Another moderate Front Range snow climb: Square Top east bowl

[polar]

With all the snow that's still covering the peaks, a non-skier such as myself can only share the fun by doing snow climbs. I've done my research and hit many of the moderate snow climbs mentioned in the forums, but I did one today that was pretty fun yet I haven't seen it mentioned before: the east bowl of Square Top mountain. The specific route we did today was route 3b on this page:
https://www.frontrangeskimo.com/squaretop-old

We did the right most branch as the left side of the bowl was guarded by cornices at the top. The steepest part was about 42 degrees as measured by an inclinometer. The route faces east so gets sun first thing in the morning, but today the snow was consolidated for the most part, with just a short section in the middle that was a bit punchy. The approach is short, and the climb was roughly 800 feet as measured by Caltopo. It seems to be skied frequently, but I'd say it's a fun yet overlooked route as a snow climb. Just in case anyone is looking for moderate stuff to do in the Front Range!

488ECAA4-DC90-4510-A1D6-DABE33520768-2324-000002150F390EDA.jpg (108.29 KiB) Viewed 1997 times

[nyker]

Nice, I was eyeing Squaretop...

Hard to tell from the pic, but are those slide paths on either side of the blue line?

[polar]

Hard to tell from the pic, but are those slide paths on either side of the blue line?

Yes, they are wet slides. A few days old by my estimate (covered in a layer of dust). Since this route faces east, you want to be on it early after a good freeze, and assess the conditions as you go. We topped out on the blue line at 8 am. About an hour later a splitboarder and a skier dropped in from the center of the bowl (climber's left of the blue line), and they skied/rode down the (climber's) left side of the big slide. From the sound they were making, skiing condition was great. But climbing condition probably sucked by then.