Condition Update | Mt. Belford

Peak:	Mt. Belford
Route:	Northwest Ridge
Range:	Sawatch
Posted By:	the_hare
Date of Info:	12/21/2021
Date Posted:	12/22/2021

Condition Update
First calendar winter ascent down! Road to TH was clear of snow until about 2/3 of the way in until the point where the wilderness registry/info signs are and the road narrows. Several stretches of light snow on the road from there to TH, no worries for any 2WD. Trail from TH to the old cabin had 2-4 inches of loose snow, more in the old avalanche path. Shoutout to the 2 people who summitted yesterday and left some nice packed steps to follow. Trail from old cabin to the base of Belford climb had a mix of bare ground, hard pack snow and postholed drifts. The east-facing aspects of Missouri's north ridge & the west-facing ridge of Peck's Peak didn't have any loaded snow at all, only a few facets closer to Missouri seemed like they had any slide chance. NW ridge up Belford was windblown leaving hardpack snow and bare ground for the steep climb up. It was a lot steeper than I anticipated, I used the rest step technique to maintain a good pace. Used spikes for the entire climb up until the summit block. Winds were forecast at 15-30 mph blowing towards the east/northeast, only felt strong winds just past the old cabin, down from the NW gully, and around Belford summit. I didn't go over to Oxford but the ridge there looked bare. The Missouri standard route even looked feasible as well without too much risk given the very light snow on the east face of the ridge. Elkhead pass trail is drifted in from the trail junction, snowshoes would be helpful. I went up and down the NW ridge. Crazy how the snow levels looked like late October. Lots of snow forecast for the next week, might make the road impassable after the storm.

Condition Update

First calendar winter ascent down! Road to TH was clear of snow until about 2/3 of the way in until the point where the wilderness registry/info signs are and the road narrows. Several stretches of light snow on the road from there to TH, no worries for any 2WD.

Trail from TH to the old cabin had 2-4 inches of loose snow, more in the old avalanche path. Shoutout to the 2 people who summitted yesterday and left some nice packed steps to follow. Trail from old cabin to the base of Belford climb had a mix of bare ground, hard pack snow and postholed drifts. The east-facing aspects of Missouri's north ridge & the west-facing ridge of Peck's Peak didn't have any loaded snow at all, only a few facets closer to Missouri seemed like they had any slide chance. NW ridge up Belford was windblown leaving hardpack snow and bare ground for the steep climb up. It was a lot steeper than I anticipated, I used the rest step technique to maintain a good pace. Used spikes for the entire climb up until the summit block. Winds were forecast at 15-30 mph blowing towards the east/northeast, only felt strong winds just past the old cabin, down from the NW gully, and around Belford summit.

I didn't go over to Oxford but the ridge there looked bare. The Missouri standard route even looked feasible as well without too much risk given the very light snow on the east face of the ridge. Elkhead pass trail is drifted in from the trail junction, snowshoes would be helpful. I went up and down the NW ridge.

Crazy how the snow levels looked like late October. Lots of snow forecast for the next week, might make the road impassable after the storm.

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