Snowmass Mountain Trip Report 07/08/2008

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	Snowmass Mountain - 14,105 feet
Date Posted	07/08/2008
Date Climbed	07/03/2008
Author	beazleys

Snowmass Mountain
My wife and I left town on Thursday, July 3rd, to be ahead of any holiday traffic. The parking lot at the trailhead was fairly full, but judging by the number of dayhikers hiking out, it was mostly day users. Picture from the trailhead The first part of the trail is mellow, following Snowmass Creek, with views of rushing water and mature aspen stands. You cannot even see your chosen destination until a view up a drainage allows the summit of Snowmass to peek over a rocky ridge. Unfortunately, my camera did great job with the foreground, but the background is completely absent. Trust me, you can see Snowmass. What should be the first view of Snowmass We crossed the logjam both coming and going. It was dicey as the options were limited, but trekking poles were a huge help. One or two logs sunk as weighted, but waterproof boots meant a quick and shallow dunk was no problem. It took approximately 15 minutes to cross. Logjam Heading up from the logjam we passed fields of avalanche lilies. I have only come across the flowers in two places, the Indian Peaks and on the approach to Snowmass. They bloom as the snowpack recedes. They were everywhere, including around the lake. Avalanche lily We began hiking at 6:00 AM. Getting around the lake took nearly an hour as there was no defined path and most snowfields ended at the lake‘s edge, meaning a misttep could mean a swim. The initial rocky slope at the head of the lake is steep and quite loose. We climbed the right hand edge (climbers right) and knocked down three TV sized rocks, one with nothing more than the touch of a hand. Climb out of one another's fall line through this section and watch for any climbers above. Climbing the rocky slope at the head of the lake From here we donned crampons, pulled out the ice axe and proceeded up the snow. We stayed to the left, trying to string together a series of 'not as steep' sections. My prior climb of Snowmass went straight up the middle, aiming for the summit ridge, both took the same amount of time, but I felt I used less energy by staying left. Climbing snow Getting from the snow to the summit ridge proved dicey. The final pitch is quite steep (photo later) and the snow next to the rock melted out. The snow adjacent to the ridge kept collapsing, I am not sure how far down one would fall between the snow and the ridge, but every time I stepped it collapsed further. There is a block of snow along the ridge, not quite a cornice but close to vertical, that I wriggled on and then stepped to the ridge from there. From this point is was a quick scramble to the summit. We had the entire mountain to ourselves. The last entry in the summit register was from CO Native on 6/29. The solitude was a rare treat and we laid about for 40 minutes, with boots off and soaking up sun. View of Capitol from summit View of the Maroon Bells from summit On the way day it was a rare wildlife sighting, a marmot. All we saw all day was a marmot and chipmunks. Others reported bears, bobcats and pine martens, it seems we repel wildlife. Marmot The next picture shows the backside of Snowmass and gives an idea of the terrain to cover to reach the summit. We downclimbed probably two hundred vertical feet of snow, and then turned around and began plunge stepping. The descent was a mix of walking, plunge stepping and boot glissading, and took about a ¼ of the time as the ascent. Downclimbing A view back up the final pitch to the summit ridge At the base of the snowfield, with the Bells in the background Following is a view of Snowmass from the top of the loose rock slope at the head of the lake. We stayed on snow as long as possible, descending a gully, to get us below the worst of the loose rock. Also, you can see the amount of snow still around the lake. Snowmass Lake Midway down there is a large cascade It took us a little less than eight hours, including time on the summit. The fact that you pack in 8 miles the prior day make the climb a tough one, but there is a well deserved and quite scenic rest to be had. Snowmass with feet (just need a beer) Snowmass and Hagerman in the evening Snowmass and Hagerman in the morning The hike out is a fairly mellow, if lengthy affair. We saw numerous mushrooms, including what I think is a beefsteak morel. Oh, and more chipmunks. Mushroom This last photo is just prior to the logjam, which we crossed under the watchful eye of five campers who applauded our successful crossing effort. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Snowmass Mountain

My wife and I left town on Thursday, July 3rd, to be ahead of any holiday traffic. The parking lot at the trailhead was fairly full, but judging by the number of dayhikers hiking out, it was mostly day users.

Picture from the trailhead

The first part of the trail is mellow, following Snowmass Creek, with views of rushing water and mature aspen stands. You cannot even see your chosen destination until a view up a drainage allows the summit of Snowmass to peek over a rocky ridge. Unfortunately, my camera did great job with the foreground, but the background is completely absent. Trust me, you can see Snowmass.

