Ice Mountain

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 6/20/2021, By: RickDalton
Info: 98% of snow on the route in avoidable. Talus/scree slope is not fun, worse on the way down. Did Ice first, all class 3 sections are much easier than they look. The crux has snow in it but completely avoidable, stay to the right side. Coming down these sections is easier than going up. North apostle from saddle takes about 15 minutes and is completely clear. Didn't see anyone one the trail all day, though saw two dudes on the ridge traversing towards ice from west apostle. Conditions are optimal on this route, no extra gear required. 7.5 hours car to car. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 6/7/2021, By: Anima
Info: The trail is completely dry to the Apostle Basin / Lake Ann split. After that, there are intermittent patches of snow before full snow begins at the head of the rock glacier. The small access couloir is melting quickly and is about three feet wide at its narrowest, but still holds continuous snow. Not a great overnight freeze so there was lots of postholing up to the saddle between Ice Mountain and North Apostle. The ridge has a few patches of snow, but most of it can be worked around. There were six skiers in the Fridge. Not sure how they got along, but conditions looked alright and the couloir itself is still in. 

Route: Refrigerator
Posted On: 6/1/2021, By: miri0729
Info: Booted 3/4 way through the trees, then finally threw the skins on up until the base of the couloir. Still filled in, dropped at noon and it was pretty firm with some small sections of ice. Getting back to the car is a slog fest through the heavy snow drifts in the trees still. 

Route: Refrigerator Coiloir
Posted On: 5/17/2021, By: Mtn_Topper
Info: Hiked from 2WD trailhead due to impassable conditions on 4WD road. Mostly clear trail though you will have to cross several deep but well-worn snow drifts to were we camped near the junction of the Lake Ann and Apostle Basin trails. The route from this junction to the Apostle basin was unpleasant as the snow never really hardened well enough to support us (in snowshoes) and there was quite a bit of deep post-holing. From the Apostle basin to the base of the Refrigerator Couloir the conditions were great early (and very soft and challenging in the afternoon). The snow in the couloir was perfect. The snow conditions on the standard route (descent) led us to choose two long rappels on a full 60m rope for our group to reach the saddle (down climbable if comfortable) for the more straight forward descent. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 9/17/2020, By: slawrence2011
Info: There was plenty of snow between the Talus, but we were mostly able to rock hop on dry rocks up to the ridge between Ice and North, excluding one moderate gully between the lake at 12,100 and the ridge. The Ice ridge was very doable on rock on the ridge crest up until the crux gully just below the summit. The refrigerator couloir appears to be completely filled in, so we put on crampons and ice axe to ascend back up to the ridge. However, neither of these really helped, since the snow was so soft. I ended up taking off my crampons, and climbing a sketchy class 4+/class 5- series of half snow covered ledges up to the ridge just below the summit. This got me there, but it was way too sketchy to downclimb. After attempting to downclimb the route described by Roach, which was also half snow covered and sketchy, I elected to downclimb the ridge that almost connects to the initial ridge, since at least it was dry. Very doable until the very bottom, where it was incredibly loose, and I barely managed to find enough holds to get back on route. My partner did not go for the summit, and that was the wiser choice. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 9/12/2020, By: colin j
Info: Turned around near 11.7k. After leaving Lake Ann trail was met with loose snow ranging from ankle to knee deep which made route finding and progress tedious. I would expect most off-trail/low traffic routes below treeline in the central Sawatch to be in similar conditions for a couple of days. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 9/5/2020, By: dwoodward13
Info: Snow is starting to accumulate on the crux section as it stays shaded. A inch in spots from the storm on Monday? I'd def want spikes if attempting after the incoming storm. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 8/17/2020, By: RobertKay
Info: To the person who decided to steal our water bottles that we stashed at the start of the rocky part of the climb as you exit the forest, screw you!! We descended from the summit using the last of our water and were looking forward to reaching the stored water and water filter. Of course you felt entitled to our gear and took it so we endured a long descent with nothing to drink. I took a risk and had a small sip from a stream and paid the price later that night. You've now removed any lingering ideas I may have had about the goodness of our fellow climbers. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 8/9/2020, By: graberz
Info: It was a beautiful day on both peaks. Only A dozen or so others collectively between the peaks. Trail was great to the upper creek crossing then it was segmented through the trees. If there is an easier way up or down the rock glacier we didn't find it, but we didn't find the ridge up to ice mt to be as difficult as some of the reports suggested. Overall, beautiful peaks. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 7/12/2020, By: dcsheldon
Info: No snow to navigate from saddle to summit of Ice Mtn. Photo #1 North Apostle from Ice Mtn. Photo #2 Ice Mtn from North Apostle. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 6/29/2020, By: E_A_Marcus_949
Info: Standard route up from Huron TH. There was some snow but nothing that couldn't be avoided. Photo 10 of route description - followed that on the way up, and it was a tad more than the 2+ rating (it could be because there was still some snow right where you'd ideally like to go, so I ended up going off a little bit) and on the way down went down the gully on the other side of the rock outcropping, which seemed a tad better that day. Followed the route exactly on the Class 3 section, specifically photos 21 and 22. Solid rock with great holds. Went down the same way. I'll write a Trip report this week and post it. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 6/22/2020, By: Will_E
Info: Did Ice mountain standard route Sunday. Nearly all of the snowfields are avoidable. Traverse to N. Apostle is also dry. Fantastic route, really enjoyed it. Pic with arrows is where I missed a cairn and went up a pretty challenging steep section. You want to go blue, not red. 

Route: Refrigerator Couloir
Posted On: 6/21/2020, By: wintersage
Info: Dry to the base of the couloir. Snow was continuous and firm but still crunchy enough to allow crampon/ice axe grip. Ridge from Ice Mountain to N Apostle was completely dry. 

Route: Refrigerator couloir
Posted On: 6/13/2020, By: thebeave7
Info: Trail into the upper basin is totally snow free. Patchy snow until you reach the back of the basin. Then it's full snow coverage on the west side, but if you're headed for the saddle most of the snow can be avoided. The refrigerator couloir is still fully in, very fis climbing conditions, and the cornice is gone. The choke point would be hard to ski (either side step or straight line), but the rest is still nicely skiable to the tarn. 

Route: The Refrigerator
Posted On: 6/13/2020, By: CheapCigarMan
Info: Snow is nearly bullet proof. Cornice has an entrance on it's left. Two rocks the size of footballs flew by within 30 yards of me. Trying to think back on Pacific's North Couloir. I think Ice has a steeper section than Pacific but overall I would say they are close to the same steepness.