Anyone w/experience of Kelso or Dead Dog this time of year?

[absinthe52]

Any info/suggestions are welcome.
Thanks

[Kevin Baker]

It's generally best to stay off moderate to steep snow in CO until at least late April. The snowpack is very volatile right now and climbing something that steep would be like playing Russian roulette. Dead Dog is typically the safest in May and June. There's a recent TR for Kelso Ridge. It looks like there's not a whole lot of snow up there right now.

[TomPierce]

I agree with Kevin above, and benners' trip report (go up to the tool bar and click on "Trip Reports" if you're new to the site) will give you an idea of the terrain and recent conditions. I've been up there in the winter (February?) under much snowier conditions; note that a slide is possible on the approach near Kelso mountain as well as on the ridge itself...I speak from personal experience . It's a great route just pick your day & conditions well.
-Tom

[benners]

On 12/22 we dug a few snow pits along the south side of Kelso Mountain (southeast aspect) and found a relatively solid mid-pack sitting on top of an absolutely horrendous, 6-8 inch thick layer of rot. I wouldn't even think about touching Dead Dog right now as I have a feeling our observations were representative of the the snow pack throughout the area. It really would be Russian roulette as you could get lucky and find the mid-pack supportive enough, but if the slab slid on the bottom layer the resulting avalanche would be enormous. However I can vouch for the ridge being a decent route in its current condition, mainly due to a complete lack of snow.

[Jim Davies]

Loveland's ski patrol was bombing the Ridge last Sunday, which has a similar aspect to Dead Dog (roughly east-facing) a few miles away. Everything was sliding. I'd be very, very careful right now.

[absinthe52]

Alright, prob stick w/Kelso or Quandry West ridge...I've heard thats pretty nice...

[USAKeller]

Does anyone have any info more recent than benners' trip report (since the last 2 snow storms) on the standard route on Torreys, Kelso Ridge, and/or the road to the TH?

[USAKeller]

Any info/suggestions are welcome.
Thanks

We did Kelso ridge 2 days ago (12.27.09). Conditions were different from what benners had - nearly all of the rock was really slick. We mostly found 3-5 inches of crust with a shallow sugar layer underneath on north-facing aspects. Here are my thoughts: there were 3 sections throughout the climb that took us 20 minutes to figure out how we would climb it (photos are in order below). The first class 3 pitch (near 12,700') had sugar snow that would gave way, and it was tough to negotiate - I didn't trust my feet on the icy rock, especially with a few-hundred foot gully behind to my left to fall into! The next section: we followed the previous track and it led across a narrow ledge area that again, the slick rock and lack of hand grips made it tough. The knife-edge had minimal icy-snow coverage on the north side and awful, unsupportive sugar snow on the south side. Because of this, there really was nowhere to place your feet at the final part of the ridge and we had to negotiate with using upper body only. I'm not sure how helpful crampons would have been (definitely not on the snow). Ice axes are quite useful from 12,600' and above. It definitely was no east feat and took longer than expected, but a lot of fun to do some mixed climbing on a great ridge. The best thing though was having a prior knowledge of this route as we climbed it in dry conditions in September.

The first class 3 pitch just above me as I move above a steep gully:

IMG_2614-2.jpg (96.11 KiB) Viewed 2671 times

comin2getcha crosses a narrow, slick ledge as we follow the previous climbers' track:

IMG_2898-2.jpg (114.68 KiB) Viewed 2670 times

Crossing the knife-edge. The portion that required all upper-body was just in front of him:

IMG_2906-2.jpg (68.7 KiB) Viewed 2669 times

Hope that helps!

[Pivvay]

Killer beta, that will certainly help someone out.

FWIW, I find that i'm much happier in crampons on slick/snowy/icy rock now that I'm used to it. I find it much more stable than bare boots alone but I didn't think that at first. My guess is that I'd have been wearing my pons on that stuff.

[USAKeller]

Killer beta, that will certainly help someone out.

FWIW, I find that i'm much happier in crampons on slick/snowy/icy rock now that I'm used to it. I find it much more stable than bare boots alone but I didn't think that at first. My guess is that I'd have been wearing my pons on that stuff.

Thanks! Yep, we would definitely agree that crampons are much better on that terrain than just mountaineering boots if you're comfortable with it. It's a wierd feeling to get used to, but once you are, it makes things easier.

[Hacksaw]

Looking at Kelso and Torries today, there where VERY big snow plumes blowing off them this morning.

When you see those snow plumes, it means LOTS of wind slab development.