Ice Mountain

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 9/11/2016, By: mspalding
Info: The directions from 14ers.com are perfect. And you will find some helpful cairns on the rocks. You don't have to route up through the trees at the end of the basin. There are trails through the willows and you can rock hop along the edge of the giant rock glacier at the end of the basin instead. The GPX files are incorrect. There are 2 files, one shows part of the trail from Winfield and the other shows the trail to Ann Lake. Follow the signs to ensure you get on the correct trail. Also, a shout out to Keith and his twin - you guys burned that mountain! 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 6/20/2016, By: Shattuck311
Info: The approach to the saddle between N. Apostle & Ice was snow free until the trail ended. From there, the gully was holding a lot of snow to the saddle. Microspikes and an Ice Axe were useful in the morning. Once at the Saddle between N. Apostle & Ice, N. Apostle was mostly free of snow to the summit, and Ice was the same. Only a few snow patches to move around pretty easily. From Ice to South Apostle there were many snow fields to cross, and again, an Ice axe was very useful. The CDT from Lake Ann was still holding a lot of patchy snow in the woods. Bring the ice axe, helmet, and Microspikes. I had snowshoes, and they could have come in handy in the afternoon, but the post holing was always short lived so that I decided it would be quicker to struggle through than to take on and off snow shoes. Some might prefer having them though, especially if you descend by lake Ann from South Apostle. 

Route: Fridge
Posted On: 5/8/2016, By: yingyangsoup89
Info: Continuous snow from about 10.5k. Long approach bushwhacking in deep snow. Lots of postholing from Huron upper trailhead until reaching the basin where the moonlight stalker direct couloir begins. Snow in upper basin is super consolidated. Conditions in the couloir were prime and one of my best to date. The scramble from the top of the couloir is covered in snow and holds many loose boulders. The exposure makes it spicy. Get it. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 10/3/2015, By: tdawg012
Info: Snow free and quite pleasant. Same can be said for Huron and many of the northern collegiate range. I am sure that will be changing the next few days however.... 

Route: Refrigerator
Posted On: 7/13/2015, By: sdkeil
Info: The Refrigerator couloir was continuous from top to bottom. The snow on the apron was a little soft, but once in the couloir the snow was firm. The choke point had ice forming on the climbers left, but it was possible to avoid. The top of the couloir had some rotten snow on the right and some thin ice on the left, which made for few interesting moves. We descended the standard NE ridge. It was snow free, but a little wet and muddy in a few places. The rock was rotten as advertised and we had a few large pieces come loose. The approach was snow free and there were only a couple snow fields in the upper basin to navigate. 

Route: West Ridge Direct
Posted On: 7/13/2015, By: CarpeDM
Info: Route: to get to the Continental Divide, I ascended the rounded, grassy north-facing ridge just east of Lake Ann until steeper snow diverted me slightly east to a loose gulley for the final couple hundred feet. Then I followed the ridge over West Apostle and ridge direct up Ice. Once on the false summit, I had to descend a couple hundred feet to get across the prominent south-facing couloir to avoid a snow crossing. I descended via the Roach traverse across the SW slopes. Conditions: slightly soggy/muddy approach to Lake Ann - my feet got a little wet. Up to the ridge and beyond, there were a few minor snow fields to cross. I used my axe a few times for ~20-30 feet at a time, but wore only trail runners. The ridge direct route is a really fun scramble on good, stable rock. The return route over to the Ice/West saddle was loose crap - much less fun. The Apostle Couloir looked pretty continuous except that its melting out just at the very top. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 7/4/2014, By: RyGuy
Info: Did not climb Ice, but took some highly zoomed in pictures of the upper route from Huron Peak on July 3rd,2014. Hopefully this will help you if you are interested in climbing the Apostles. I have a ton more pictures at 18MP resolution if desired. Just PM me. North and Ice: https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/t31.0-8/10454112_10100113113277567_9091858472225036407_o.jpg West: https://scontent-b-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/10535753_10100113113302517_2927306025553166453_o.jpg Close up of Ice and the Refridgerator Couloir: https://scontent-b-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/10355563_10100113113352417_6369677809926660785_o.jpg 

Route: Refrigerator
Posted On: 6/25/2014, By: Tommy Dorr
Info: The Refrigerator Couloir is in great shape, though its melting out fast. Almost no postholing on the approach. No issues at TH. 

