Mount Yale winter ascent

[KansanClimber]

Hey,
I'm thinking about doing Yale this January. I've done the standard route, and was wondering if it is possible to do it in the winter?

What about the East ridge? Seems like a better snow route, but I'm having trouble finding beta for it.

Thanks,
Caleb

[jwproulx]

The East Ridge is a probably a good bet in winter -- but it certainly drags on, with false summit after false summit. I did it last May in fairly wintry conditions (completely socked in with clouds above treeline; light snow) and it was a blast. When I did it before (in summery conditions) it was beautiful, with lovely veiws the whole way up. I'm not sure what you would want in terms of beta -- go up to the ridge on the Colorado Trail, and then head for the summit. The route is in Roach and Dawson both. The only problem is that it can get windy on that ridge.

[pkpzp228]

Definitely one that's hospitable in the winter, I did the std route on Yale this past Feb, it's was a slog but easily doable. One of the pros of Yale is the TH is easily accessible in winter. Sorry no beta on the East ridge, although I think it's accessible from Avalanche Gulch, I don't recall if it's the South ridge or East that you would climb from there. Check out Roach I think it describes this route.

Cheers

[RJones]

Kansanclimber, I climbed Yale with a friend this past winter via Denny's Trail. We were able to avoid critical areas with careful route selection. We cut trail the entire day. The winds were insane and the starting temp. was minus 2 degrees. It was an 11 hour day. I have a few pics if you are interested. Great day and hope to do it again this winter.

[pkpzp228]

Definitely one that's hospitable in the winter, I did the std route on Yale this past Feb, it's was a slog but easily doable. One of the pros of Yale is the TH is easily accessible in winter. Sorry no beta on the East ridge, although I think it's accessible from Avalanche Gulch, I don't recall if it's the South ridge or East that you would climb from there. Check out Roach I think it describes this route.
Cheers

What was your time for the round trip?

About 8 hours round trip. Here's an old blogged TR with a link to additional pics at the bottom if you're interested.

http://verticalcompulsion.blogspot.com/ ... Mt.%20Yale" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[KansanClimber]

Is Denny creek route avvy prone? All i remember is that it's pretty steep towards the last mile.

[Kevin Baker]

Is Denny creek route avvy prone? All i remember is that it's pretty steep towards the last mile.

There are areas steep enough to slide on the standard route. When I did it last winter, we were able to avoid suspect slopes by going straight up a glade with wind blasted, shallow snow. You don't want to follow the standard summer route because the trail cuts across some suspect slopes right at treeline. The first pic in my TR shows the section where if loaded, it could slide.

http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/4 ... uite-.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Scott P]

What about the East ridge? Seems like a better snow route, but I'm having trouble finding beta for it.

I've done it in winter. As long as you stay on route there is no avalanche danger, but the climb is rather long and tedious.

Here are several photos and a very breif TR that may help you:

http://www.summitpost.org/album/387324/ ... h-7-8.html

[Yikes]

concur about e ridge being tedious. i think the biggest issue is that it doesn't get any traffic, so you can't rely upon an existing trench. better bring some friends to pave the way.

[JB99]

Anyone been up Yale recently? Considering a trip this week...

[sunny1]

JB99, I was up there a few wks ago.
Agree with Yikes' post right above yours.
At that time, the deepest postholing was 2.5 ft, not sure what the conditions will be currently.
My TR if you're interested:
http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepor ... ki=Include

[cpstoney]

We were up there Friday 11/20 (perfect day). Although there was snow off and on down low it was not an issue.
Above treeline, the snow was deeper in places but again no real issues as you can avoid the deep stuff. You can
basically go straight up the face to the saddle, aim for the large boulder in the upper center of the face. From there
stay on a slightly climber's right ascent to the saddle. The ridge contained a reasonable amount of snow
which made it a little more difficult with post-holing and gaining purchase in the snow covered boulders. I would
recommend using Kahtoola Micro-spikes or similar as gaining purchase up the saddle face and the ridge was
a little iffy at times. We put Kahtoolas on at about 11,600' and wore them the rest of the day. Six hours to
summit, two and half hrs. to descend, I am probably average as far as speed goes.

I will post pictures later in this thread and if I get time in a trip report.

TRIP REPORT ADDED.

btw, the road to the trailhead and the trailhead parking was not an issue (both paved and clear). The route description/gps points by BIll M. are spot on, we had not trouble staying on trail. THANKS BILL M. !!!!
cpstoney