Mt. Alice

Route: Wild basin
Posted On: 11/2/2024, By: Wimyers
Info: Insignificant snow coverage below thunder lake, fairly snowy above thunder lake. Enough to be annoying but not enough to warrant anything more than boots 

Route: Hourglass from Wild Basin
Posted On: 10/10/2024, By: LetsGoMets
Info: Bone dry. 

Route: Lion Lakes/Hourglass to Boulder-Grand Pass
Posted On: 9/21/2024, By: madmattd
Info: Summer conditions - for now. Scree coming down Boulder-Grand is obnoxious as others have noted, but short-lived. Still some snow hanging out in the pass, but only on the South half, the North half with the worn path down is all clear. RMNP trails all in good shape, one or two blowdowns. Actually a really nice day out, it was sunny until well after we descended back below treeline, and no precipitation during the entire hike - nice that the incoming storm ended up delayed and we were able to get this in. Summit canister is missing one end cap and empty - not sure if this has been the case for a while? 

Route: Up via Lion Lakes down gully to Lake of Many Winds
Posted On: 8/18/2024, By: kyrawhitworth
Info: Full summer conditions. Posting mainly to let folks know that the direction we did the loop was a great choice. We ascended via Lion Lakes and this was very gentle up to hourglass ridge. From the summit we descended towards the thunder lake side. We then descended a loose but short gully to Lake of the Many Winds. The great RMNP trails make the miles go quickly. 11 hrs, 17.3 miles, 5000ish vert 

Route: Hourglass up, Boulder-Grand Pass down
Posted On: 7/10/2024, By: SnowAlien
Info: Was happy to score a camping permit for Thunder lake campsite - I have never camped in RMNP before and wanted to have that experience. Backpacked in on 7/9, and there was hail, thunder and lightning on the approach to the Thunder lake (how appropriate!) When I arrived, there was a commotion, as my camping neighbors returned to their campsite ransacked by bears! (they didn't store the food properly and had toiletries in their tents). The bears shredded the tents and ate the food while the campers were out on a day hike. Then the rain/hail soaked their sleeping bags, so they had to pack out. I was very nervous to camp, but stored the food properly in my newly acquired bear canister (BearVault) and the bears didn't visit. Mosquitos were not bad at all. In the morning, I packed up the tent, hanged the overnight bag and went on my day hike... I cut across to the Lion lakes trail and followed it for a bit to the upper lake. The trail connects to the saddle with Chiefshead and Hourglass ridge, which looks improbable, but doesn't exceed class 2 in my opinion. The weather was perfect - sunny and no wind. Tagged both summits since they both looked higher when standing on the other one! Descended towards Boulder-Grand Pass for a nice loop. I hauled my ultralight Camp ice ax just for this occasion, but it wasn't needed - the north side of the pass had a strip of dirt, steep and loose, but it took me to the Lake of Many Winds, and there's a nice trail with lots of wildflowers to the Thunder lake. Chatted with some new arrivals (about the bears of course), had lunch, grabbed my overnight bag and hiked out. Really wish there would be more camping options in RMNP and less of red tape, but alas. If anyone has a camping permit for Ouzel lake, I'm very interested! :) 

Route: Hourglass Ridge
Posted On: 10/21/2023, By: madmattd
Info: Didn't actually summit - I hit Chiefs Head from the saddle and intended to do Alice afterwards, but the North-facing Hourglass Ridge looked a little too spicy for my tastes today. I think it could be done, but it would need a lot of care to negotiate the snow, boulders, and verglass all over. Boulder-Grand saddle is also full of snow with a mini cornice right now (enough snow that I wonder if it is leftovers from last winter?), so Alice would likely need to be done as an out-and-back from the Alice-Chiefs Head saddle unless you drag appropriate gear all the way over there. 

Route: Hourglass Ridge
Posted On: 7/10/2023, By: Wildernessjane
Info: We did not climb Mount Alice but got a great view of snow conditions on the Hourglass Ridge from McHenrys. 

