4/5/2014 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 4/8/2014, By: CarpeDM Info: I parked at the lower South Colony Lakes TH. It's not practical to drive any further up there for most vehicles. The road was clear for half a mile, then snow began to intrude. Even if you could drive further, there weren't any good spots to park before the road became dicier for most cars. Pretty soon after the first half mile, snow was continuous, supportive on the road up to the Rainbow Trail. Snowshoes provided good flotation on the Rainbow Trail, but there was annoying sidehilling along the north-facing section as snow drifted across the trail. It was easy to spot the turn-off to head up the northeast ridge, and easy route-finding along the ridge. My trench was never more than 6" or 8". It started snowing as I reached treeline. I stopped there for a variety of reasons. In just the short period of time between the snow starting and me heading down, good chunks of my trench were already on the road to being filled in. I'd guess 4" of new snow by the time I got back to the car. I thought I had gotten a couple of good pics of Humbolt, but I was more transfixed by the Crestones. So I failed with the camera again. Sorry. In my last one in that direction, you couldn't see it through the snow. I do recall it seeming a bit thin above treeline. Pics: 1 - Looking up Marble from 10,770ft 2 - Humbolt's SE slopes 3 - Crestones with Humbolt's South slopes 4 - Snow starting to fill in my tracks |
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1/27/2011 Route: NE Ridge Posted On: 1/28/2011, By: BillMiddlebrook Info: Conditions on Marble are excellent right now. Packed snow on the SC Lakes road to the Rainbow Trail and easy snowshoeing up the Rainbow Trail to Marble‘s NE Ridge. From there I made a track/trench up the NE Ridge all the way to tree line. Left the snowshoes near 11,800‘ and hiked the remaining wind-scoured ridge to the summit. |
