Crestone Needle Trip Report 05/30/2009

Peak(s):	Crestone Needle - 14,196 feet Humboldt Peak - 14,068 feet
Date Posted:	05/30/2009
Date Climbed:	05/29/2009
Author:	Nelson

Week end at South Colony Lake
Hi Guys, I've just spent 3 days around South Colony Lakes and thought you would like to know the conditions. I was able to drive about 4.2 miles from the 2wd trailhead and was stopped by major snow drifts. 2 people got across the stream that stopped me and got about .1 miles further. This will only change gradually over the next week or two. From the 4wd trailhead on is snow that is pure postholing up to the lower lake. If you don't have snowshoes you are going to have a long day. The good news is that it is melting fast. On 5/29/09 I climbed the Needle. The hike to Broken hand Pass was diabolical. Lots of Postholing both up and down. The traverse to the east chute was goof early (6am) because it had been windy the night before. The return was major postholing at 9:30 am. The east chute itself was in good shape. It was a little soft at the bottom but got better as I went higher. When I got to the crossover point to the west chute (13,600) I felt the snow was so good that I would continue. At the steep section the snow was even a bit hard. Above that I cruised to the summit. I elected to come down the east chute because I felt the steep section would soften up a bit. It had. The rest of the return was a nightmare I.e postholing. The whole thing took me 7 and half hours which was about twice what I was expecting. Last night there was no precip but a strong west wind. I just didn't have it in me to try another major post holing epic so I set off on Humboldt. The route is in great shape, almost summer conditions. I didn't use the snowshoes once. The surprise was the west wind. I was sweating going up to the ridge and then I was freezing. I guess it was 20-25 out of the west. The snow was very hard and I put on the spikes right away. The climb couldn't have been better and I was able to get a good look at my other targets, Crestone Peak and Kit Carson. I've been climbing for the last 10 days and have found the traveling conditions as difficult as any I have seen. It is just not getting cold at night and even people with snowshoes have had trouble. Without snow shoes it is very difficult. Nelson

Week end at South Colony Lake

Hi Guys,

I've just spent 3 days around South Colony Lakes and thought you would like to know the conditions.

I was able to drive about 4.2 miles from the 2wd trailhead and was stopped by major snow drifts. 2 people got across the stream that stopped me and got about .1 miles further. This will only change gradually over the next week or two.

From the 4wd trailhead on is snow that is pure postholing up to the lower lake. If you don't have snowshoes you are going to have a long day. The good news is that it is melting fast.

On 5/29/09 I climbed the Needle. The hike to Broken hand Pass was diabolical. Lots of Postholing both up and down. The traverse to the east chute was goof early (6am) because it had been windy the night before. The return was major postholing at 9:30 am.

The east chute itself was in good shape. It was a little soft at the bottom but got better as I went higher. When I got to the crossover point to the west chute (13,600) I felt the snow was so good that I would continue. At the steep section the snow was even a bit hard. Above that I cruised to the summit. I elected to come down the east chute because I felt the steep section would soften up a bit. It had. The rest of the return was a nightmare I.e postholing. The whole thing took me 7 and half hours which was about twice what I was expecting.

Last night there was no precip but a strong west wind. I just didn't have it in me to try another major post holing epic so I set off on Humboldt. The route is in great shape, almost summer conditions. I didn't use the snowshoes once. The surprise was the west wind. I was sweating going up to the ridge and then I was freezing. I guess it was 20-25 out of the west. The snow was very hard and I put on the spikes right away. The climb couldn't have been better and I was able to get a good look at my other targets, Crestone Peak and Kit Carson.

I've been climbing for the last 10 days and have found the traveling conditions as difficult as any I have seen. It is just not getting cold at night and even people with snowshoes have had trouble. Without snow shoes it is very difficult.

Nelson

Comments or Questions

MountainMatt	A+ effort 5/31/2009 10:42pm Good report Nelson and it was nice meeting you. Sounds like you had the same conditions as I had when climbing the Needle, glad you were able to make it to the top. Thanks for pointing out my hat as well. Cheers
Nelson	Hats 6/2/2009 3:51am Thanks Matt. I lost my cap on the Needle as well. I have a good sun burn to show for it! Nelson
jesse	Nice timing 6/2/2009 10:39pm glad to see both of you summited this peak recently! I‘d really like some more beta if you can email me any tyvm!

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