expected. Thumbs down to the person who defecated on the trail, make sure to bury your excrement off trail and far from water! 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 7/3/2026, By: marekmastalerz
Info: Completed Crestone Needle via west gully. Found west gully to be in excellent condition with solid rock to climb like on ladder. Worst for me was to cross east gully below dihedral with those few awkward moves. Once in west gully I made my own cairn so I did not miss the exit point on my way back- found this very helpful. 9,5 hours car to car. Fourteener # 43. Another beautiful day in the mountains 

Route: Crestones Traverse
Posted On: 6/25/2026, By: wmagnuson7
Info: Completely summer conditions, no snow whatsoever on any portion of the hike. Enjoy! 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 6/20/2026, By: HarknessHooligans
Info: The East gulley direct route is completely dry. Everything was solid and the weather was immaculate. Having the ability to take your time in all the class 4 sections is key. I faced inward in all the class 4 sections. But crab crawled and walked facing outward down the rest of the class 3. I had someone below to spot me and I needed their help to find footholds because I felt I was blind by facing inward on the downclimb and couldn't find them some of them on my own.
Broken hand pass was a nightmare. There is still snow lingering which makes it more difficult. It is very loose and demoralizing. Climbing the needle was actually a lot of fun even though it required 100% focus.
We took our RAV4 2009 up the South colony road. We could have made it to the end but ended up taking a pull out about .8 mi from the upper trailhead. That road is no joke and we did bottom out a few times. We also had to help push off a Subaru Forester to a pull out because he was stuck in the middle of the road with a broken down car.
We backpacked in and camped at a designated spot when you turn left towards Crestone needle at the turnoff. It was a great place but makes for a longer approach on climb day. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 6/19/2026, By: acsoechtig
Info: Broken hand pass snow already melted a good amount, brought spikes but didn't use them on way up nor down, an ice axe or shortened hiking poles could be helpful. Upper route is basically completely dry, summer conditions. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 6/16/2026, By: Istoodupthere
Info: About 50 feet of snow left below the BHP crux. At 6:15am the snow was firm but spikes and a shortened trekking pole worked fine. Coming down at 11:30 the snow was a slippery mess. Some ice in the gully around 14k. Had to be careful in a couple spots. On the way down I went left of the gully. There were cairns. Seemed easier and less risk of sending loose rocks down. Only other person I saw was a guy surveying E Crestone 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 6/13/2026, By: WinterisClimbing
Info: Surprisingly the east gully is very dry, had a blast climbing up that. If I'm going to be honest the crux of the day wasn't the class 4 pitch in the gully but the snow on the crux of Broken Hand Pass. I did it without axe/spikes so they aren't *necessary*, but if I were to do it again I'd bring an axe for a better glissade and safer ascent. 

Route: Crestones Traverse
Posted On: 6/8/2026, By: joshlilz
Info: Infamous road up to the upper lot was rough, but stock Tacoma with some good comms from my passenger made it fairly easily.
Left upper lot at 1:30AM, returned to the lot around 12:30PM.
Significant stream crossing on the approach. Can skirt it using a fallen log hiker's right.
Considerable snow up Broken Hand pass. Micro spikes were useful.
Red Gully was mostly dry. What snow was present was avoidable.
Traverse is dry until the bulge and well marked with cairns. The snow filled in the bulge in a way that made it easier in a way (see picture).
Super fun (and dry) scrambling between the bulge and the final pitch.
Speaking of the final pitch, we had a blast. We chose to take a line slightly left of the middle of the face. Solid holds. Quite the feeling topping out.
Downclimbing the Needle on the South face was virtually dry and seemed chill after the latter part of the traverse.
Plunge stepped/ glissaded down Broken Hand Pass.
As always, the hike out seems longer than the morning approach.

This is my first post on here. I hope someone finds it helpful as I have been a beneficiary of 14ers.com for some time and wish to pay it back. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 6/6/2026, By: 12mullman
Info: Trail is completely snow free except a few spots headed up Broken Hand Pass. There are about four snow crossings where it is flat and easy to traverse. We did some postholing coming back down in the afternoon but nothing too annoying. Headed up Broken Hand, right at the crux of the climb where it gets steep, there is still snow. In the morning, it was solid that was easy to climb up and in the afternoon we half postholed and half glissaded down. We only used microspiked. Anything else isn't really necessary right now. After the three spires past the crux, there is no more snow. The gully had a tiny bit of snow in it but it wasn't the route up so naturally it was avoidable. I took some pictures where you can see the "trail" we took through the snow. Overall a super fun hike! 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 5/25/2026, By: Connor1
Info: Conditions were pretty good. Did the needle on Friday. No major snow until just before broken hand pass. There were a few snow fields that needed to be crossed on the switchbacks going up to broken hand pass gully. Then continuous snow up until about halfway up the gully to where the few class 3 moves are. After the class 3 obstacles it is dry up to the pass. From there I put on approach shoes and headed up the needle. Snow was totally avoidable although I was probably not on the route described on the .com. I made my way up probably keeping to low class 5 at most and on the way down I found easier terrain and kept it to easy class 4 with a little bit of glissading down too. Then glissaded down the Lowe half of broken hand pass and finished the rest on dry ground. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 1/5/2026, By: Kiefer
Info: Lower:
Decent boot pack from TH to the slabs section, easy to follow. Upper basin and lake, the track becomes hard to follow. Lots of snow. Bring flotation for the upper basin/Cottonwood Lake.

South Face:
Horrible. Snow is extremely variable. Lots of icy (thick) punchy crust mixed with pockets of powder, semi-supportive névé, thin wind slab and ice. Lots of ice. The constriction had a small ribbon of ice the whole length. Some water ice down near the bottom 1/3. 

Route: Crestones Traverse
Posted On: 11/16/2025, By: MMAfightingClimber
Info: Climbed Crestone Peak, East Crestone, and Crestone Needle with Will_E. Some ice on the road to south colony lakes and beyond to Broken Hand Pass. Broken Hand Pass was the most difficult part of the day, the snow was very firm In the morning, and still mostly firm but a bit better in the afternoon. I’d personally recommend Spikes and an axe to make it less of a hassle.

After that, it’s mostly dry except for a few sections, the red gully has snow snow and water you can bypass. East Crestone has some snow but it’s not a problem. As far as the traverse, there’s a few short shaded sections that you will touch snow, snow leading up to the bulge section and then a bit of snow on the ledges section near the white rock.

Coming down the needle was good to go. If you can get up broken hand pass, the rest of the day is easy in comparison.