1/9/2019 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 1/12/2019, By: Jwhite Info: Made it a couple miles in from the front gate. Not much snow down below, but it gets gradually deeper the closer to lake como. Bring snowshoes with you. Almost made it to Lake Como, but the snow is way too deep and we left the snowshoes in the truck because the early part of the trail was pretty decent. Weather was wonderful though. Basically hiked in a long sleeve shirt the whole time! |
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12/15/2018 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 12/17/2018, By: druid2112 Info: No damn snowflake, but sure seems like winter. Below the lake the road has snow on the upper half, now there is quasi-trench, really a bootpack. Above the lake snowshoes were extremely helpful, as was the trench provided by the two dudes the day before me (lucky me). Now it's a pretty good one but with the wind blowing like it was, no guarantees it's still there. Starting at Crater Lake, patches of talus islands showing above 6"-3' mini snowfields, just enough to make it tough. Above the ledges it's trapdoor talus/snow all the way up. Was very windy on the top portion. Didn't get much for photos after Crater Lake but there's one of Ellingwood. The LB gully is not full, but not empty. |
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10/20/2018 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 10/21/2018, By: amderr22 Info: Winter has come to the Sangres. From Lake Como onward, we used microspikes and gaiters, snow ranged from a few inches to deep drifts of 2-3 feet on the Northwest face. I brought an ice axe just for backup, but ended up using it for the last 1,000 feet of the climb or so. Be prepared for snow, wind and cold here on out. |
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10/7/2018 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 10/7/2018, By: rivrrapids Info: Driving from NM today. Blanca group has dusting of snow at bout 13700+ ft. Sorry no pics. |
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8/4/2018 Route: From Little Bear via The Connecting Ridge Posted On: 8/5/2018, By: Flyingfish Info: The drop off Little Bear is loose and steep. We accidently knocked a softball size rock off the face and watched it free fall all the way to the valley floor. The ridge is dry and generally solid. On the crest there are some large loose rocks so watch your holds and tread lightly. |
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6/9/2018 Route: Gash Ridge Posted On: 6/10/2018, By: thebeave7 Info: See my Little Bear Conditions update for info about the Little Bear to Blanca traverse. Summer conditions. Down climbed the Gash ridge from Blanca to the Gash, no snow or water to speak of. A small patch of snow in the Gash, easily stepped over, but would impede progress down the gulley. I turned around at the Gash and climbed back up, so didn't see the rest of the ridgeline towards Lindsey, but it looked clear as well. There is some old webbing attached to the pitons at the Gash that shouldn't be trusted and needs to be cut away. I soloed the ridge, no gear used. Photo #1 looking up the Gash ridge from the Gash. Photo #2 what I believe is the crux piece of slab along the ridge. |
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6/8/2018 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 6/9/2018, By: eichsttl Info: Summer conditions on the standard route. Walked across one patch of snow near the lakes at 12,600 feet but no snow up higher. The hike in on the Lake Como Road on Thursday afternoon was extremely HOT! It was 86 degrees with no shade for the first couple of miles. Hiking out on Friday it was better but still HOT at 81 degrees. Be prepared for the heat going in and out. |
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6/8/2018 Route: Blanca and Ellingwood Posted On: 6/10/2018, By: Hucksley Info: Summer conditions, almost zero snow or ice on the trail and either side of the ridge. |
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6/2/2018 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 6/3/2018, By: ronan8 Info: Everything is dry. There was one patch of snow just after the waterfall and before Crater Lake. It was very easily avoidable. No snow near the route before or after that. 6/2/18 Was a beautiful day, no wind or clouds. |
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5/30/2018 Route: Blanca and Ellingwood Posted On: 5/30/2018, By: Gdurheim Info: After climbing Ellingwood I did the traverse and back. Almost completely dry from peak to peak, what snow remains is easily avoidable. |
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5/27/2018 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 5/28/2018, By: Pikaskinpants Info: There is a section of icy snow between crater lake and lake como, other than that it is full summer. Even that section is avoidable. Total bluebird day with marmots chairing each other, I saw a wrangler rubicon (no modification) above lake como, great conditions. 2WD trailhead at 9am, summit at 330, return at 10pm (casual pace, intended on turning back at crater lake but it was just too nice out) |
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5/24/2018 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 5/24/2018, By: strayster2 Info: Como Road is dry, some mud just past Lake Como, especially later in the day, once it warmed up. Bands of snow basically unavoidable from Crater Lake up. I used traction (microspikes), my partner did not. We both made the summit. |
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5/21/2018 Route: Blanca and Ellingwood Posted On: 5/21/2018, By: Scott Conro Info: Road is great until Lake Como where there is a bit of mud. When the road turned to trail it was snow covered. Rocks were slick. I had super low visibility after the Lake. I got to another lake around 12,600. Turned around here for a myriad of reasons, but one was because the rocks were too snow covered for my lack of traction and I didn't feel it would be safe for me to continue. I would guess it'll be a few days before this melts out, especially since a storm blew through once again this afternoon. |
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5/16/2018 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 5/17/2018, By: Scotty21 Info: Road up to Lake Como are dry. Few patches of snow along the trail (after passing Lake Como) especially passing the alpine lakes. Snow melting fast as you get up towards the Ellingwood Blanca trail junction. Watch out for wet rocks. Completely dry along the ridgeline to Summit. Late June conditions. |
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4/7/2018 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 4/8/2018, By: supranihilest Info: Note: a snowstorm came through the night after these conditions were observed and dropped a couple inches of snow and graupel. Conditions now may be significantly different. From Lake Como all the way to the waterfall you will find a mess of postholes. In the morning the snow may be frozen but if not expect to posthole even in snowshoes (photo 1). From directly below the waterfall and above you'll find mixed patches of rock, mud, ice, and as you get higher, more and more snow. The snow is generally better as you get higher. Much of the trail was obvious and somewhat melted out until the ledges near 13,000', when following the cairns became necessary. From the top of the ledges everything was covered in wind frost (photo 2). It did not pose a problem but be aware that it may melt and freeze into nearly invisible verglas. Once in the final basin the route is largely obvious - follow the slopes to the ridge, then scramble up the ridge staying more climber's right on better rock and snow. Near the summit the snow is bullet hard. I could not kick steps with stiff mountaineering boots but also did not feel like crampons were necessary, opting to wear microspikes the entire way up and down instead. Traction is probably not an absolute requirement but will give you great peace of mind. An ice axe is still a requirement for traversing the steep slopes. |
