South Arapaho

[Yoric Profile 14er Peak List Not Entered]

I have this Thursday off and would like to climb something a bit higher than the Boulder peaks. I'm very new to climbing (Bierstadt and Audubon summits only) but South Arapaho looks like a decent class 2 for a newbie. Will the conditions this weekend allow for a non crampon/ ice axe climb? Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks

[Alpineair Profile 14er Peak List Not Entered Trip Reports]

Lower south Arapahoe

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I was up there yesterday. There is some ice on the lower part of the trail which can be avoided. Don't know about the upper part but would
recommend microspikes even if you end up not needing them.

[Lemmiwinks Profile 14er Peak List (24) 14ers in Winter (5)13er Peak List (27)Trip Reports]

I would think this would be a good route for what you are looking for. The class 2 section is pretty short, and it's a south facing route for the most part. I don't have any recent beta on the route though. As the previous poster said, microspikes wouldn't hurt this time of year, so if you have a pair, bring them along.

[davebks Profile 14er Peak List (9) Trip Reports]

I am pretty sure you are in the clear still for snow/ice. I got a look at recently and it looked clean and clear.
It's a great climb if you have never been up it. as a person new to climbing too you can get a good look at some of the routes you may want to attempt in the future such as skywalker/han solo, and so on. that whole valley is chalk full of good stuff.
Another good area to check out is indian peaks, brainard lake. in that valley is apache peak and a ton of other good ones. Queensway is a great first snow climb, once you know what you are doing a bit.

Have fun. S Arapaho is beautiful.