Route: Hourglass Ridge
Posted On: 7/14/2023, By: Hiking_TheRockies
Info: Ascended from Lion Lakes, Descended into Thunder Lake. There are a number of snow patches near/just above treeline, especially around Lion/Snowbank lakes, but it is all negotiable and nothing dangerous. Above treeline, snow is patchy, but easily avoidable. Hourglass Ridge was great. There is a large snow patch to the left of the ridge, but by staying on the far right you avoid all the snow. No snow on descent to Boulder-Grand Pass. BGP is full of snow, but on the far left of the saddle there is a thin dirt gully that holds no snow. This was our descent route, which was terrible scree-surfing, but pretty easy descent. There is a large snowfield above Lake of Many Winds, which we had to traverse across. Past Lake of Many Winds, there are a good number of snowfields on the descent into Thunder Lake. Great glissading! From Thunder, the trail back to Wild Basin TH is in great condition. No spikes necessary as long as you are competent in kicking steps. Note that I am posting this about a week after the climb, so snow may be a little more melted. Sadly didn't get any pictures :( 

Route: Hourglass up, Boulder-Grand down
Posted On: 9/27/2022, By: bangerth
Info: Summer conditions, nothing currently to worry about other than the length of the route. But what a great mountain to climb! 

Route: Hourglass Ridge, Boulder Grand Pass
Posted On: 9/18/2022, By: colin j
Info: Summer conditions continue on Alice. NW face and some shaded rocks have a dusting of snow; all avoidable. Stay to the right on Hourglass ridge for the most aesthetic line. 

Route: Hourglass/North Ridge from Chiefs Head Peak
Posted On: 9/13/2022, By: supranihilest
Info: From the summit of Chiefs Head Peak we scrambled down Class 2+ boulders en route to Alice. The distance to open tundra appeared short but was quite a bit farther than it looked. Alice's north ridge, which resembles an hourglass, looks improbable but is fairly easy. The ridge narrows and has a bit of Class 2+ scrambling before reaching the very steep face that makes up most of the ridge. The far right side of the ridge is Class 3 on generally solid rock. The middle and left sides of the ridge are Class 2+ grassy ledges with kitty litter, talus, and boulders strewn all over. There's more loose rock on middle and left sides, I'd recommend helmets for groups and extra care not to toss rocks down. Everything is quite steep and the scrambling sustained all the way to the twin summits. We tagged both summits because both looked higher from the other. To descend we took the easy, Class 2 south ridge to open tundra towards Boulder-Grand Pass. We climbed Tanima Peak (a ranked 12er) before returning to the pass. The pass is very steep and loose and the only safe descent is on the very northern end of the pass, which is marked by a cairn. DO NOT descend the south side, you'll encounter nearly vertical snow (probably ice) covered in dirt that's hard to see from above. There's a climber's trail down from the pass to Lake of Many Winds, an unmaintained but better trail to Thunder Lake, and then an official NPS trail back to the trailhead. 

Route: Hourglass Ridge and Boulder Grand Pass
Posted On: 7/17/2022, By: brauda02
Info: Did the loop on Mt. Alice today going up Hourglass Ridge and down Boulder Grand Pass. Not reports for this year, so figured I'd add one. Summer conditions though I did use spikes for one snowfield gaining the shoulder that led up to the ridge as it was still firm in the morning. They weren't necessary but figured I'd use them since I had them. I'd say this route goes at class 2+. A lot of blowdowns on the Alice loop. RMNP should focus more on maintaining trails and less on needless red tape and bureaucracy. 

Route: Hourglass Ridge to Boulder-Grand Pass Loop
Posted On: 8/12/2021, By: JasonKline
Info: Summer conditions. No snow or ice. The smoke was pretty bad. Wild Basin road has potholes, but my Hyundai Ioniq had no problem driving it and plenty of other low-clearance 2WD vehicles were at the trailhead. 

Route: Hourglass Ridge
Posted On: 7/6/2021, By: hr011242
Info: A few steps in snow when ascending the final summit pitch, no traction or axe necessary. The trail is easy to follow, and when there is no trail the route is obvious. 

Route: Hourglass ridge
Posted On: 6/22/2021, By: dbolton
Info: I climbed Chiefs Head, but got a clear photo (attached) of the hourglass route from the saddle between these peaks. For a description of getting to the saddle, see my Chiefs Head report.