Route: Apostle Couloir
Posted On: 6/1/2014, By: CarpeDM
Info: Attempted Ice via the Apostle Couloir. Started from 4wd TH at 3:40am. Lots of water (and a little snow) on the trail up to the split for Lake Ann, then snow. Lots of postholing even with snowshoes. Creeks are raging and crossings are dicey. We had to build one crossing ourselves. Didn't hit the couloir proper until 9am. It was sometimes nearly bulletproof, sometimes punching through crust. Had a small rock or two whiz by us on the way up. Got to the saddle between Ice and West and decided to retreat. Probably could've gotten up Ice, but didn't like our descent options after having the snow bake for so long. Even going over West Apostle looked dicey. Pic1: North Apostle and Ice Mtn Pic2: Close-up of the base of the Refrigerator Pic3: The Apostle Couloir is on the left Pic4: The climb out of the saddle between West Apostle and Ice Mtn 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 7/11/2013, By: Dobsons
Info: Climbed the three apostles today. Great day out! No need for any snow equipment at all. 

Route: N Apostle > Ice > W Apostle
Posted On: 7/1/2012, By: forbins_mtn
Info: Snow free. We did the traverse from N Apostle > Ice > W Apostle and we all brought axes just in case. They stayed firmly on our packs. No traction needed either. 

Route: Refrigerator Couloir
Posted On: 7/3/2012, By: kmensch
Info: The refrigerator couloir is still in condition as of 6/24/12. There is an area around the choke point (2/3 of the way up) that is melting out and has a lot of loose rock that can be dangerous. The bottom 1/3 is hard snow with some ice (stay in the runnel), the middle 1/3 has solid and melting ice, and the upper 1/3 is packed snow. Overall a great route, but the ice isn‘t solid in the thin areas and rockfall through the constriction is a given. I wouldn‘t climb this past mid July. See my facebook photos at: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4156814919269.175872.1250853067&type=1&l=46b3f7f67f 

Route: Apostle couloir and SW face
Posted On: 5/31/2012, By: Matt Lemke
Info: I climbed Ice Mountain and West Apostle yesterday from the Apostle couloir and the SW face of Ice. Let me be the first to say this was one fantastic climb! The Apostle couloir is in fantastic condition and much of the rock glacier extending below it it still snow covered. The Apostle Trail that veers left off the main Lake Ann trail is snow free all the way to 11,500 at the meadows. Great cramponing up the snow we got up the whole couloir...800 feet in 19 minutes!!! We took off from the saddle and did the long, loose traverse over the SW face of Ice and only saw a couple thin snow patches. We crossed rib after rib seperated by gullies and finally located the large gully leading up to the summit. We decided to take the left branch on this gully because it was much more solid and had some harder class 3 with a little class 4 climbing. Upon reaching the saddle between the main and false summits, we had to descend a little to avoid an overhanging cliff on the ridge...which was beautiful by the way. Once at the summit we lounged in the gorgeous weather and setting for a half hour before descending the main gully which was so loose and crappy we alternated descending going only one at a time. There was no way to avoid setting rocks loose and during our time on ice we accidently set off two huge rockslides that both tumbled off the cliffs way below. DO NOT climb below someone on this route at any time! We were so happy to be on the summit of ice and on such a great day. Descending the route back to the West/Ice saddle was a challenge but after a gruling 2 hours we were back at the saddle where we stashed our packs and ran up the easy class 2 West Apostle which also had a great if not better summit view we lounged here for about a half hour as well as the temps were so warm! As the day was winding down we glissaded the Apostle couloir and it was FUN! The hike out was a nice warm down and this brings me to the end of another great day in the mountains...my favorite Sawatch peak and the best one hands down! 10 hours RT, 10 miles...a great couloir and lots of class 3. First photo shows the Apostle couloir (on left side) from about 12,300 feet Second photo shows west apostle from the traverse of the SW face on Ice Third photo shows N Apostle and Huron from the summit of Ice Forth photo shows the SW face of Ice from West Apostle 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 8/22/2011, By: rockymountaindiva
Info: Entire trail clear of snow - no crampons or ice ax needed. 

Route: Refrigerator Couloir
Posted On: 6/12/2011, By: Climbdent
Info: Clearcreek road is passable all the way to the forest service cut off with a 4X4. The approach is in good shape until the Lily Lake/Apostle Basin Split. At the point the trail is impossible to follow and snowshoes are needed. (Add additional time as the approach is really slow going.) Refrigerator Couloir is in excellent condition and probably will remain that way for weeks to come. The route down the NW ridge was difficult with a mixture of snow and rock. We went up N Apostle. You can pretty much stay on Class II rock from the saddle to the summit. We glissaded most of the way into the basin from the Summit of N Apostle. There were past signs of massive avalanches but we saw no avalanche or rock fall. If you want pics shoot me an message.