Blanca Peak

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 4/2/2018, By: anthonygroft
Info: Hiked in from 8,000'. Road is clear of snow up to 10,000'. From 10k to Como patchy snow in shaded areas. Made it up without spikes or snowshoes. Above Como through the basin snow gets deep and snowshoes were helpful during the descent once the snow softened a bit. Patchy snow and ice up the switchbacks, spikes were used. Headed up Ellingwood first. After the trail split (leaving the Blanca route) a snow field was crossed, deep enough to need snowshoes. Up to the ridge and along the ridge snow is hanging on between the rocks. Stayed mostly on the exposed rocks so no spikes were used. Traversed the ridge to Blanca, most of the class 3 terrain was snow free. Once on the ridge up to Blanca snow was patchy, once again stayed mostly on exposed rocks so no spikes were used. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 2/18/2018, By: Wildernessjane
Info: We were able to drive to approximately 10K. We did not put snowshoes on until the lake. It would've been pretty miserable without them. The upper basin was fairly wind-blasted but snow covered until the steeper section leading up to the saddle. Sorry no pics. The wind was something fierce, though nowhere near the 70 mph gusts that were forecasted. 

Route: Lake Como Approach
Posted On: 1/28/2018, By: Cshaw93
Info: Lake Como road is covered in snow after around 10k feet. The snow gets deep, probably a foot plus in many areas. After Lake Como it gets even deeper, about waist deep. Bring snow shoes, gaiters, and waterproof everything! 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 1/13/2018, By: Eli Boardman
Info: The Lake Como Road begins to be continuously snow covered around 10k. The depth ranges from about 4-8 inches for the last few miles to Lake Como. Then it increases to about a foot with some serious drifts and iceflows above treeline. I did not use snowshoes or microspikes, but snowshoes will be needed after a few more storms. The worst drifts are near Crater Lake. The route is fairly wind scoured above 13k. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 12/31/2017, By: Stone Climber
Info: The road has sections of water ice before reaching Lake Como. Lake Como is frozen, I walked across it out and back. There is a decent bootpack in place heading towards the higher lakes. There are a few sections of deep powder that I postholed across near the upper lakes. I didn't bring snowshoes and they weren't needed aside from the occasional postholing. The trail from the upper lakes to the summit was variable - dry for sections, bulletproof snow and a few sections of water ice that must be crossed. It was also extremely windy above the upper lakes to the summit. I recommend bringing spikes, poles, crampons and axe. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 12/17/2017, By: Pika_wanderer
Info: Lake Como road is dry to about the "standard" 4wd parking area. After that, it is lightly covered in about 2-3 inches of snow. There are avoidable icey patches in 2 or 3 areas before the lake if you bushwhack. Between the lake and 13k, there are large slabs of ice on the trail in 2 or three places that require extra care or bushwacking. Microspikes required, crampons advised. Above 13k, trail covered in roughly 4-5 inches of snow. We encountered very slick "ice slabs" over the trail covered in loose snow around the ledges area (13-13,300) that had us hanging on to our axes in self arrest position and struggling to get footing with microspikes to traverse. We ended up turning around at this point because a fall would have been bad. Definitely come prepared with crampons if doing these peaks in the next week or so. No snowshoes were used or needed up to this point. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 12/11/2017, By: amycroudip
Info: Drove up Como Road to ~9,800 feet in our Land Rover. Broad amounts of ice sheets and snow on the rest of the road heading up to the lake. Mostly avoidable if you walk to left or right side of the road. Fresh, soft snow past Lake Como to ~13,000 feet. After that we lightly post holed from ankles to little below knees from time to time. Rock is loose in most areas in the basin and heading up to the ridge. Microspikes are a MUST. Used ice axes and helmets. Not enough ice/hard packed snow for crampons yet. Rough day, climbing in fresh pow and loose rock was not fun. Descending back down into the basin with the afternoon sun hitting the basin was miserable. Post hole city for sure at that point. Very little wind overall. No clouds. Beautiful views though and only ones on the summit. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 11/28/2017, By: Giant hills
Info: Was in great condition. Trail had some ice and a touch of snow in the trees a como and around the lake but nothing that couldn't be avoided. Snow didn't pick back up again really until the base of the saddle even then nothing deep just hard packed wind blown patch from there to the ridge and from the base of the ridge to summit had snow patch some soft some hard but nothing that made summiting difficult at all. It was perfect out there a little windy but nothing some protection can't fix. I used microspikes from the saddle base to summit. I'm sure you could get away with not using them but it was easier instead of dodging the snow. Didn't do Ellingwood but the ridge over looked pretty much dry and so does Ellingwood. If anyone wants pics just message I'll send them. If you're considering any of these I'd say get em while the getting is good. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 11/27/2017, By: Sglm14
Info: Trail was completely dry all the way to Jaws 1 then patches of snow and ice all the way to the summit. Snow was windblown and crusty on parts of the trail above 13k. Microspikes were helpful in certain sections. Other than the wind, it was a great day to summit Blanca. Ellingwood and Little Bear also looked very dry. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 11/20/2017, By: Burke
Info: The trail from Lake Como up to the waterfall has soft but not deep snow. Was able to hike to the waterfall without any traction. After the waterfall traction is definitely necessary, would recommend at least having microspikes. As the trail got steeper on the headwall, it became harder to travel across the increasingly soft and deep snow. The snow being so fresh had not yet frozen or even hardened. Eventually reached a point where it was far too slippery even with traction to continue ascending via the trail. Ended up scrambling rocks to the right while staying parallel to the trail. From the top of the saddle to the summit, snow is much more stable and navigating was quite easy due to some strategically placed cairns. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 10/29/2017, By: jhughes26
Info: Dry up to the saddle. Patchy snow from then on. I did this in approach shoes and got wet feet but it was ok. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 10/23/2017, By: bmcqueen
Info: Some snow on the trail on the head wall below the saddle, then fairly consistent snow the rest of the way to the summit. I never put my crampons on, but there were a few spots where some traction would have been nice. 

Route: Blanca and Ellingwood
Posted On: 9/25/2017, By: Thevirtualsherpa
Info: Hiked Ellingwood and Blanca from Zapata yesterday. Hike to lake was harder than expected, lots of elevation gain and much closer to 5 miles than 4. C2 was in great shape with an inch or two of snow which actually made it quite easy to ascend and descend. From here on out, spikes/crampons 100% needed. Snow on north ridge was about 2-3 inches and made the "easy class 3" more like a "god I hope my holds, hold" route. Once on Ellingwood, I couldn't locate trail for the life of me, but did a combo of ridge and standard route over and back to Blanca. Once on Blanca ridge, much more snow...about 4-5 inches and deeper in spots. I was the only person to hike either mountain yesterday, so if you are heading there in next couple of days, you can follow my tracks. Snow was melting as I descended C2, but I imagine its still going to be a factor on both peaks until more snow comes/it melts. As always, feel free to message me on IG or Twitter for more specifics. 

Route: Blanca and Ellingwood
Posted On: 8/21/2017, By: cochsman
Info: Did both peaks from Zapata Lake. We are super happy we did. We were the only ones camping at the lake Saturday night. The route is pretty straight forward with the only yucky part being C2. We went up and down it. It wasn't the worst but wasn't amazing. The traverse to Blanca and back was better marked and easier than I expected it. Definitely the way to do these mountains! 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 7/30/2017, By: jellison
Info: On Thursday our party of three did the Northwest Ridge. It's monsoon season right now. Clouds are gathering at noon on the peak, thunder began about 2pm, with rain and hail about starting at 3pm. This pattern was consistent both days we spent at Lake Como.