Mt. Lindsey

Route: Northwest Gully
Posted On: 6/18/2021, By: cisnerosab
Info: Snow in the gully is slushy and does little to keep the scree in place; didn't seem to freeze overnight. Ended up doing class 3 moves up and down the right side of the gully and above the gully to summit ridge. Route is mostly clear of snow. Some deeper patches as you climb right of the boulder field and just below treeline, but easily avoidable. Driving to the lower trail head is a rough dirt road. Do not recommend for 2WD or low clearance. Closest 2WD parking is at the Huerfano State Wildlife Area, which entails several miles of hiking on dirt roads to reach the TH. 

Route: Northwest Gully
Posted On: 6/14/2021, By: seayachter
Info: Ascended the gully and descended the ridge. Gully is filled with enough snow, but is melting fast. Route finding/staying on actual trail is difficult through boulder field from snow drifts. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/12/2021, By: Tommy4646
Info: Hello all, I lost my phone while descending yesterday. It is probably somewhere on the saddle, the switchbacks (down to the basin), or somewhere in the basin next to glissade tracks or boot-pack. If anyone finds it please pm or email me (tommyalamin@gmail.com). I would immensely appreciate it. I will pay for shipping and will send you a gift as a thank you. Trip Report: As far as gear goes, the snow is melted enough to where you don't need axes and crampons if you're doing the NW ridge. Snowshoes would be helpful for the upper basing though. Also, waterproof boots and gaiters are pretty essential as there is still quite a bit of unavoidable post-holing. Microspikes might be helpful for a few sections of the approach. Driving conditions to the trailhead are clear of snow; we made it up in a Subaru. There were a few tricky spots where we had to pile rocks under the wheels though, but we made it up just fine. Temperatures for us felt like they ranged from the high 40s to the low 60s. We had no precipitation and the wind was only bad while camping at Lily Lake the night before and when coming back down the saddle. We had no precipitation. The Trail in the valley was mostly clear until you cross the creek. The creek crossing itself was a little dicey for our group we ended up balancing across some fallen trees, which worked fine. The water is extremely cold though, so be careful. After the creek, the trail ascends the hiker's left side of the valley, which is where much of the trail disappears under several feet of snow. There is a solid boot pack over most of it which you can follow. Our group ended up climbing a bunch of rocks and scree up and then traversing hiker's right to rejoin the trail. We took the boot pack down and that was much nicer. Once the trail hits the canyon coming down from the high basin, you are supposed to traverse the creek. and then follow it on the hiker's right side as you ascend. However, the snow trail is hard to follow with all the snow still there. Also, the creek is frozen and snow-covered from about halfway up all the way to the basin. The snowpack over the creek was pretty solid when we were there, so walking up that is probably the easiest way up (this is probably where the microspikes would be helpful). Our group tried to stick to the trail on the way up and had quite a bit of trouble; we descended via the frozen sections of the creek on the way down. It was a lot easier. The basin still has quite a bit of snow in it. About 2/3 of the trail up there is still covered in several feet of snow. There is a boot pack which is okay, but this is where snowshoes would help. Once you reach the switchbacks to the saddle, the conditions are nice and dry. The NW ridge itself was also dry and we had little wind when we went up. Like all the other beta says, it's is quite exposed. Lots of fall and ygd moments. The summit ridge did have snow on it with some post-holing. Nothing too bad though. The summit itself still has some serious cornices but is mostly dry. Be careful while descending. The crux is quite tricky going down. I think 3+ would probably be the right grade for it. The NW gully is still filled with snow and has a boot pack going up it. Most of the snow was quite slushy past noon though. 

Route: Northwest Gully
Posted On: 6/7/2021, By: cyclecross444
Info: Climbed California Peak on Sunday and I got some good pictures of Lindsey. It looks like there is still a good amount of snow in the crux and most of the trail. 

