Maroon Peak

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 8/3/2026, By: blonde_dinosaur
Info: Wow, was I nervous for the traverse. It really helped to read trip reports and especially to watch the videos posted. My partner and I met up with two other groups of two and a single party and we all did the traverse together - and let me tell you it was a blast! Thank you for a great day out Ross, Josh, Cassie, Jen, and Esan for such a fabulous traverse experience. Two things of note that I don’t feel like are talked about as much: the down climb from Maroon is really shitty. The rock is horrendous and you just have to find the best way down.
Second thing is that after the third difficulty, there is a point where you have to downclimb a smooth rock to a tiny saddle to regain the ridge - I think this is the leap of faith. There aren't footholds on the smooth rock to get down. We did not find a better way down than to have people spot the shorter folks and to have some brave people jump down to the saddle. This was one of my least favorite parts and it is after the difficulties so I felt a bit mentally exhausted for it.
Lastly, because I was so anxious, I did something that I could control which was to bring the best footwear possible, ie climbing shoes. 100% NO REGRETS. It made the climbing fun and not scary for me. If you are also feeling anxious, I’d just bring climbing shoes. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 8/5/2026, By: ColoNativeGal
Info: Summer conditions. We got lucky and a guide leading two clients passed us during the gully ascent. We went up gully #1 and they went up gully #2. The guide commented that gully #1 was harder and more class 4 terrain. We also had more rock fall in that gully. The recommendation is gully #2. I found the route finding on this one to be very important. Having the photos, description and gpx is super helpful. This mountain really makes you work for everything both ascending and descending. Really test your holds and footing. I did have what I thought was a solid foot on a rock move and I bounced down a couple of ledges on my bum. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/29/2026, By: kmoss2
Info: Look, it's perfect summer conditions - that's obvious. Might I suggest two mindset tricks:
1. Don't call it "2800' of suck"... it's "2800' of SAVOR", okay?!! Yeah it's a long & steep approach but haven't you ever waited in a long line for an epic roller coaster?? Cost of admission, baby. Makes the ridge to summit section that much sweeter.
2. I've been calling myself a Gully Goddess since climbing Little Bear via the Hourglass last week. It worked wonders for LB, C2 to Ellingwood, Snowmass & Pyramid scree, North Maroon & now Maroon today. You know the gullies are gonna be loose -- isn't getting creative to find solid footing the fun part anyway??

Maroon Peak is majestic. Having done Pyramid, North Maroon & Maroon in back-to-back days, I still think route finding is trickiest in final part of Pyramid, but that Maroon for sure takes the most endurance. For anyone who has done Crestone Peak + Crestone Needle but not the bells yet, definitely a similar flavor in that the Peak & Maroon take more endurance, while the Needle & N Maroon are shorter but include some class 4.

OK. This east coaster is now done for the 2026 season so don't worry, I'll stop sharing cheesy peak conditions updates now! 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 7/20/2026, By: ryansappleid
Info: No complaints, route is in perfect condition. Went up with a group of four others which helped the trail finding immensely. 2nd Flatiron Freeway is a good place to practice. There was definitely some butthole clenching moments. I found the "3rd difficulty" to be the most intimidating, we ended up taking the chimney on the right as it was less exposed. With approach shoes, climbing experience, and encouraging friends, you'll be okay. 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 7/7/2026, By: streetyz
Info: Summer conditions the whole way, visibility was very good considering fire conditions. There was maybe ~3 steps in snow we had to do in the chimney directly below the ridge on North Maroon. Someone fixed a rope/handline down the chimney using one of the small rock towers as an anchor, IMO it gets in the way and is unnecessary, but might be helpful to some (?). Beautiful day, get after it! 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 7/6/2026, By: Buffalo97
Info: Beautiful day to complete the Maroon Bells traverse. There was a small amount of snow on the South Maroon ascent before the ridgeline, but it was easily bypassed by hiking above it. Weather was near perfect with minimal wild fire smoke throughout the day. The only serious obstacle was a traffic jam at Bell Cord caused by a mountain goat trying to cross at the same time as our group 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 6/28/2026, By: ajtrezco
Info: Only snowfield on the way up south (before ridge) has melted enough to make it treacherous—footsteps are almost gone, snow is bulletproof in the early AM. Bring spikes if you don’t want to hike down and around. Smoke is also really bad in the area; worst I’ve probably seen in the last 20 years. Blew away by the time the sun came up this morning with the high winds, but was moving back in by about 5pm, just as bad as the evening before. Otherwise, traverse is still perfect conditions, descent down North has about the same amount of snow in the chimney, which wasn’t enough to cause any problems. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/21/2026, By: Mustavio
Info: Summer conditions. One place on the approach where snow covers a bit of the trail, then one place up top where I had to step over some snow. No traction required. What a great start, have a great season! 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 6/13/2026, By: macg91
Info: Most of the remaining snow on the standard route is avoidable. There was one short mandatory snow crossing after gaining the ridge while traversing to the gullies. There were good steps kicked in and spikes/axe may be helpful but we did not find them necessary. There were several other snowfields in this area that we were able to scramble around without exceeding class 3. Likewise there are a few snowfields on the 2800-ft ascent below the south ridge that can be avoided. Ridge to N Maroon is completely snow free. 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 6/9/2026, By: Connor1
Info: See conditions report from N Maroon peak. 

