Ellingwood Point

Route: North Ridge via South Zapata Creek
Posted On: 8/14/2017, By: BethL
Info: C2 is clear of any snow or ice all the way to the top. No traction needed. 

Route: North Ridge via South Zapata Creek
Posted On: 8/15/2017, By: agdewijn
Info: C2 couloir is free of snow. Above timberline the trail is pretty wet and muddy in spots. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 8/8/2017, By: petersengraph
Info: Amazing route! We climbed it in a cloud, pretty much, and almost turned back a few times due to weather fears. But this route is amazing and should be climbed more. Be aware that some of the drawn lines in the route description seemed to be way off, not reasonable at all. Use your judgment. Summitted Ellingwood after about 6 hours (parked at 8800'). We began traversing to Blanca afterwards but rain threatened so we had to head back down. 

Route: North Ridge via South Zapata Creek
Posted On: 7/31/2017, By: alyannkar
Info: I was shocked that my hiking partner and I were the only people who completed this hike during the whole day. It was extremely relaxing to be alone in the woods and not see another human until the summit. The trail was very overgrown in some areas, especially close to the creek crossings and near treeline. All the crossings were easy, no need to even get your feet wet. The trail was completely flooded towards South Zapata Lake, especially the use trail to the C2 couloir. The couloir itself still has some snow and ice in key (and super steep) areas needed to reach the ridge. Spikes would be helpful for this area, even though it is only 20 or so feet long. The rest of the couloir is very loose. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 7/18/2017, By: duncanmil
Info: Summer conditions the whole way. It is difficult to locate the trail when it splits off from the Blanca trail. 

Route: North Ridge via South Zapata Creek
Posted On: 7/4/2017, By: psa954hiker
Info: Tried for Ellingwood Point today via S Zapata Creek. C2 couloir has snow but C3 has a snow free path. Photos attached. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 7/6/2017, By: ZenZin
Info: Trail is in summer conditions all the way to the base of C2 and bare halfway up C2. Did not go further as I underestimated the rigors of the 3000' of elevation gain from the trailhead to the base of C2. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 7/2/2017, By: jladderud
Info: Summer conditions. A little bit of snow that you can glissade if you want. No traction or ice ax required. Lots of mosquitoes on the Lake Como road! 

Route: North Ridge via South Zapata Creek
Posted On: 6/20/2017, By: Misi197
Info: Clear from the trailhead all the way to the lake. C2 and C3 both have snow pack remaining, with C3 having substantially less. I went up C2 which was hard packed until the sun hit it around 8:30. The glissade down was fast and furious. Everything above the couloirs is snow free. The creeks are running full, particularly in the afternoon with the snow melt. Trail is in great condition and I saw one other person all day, at the summit of Blanca. 

Route: North Ridge via South Zapata Creek
Posted On: 6/19/2017, By: MissH
Info: Mostly snow free to S. Zapata Lake. Basin still full of snow, melting fast. C2 and C3 gullies are still full of snow. Snow, at least in C2, was really good in the morning, and super soft for our glissade down, didn't even butt-olly over rocks. We were fine in our microspikes, glad we left the crampons in the car. Ice axe still recommended for self-arresting. Peeked into Como Lake valley from the summit, still lots of snow above the lake. Looks like you can follow steps up to the Blanca-Ellingwood ridge. Photos from both basins attached, but unfortunately I didn't get a good one of the entire Como Lake valley. Marmots and mosquitoes are in full force. I welcome any tent repair recommendations. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 5/20/2017, By: bmcqueen
Info: About 4" of fresh snow fell on Ellingwood and Blanca in the recent storm. Road was still snow free almost to Lake Como. We carried snowshoes, but never needed them. We cramponed up the South Face of Ellingwood today. Some slide activity on SE aspects - didn't seem very recent though. Just a thin layer of wind slab today, but underneath was solid. 

Route: Traverse from Blanca
Posted On: 2/22/2017, By: illusion7il
Info: Road is mostly snow free to 9300, then the snow is continuous above 10K. There was an excellent trench to Lake Como, but Sunday nights storm must have covered everything up above, so I put in a fresh track all the way to the B/E saddle. Snowshoes mandatory. Traction is optional for Blanca. For the traverse to EP, I used spikes and a pole, however I think most would want an axe and crampons. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 2/10/2017, By: Furthermore
Info: The snow is somewhat questionable on the south face especially where more snow has accumulated. I wouldn't want to climb this route if the conditions were any more unstable and I wouldn't want to climb the south face directly. We climbed Ellingwood first and thoroughly wallowed in deep snow sticking to rock ribs. We found crampons helpful once we gained the ridge (near the saddle but northwest of the obvious notch). On our way to Blanca, we stuck to the ridge or just below the ridge and avoided the south slopes as much as possible. 

Route: North Ridge via South Zapata Creek
Posted On: 11/6/2016, By: Ptglhs
Info: Snow started about 11,500ft and by 12,000 there was a good 3 inches on the ground. It wasn't packed so I was fine with just trekkers. I didn't get a chance to summit. I was almost at the top of the C2 couloir when I had to turn around. It was snowing when I returned to treeline. 

Route: North Ridge via South Zapata Creek
Posted On: 10/3/2016, By: alpinenut
Info: Climbed the N Ridge yesterday. Ridge was a fun scramble. Conditions near the top of the C2 Couloir were a bit sketchy. There's only an inch or two of snow in spots in the Couloir. However, there's a choke point near the top with a little ice. We did not feel comfortable descending through it. On the way down we just went about 20 Ft to climbers right down a small arete to avoid it. It was a bit exposed but felt safer then trying to descend through the choke. C3 may be a better option but we never got a look at it. Approach feels a lot longer than route says. I'll update later once I download the track. We didn't see anyone until we reached the summit of Ellingwood. Took us 4.5 hours from campsite at 11.5K. Took us 3 hours to get to campsite at 11.5K near the end of the forest. Our pace was average. Took 6.5 hours to get all the way down including breaking camp. It's a long route but really nice.