Route: North Couloir
Posted On: 5/29/2021, By: macg91
Info: Patchy snow on the trail up until the river crossing, then essentially continuous snow coverage from then on. River crossing is about ankle deep currently. Snow made route finding by headlamp in the morning somewhat challenging. Wore hiking shoes up until the crossing and then switched to skis/skins. Fair amount of post-holing when not on skis. Travel below tree line was overall slower and more challenging than expected. Things got significantly easier above tree line thanks to supportive snow and easier route-finding. Climbed and skied the N Couloir which has a great bootpack (thanks joflyer22!). The N Couloir is very much in and is skiable from the summit. Snow was firm for the climb at 8am and ripe for skiing at 930am. The couloir goes as low as about 12.5k, but opted to stop at 13k to minimize elevation re-gain to the saddle. As for other routes, the NW Gully is filled with snow and also appeared to have a good bootpack. The crux wall of the NW Ridge appears to be holding some snow as well. Skis on from just below the saddle down to the river, then hiked the rest of the way out. 

Route: Northwest Gully
Posted On: 5/28/2021, By: joflyer22
Info: Ascended via the Northwest gully and found that to be in good shape with climbable, consolidated snow. However, I didn't like all the steep side traversing to get to the summit and opted for descending the North Couloir. The upper few hundred feet where it's most steep had hard, granular snow that was difficult to kick step, but that improved when the slope moderated and the lower part had deep, soft snow. That made for an easy plunge-step descent - but I wouldn't recommend ascending that unless you are able to climb it after a freeze. I did a high traverse exiting the couloir at about 12,900 to get back to the 13,100 saddle ridge. The traverse was miserable with lots of snow-filled talus and trap doors. It might have been worth it just to re-climb the extra 400-500' from the bottom. The class 3 North ridge looked fine - mostly dry with some intermittent snow. I was too intimated to try the ridge up and down by myself but that's probably the easiest route at this point. The final ridge scramble to the summit was a mix of snow and rocks and the summit is one giant cornice right now. I used snowshoes for a short bit on the initial climb but switched to crampons and was able to climb on mostly stable snow to about 12,900, the point before reaching the saddle, and that's where I stashed my snowshoes. The saddle ridge is a mix of dry and snow. I put my snowshoes on for the descent back to treeline and was grateful for the support on the very soft snow that covered the climber's trail and that whole basin in general. The descent from treeline was unfortunately a spring sufferfest. Everything that you love to hate about spring - this trail has it all. Waist-deep postholing, snowbanks covering any semblance of trail, soft and wet trail when there isn't snow, etc. The stream crossing would have been impossible without forging except for the fact that some downed trees provided a dry crossing opportunity. I made the mistake of sleeping through my alarm and got a late start. That was a costly mistake and the descent took me as long as the ascent. If you're going to climb this now, start early and try to wait for a cold night and freeze (if one will occur now at this point). 

Route: North Couloir
Posted On: 5/1/2021, By: jmanner
Info: 16 miles from where you can park your car, then you'll walk a mile to intermittent snow. From the upper trailhead it's skin-able to near the saddle with Iron Nipple. NW gully holds snow, we chose to take it half way then climb up to the ridge. North Face is skiable from the summit. We brought our powder skis, probably wasn't necessary. We skied off the ridge from the saddle and didn't take the skis off and slap the skins back on until about a mile from the upper trailhead. It's a big day right now. 