Route: Bell Cord Couloir
Posted On: 5/26/2026, By: MtnMann
Info: Ascended Bell Cord Couloir and returned via S Ridge, for a bucket list summit. A couple of lessons learned and a full value/relatively harrowing day. I’d recommend a rope and snow protection for the ledges pitch on the S ridge, if you do it (highly encourage to descend Bell cord instead with the snow as it is). Route finding and travel was very difficult on the S ridge, with snow probably covering some cairns and a couple of steep snow pitches over extreme exposure. We were surprised with the amount of snow on the S ridge route (SW aspect); more effort in researching current conditions could have helped here. But we may have been one of the first groups to use this route since the recent snow (6 days before climb) so info and tracks in the snow were limited.

Couloir was pretty straightforward, with supportive snow throughout and only some sections with a deeper freeze and harder snow (front points only). Started from camp at 0308. Turned off the trail and started on continuous snow at 0341. We opted to take a lower ledge over to the couloir runout above the garbage chute (we turned left at the ledge at 11,290ft). This seemed like the best route, from continuous snow from the trail, and avoiding a waterfall/rocky section to the right and above the garbage chute. So we’ll call the base of the couloir above the garbage chute 11,350 ft, at 0430. Topped the couloir at 13,780ft at 0705, or 2:35 hrs in the couloir proper and ~4 hrs from camp. A couple of slippery and unsecure rock moves after topping the couloir were semi exposed and would have been tough to downclimb, but all in all would have probably been safer than the S ridge descent. Made the summit at 8:35, ~5:30 hrs from camp.

On the S ridge, the ledges (around a corner) at 13,925ft were covered in sketchy and very steep snow, and a cornice before the ledges. We had to cut and clear the cornice and then step out onto the steep snow, without 100% confidence that the snow would hold to the face bc of how thin it appeared. There were a couple of steps that were unsupportive, but in the end, the snow proved supportive and the traverse across was ok, just about as exposed as it can get in CO. Would have loved to have a rope and a belay off of the body or snow anchor for this pitch. The rest of the S ridge route was a lot of navigating up, down, around and across loose gullies, trying to follow the cairns where we could find them. Once gaining the S ridge proper, we were able to descend a bit and then plunge step a lot of the E face through continuous snow. ~10 total hrs before we gained the S ridge, ~4.5 hrs from the summit. Another 2 hrs down to camp, for a total of 12 hrs camp to camp. Broke down camp and then back to the shuttle pickup for standing room only on one of the last shuttles at 4:45pm.
Total stats for the day: 13.03 mi, 12:52:26 hrs, 4,818 ft

Pics to come later today

*logistics note: parking at the shuttle pickup at the Maroon bells welcome center is $50 a day or $75 for two days. So if you catch the free RFTA shuttle from Rubey Park Transit Center in downtown Aspen, you can save more on parking. 

Route: Sunny side excursion
Posted On: 4/26/2026, By: WillRobnett
Info: Few feet of snow intermittent on the trail between lakes however there is a sunny side option above the valley. Beyond Crater Lake, both trails become further snow‑covered. 

Route: view from the hills
Posted On: 3/30/2026, By: WillRobnett
Info: Bells are starting to show consolidations and wet slides up high already.

Y Couloir left chute: 2025 went up one of the last days it was still connected, July 12th.
Y Couloir right chute: disconnected on July 12th 2025 and recently consolidated.
Bell Cord: recently consolidated down to the apron snow field below. Climbed it a few times in 2025, last climbed July 19th.
Maroon Bells Standard Routes: after the lake, looks like there's still a good amount of approach snow.
The North Face of North Maroon: climbed the face 4x times last year. Spring conditions held to July 5th. 

Route: near Maroon Lake
Posted On: 3/15/2026, By: WillRobnett
Info: In a quiet brilliance, first light across upper sections of the Maroon Bells. Captured near Maroon Lake. 

Route: Bell Cord Couloir
Posted On: 12/25/2025, By: paulbarish
Info: On 12/22 I rode a borrowed e bike up to the TH and then hiked in on snowshoes and set up camp near the entrance to the Bell Cord. Trail breaking was minimal due to seemingly a handful of people before me and little snow. My camp was right off the boot pack and I was able to be the first one to congratulate Preston on finishing his winter solo day trip project! We had met by coincidence for the first time at the TH the night before. Pleasure meeting you! I was relieved he climbed the standard route so I could have the trail breaking in the bell cord all to myself! A childhood dream. The next morning I left camp at 530am with snowshoes and followed low snow up the apron to the traverse around right which had some deep hard packed snow and a short step of WI2 which I sketched up without taking off my snowshoes haha Trail breaking remained light with mostly hard packed snow with the occasional knee deep crust. At the constriction, I put the snowshoes away and booted up without crampons in perfect stability until a short wind loaded section at the top that was a little spooky but well bonded enough at the bottom of the slab to justify climbing. I made a left and did the scramble up to the summit with again great conditions! I quickly descended back to the top of the bell cord to head over to North Maroon!