What should be the first view of Snowmass

We crossed the logjam both coming and going. It was dicey as the options were limited, but trekking poles were a huge help. One or two logs sunk as weighted, but waterproof boots meant a quick and shallow dunk was no problem. It took approximately 15 minutes to cross.

Logjam

Heading up from the logjam we passed fields of avalanche lilies. I have only come across the flowers in two places, the Indian Peaks and on the approach to Snowmass. They bloom as the snowpack recedes. They were everywhere, including around the lake.

Avalanche lily

We began hiking at 6:00 AM. Getting around the lake took nearly an hour as there was no defined path and most snowfields ended at the lake‘s edge, meaning a misttep could mean a swim. The initial rocky slope at the head of the lake is steep and quite loose. We climbed the right hand edge (climbers right) and knocked down three TV sized rocks, one with nothing more than the touch of a hand. Climb out of one another's fall line through this section and watch for any climbers above.

Climbing the rocky slope at the head of the lake

From here we donned crampons, pulled out the ice axe and proceeded up the snow. We stayed to the left, trying to string together a series of 'not as steep' sections. My prior climb of Snowmass went straight up the middle, aiming for the summit ridge, both took the same amount of time, but I felt I used less energy by staying left.

Climbing snow

Getting from the snow to the summit ridge proved dicey. The final pitch is quite steep (photo later) and the snow next to the rock melted out. The snow adjacent to the ridge kept collapsing, I am not sure how far down one would fall between the snow and the ridge, but every time I stepped it collapsed further. There is a block of snow along the ridge, not quite a cornice but close to vertical, that I wriggled on and then stepped to the ridge from there. From this point is was a quick scramble to the summit. We had the entire mountain to ourselves. The last entry in the summit register was from CO Native on 6/29. The solitude was a rare treat and we laid about for 40 minutes, with boots off and soaking up sun.

View of Capitol from summit

View of the Maroon Bells from summit

On the way day it was a rare wildlife sighting, a marmot. All we saw all day was a marmot and chipmunks. Others reported bears, bobcats and pine martens, it seems we repel wildlife.

Marmot

The next picture shows the backside of Snowmass and gives an idea of the terrain to cover to reach the summit.

We downclimbed probably two hundred vertical feet of snow, and then turned around and began plunge stepping. The descent was a mix of walking, plunge stepping and boot glissading, and took about a ¼ of the time as the ascent.

Downclimbing

A view back up the final pitch to the summit ridge

At the base of the snowfield, with the Bells in the background

Following is a view of Snowmass from the top of the loose rock slope at the head of the lake. We stayed on snow as long as possible, descending a gully, to get us below the worst of the loose rock. Also, you can see the amount of snow still around the lake.

Snowmass Lake

Midway down there is a large cascade

It took us a little less than eight hours, including time on the summit. The fact that you pack in 8 miles the prior day make the climb a tough one, but there is a well deserved and quite scenic rest to be had.

Snowmass with feet (just need a beer)

Snowmass and Hagerman in the evening

Snowmass and Hagerman in the morning

The hike out is a fairly mellow, if lengthy affair. We saw numerous mushrooms, including what I think is a beefsteak morel. Oh, and more chipmunks.

Mushroom

This last photo is just prior to the logjam, which we crossed under the watchful eye of five campers who applauded our successful crossing effort.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

klabar	Wow, great adventure! 7/10/2008 5:42am Loved your report. I felt as if I were with you crossing the log jam not to mention the final pitch to the summit ridge. I just did my first three 14ers this weekend (Redcloud, Sunshine and Elbert) and will definitely put Snowmass on my list of must do. Thank you for the beautiful photos...avalanche lilly my fav. Congrats!
schrund	Nice Job! 7/12/2008 12:30am Nice work. I made the ridge a litle over a week ago but not the summit. At least I now know it‘s an ”easy scramble” for the next time.
Kzar	Great Report 7/12/2008 6:07pm Haven‘t heard much about this area, great report. The final pitch up the summit looks like a real challenge. Glad you were able to make it. Did you use crampons or just kick step up the snowfield? I have to agree with klabar the avalanche lilly is my favorite pic, never seen one before. Thanks for the great report.
beazleys	crampon usage 7/13/2008 3:09am Kzar, Wore crampons for this trip and felt it simplified snow travel. In June 2006 (poor snow year)skipped crampons and was happy to have foregone the effort of packing them in. I would think enough people have been up it the last two weeks to have a good set of steps to follow, making crampons unnecessary,although more recent trip reports will provide a much less speculative answer. -Sandy

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