Route: North Couloir
Posted On: 4/27/2021, By: climb2ski
Info: Not really an update - more a question if anyone has been up here this spring? Couloir and Road conditions? 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 3/7/2021, By: Geckser
Info: It was a very nice day on Lindsey. The road is closed 5.8 miles below the normal summer trailhead. The road is very grim this time of year with variable snow coverage for the first 1.8 miles. The road becomes very bumpy and snowy after that point. Skiing the road is difficult even if the first 1.8 miles were somehow snowy as it requires a great deal of skinning on the way back (we left our skins on for the entire trip back). The basin after the trailhead is still quite snowy and the trail is not very clear, another case where skins stayed on for the descent. Once the gully is reached it is a very nice skin to around 12,600 feet where we deposited our skis above a pile of rocks. The basin section was stunningly beautiful and included some very fun moraine skiing. We brought trailrunners for this section of the climb and we were glad we had them. It was even a nice enough day for a not very painful transfer between boots and shoes. The climb to the ridge was easy and not super snowy. The northwest ridge was the route used for the remaining portion of the ascent, this section was not very snowy and actually very pleasant and fun scrambling. The crux wall is slightly snowy depending on the route chosen but you can easily avoid all snow if desired. Great views from the summit on a pretty nice day. The descent was very nice from the summit back down to the lower basin the snow was very high quality and the features of the mountain were super fun to ski. Getting from the lower basin to the car was a bit of a slog as there was never a point where it made sense to take off skins and there were many flats or uphills. Do not expect a smooth descent, at least on skis. Overall very good day. I would recommend hitting the peak asap as I doubt the trench that we generated will last very long and I doubt many other people will put in a trench before spring. As far as we could tell we were the first group up the mountain for at least a month. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 12/6/2020, By: gmorgenegg
Info: About a week ago 2+ feet of snow had fallen in the area. We were able to make it about a mile away from the trailhead in my friends lifted forerunner after we had put chains on the back tires. We needed snowshoes almost the entire way to 13,000 feet. It is really rough going though, those snowshoes have definitely seen better days. Ice axes were useful, but some good trekking poles would have probably done just as well. Ice spikes were extremely useful once we got on the ridge. We were able to keep the difficulty at mostly class 3 with a few class 4 moves. The crux of the route was a downclimb from the ridge to the base of the “crux wall”. Made it to the summit in just over 8 HOURS!! It took about 4 hours to get back. Good Luck! 

Route: Northwest Gully
Posted On: 10/24/2020, By: durkan
Info: Surprisingly, we had Mt. Windsey to ourselves on a Saturday! Due to the high winds, we opted to avoid the ridge and hid in the gully. Was either dry or had no-issue snow (for now anyway) with the exception of a snow field before getting to the base of the gully. Also found a phone. Let me know if you or someone lost it in the gully. 

Route: Northwest Gully
Posted On: 10/18/2020, By: sctbke
Info: Route in great condition, little snow. Very windy day, less wind in the gully as most of the route is somewhat protected 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 10/4/2020, By: SaraReardon-9
Info: NW ridge has little to no snow. We took the Gully on the way down and that was sketchy with ice, so definitely bring spikes if that's your route (lots of loose rock and not fully-hardened snow). Bring gloves to climb the ridge! 

Route: Northwest Gully
Posted On: 9/24/2020, By: Blue6String
Info: Ended up taking the NW Gully up and down. The snow in the gully is doing a freeze/melt cycle. The grippy rocks (hiker right on ascent) have a good amount of snow melt that has turned icy, but navigable. The snow through narrower spots has been well packed and gotten slick from other hikers. If you are a light and nimble climber, more of a mountain goat or bighorn sheep, you may not need traction. If you're more of a yeti, like me (240lbs w/o gear), everything was giving way up and down and I absolutely recommend traction. Spikes made a huge difference. Lots of rockfall, too, because of wind and freeze/thaw cycle. Take a helmet. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 9/20/2020, By: skidrye
Info: Northwest ridge mostly clear of snow, with just a couple of small, easy snowfields. There is a little snow near the crux wall, but it is mostly avoidable, and not in exposed terrain. I would say the ridge is 90% summer conditions. The crux wall does look much more intimidating when first gaining the ridge, but it becomes much less so as you get closer. The technical sections of the crux wall are fairly short, and are really only moderately exposed if you stay near the orange lines. The road to the trailhead is completely snow free. I took the gulley down, and it is maybe half covered with snow. It had many loose large rocks, so if you are ok with down-climbing, I might recommend taking the ridge down as well.