7/1/2017 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 7/2/2017, By: Bombay2Boulder Info: The entire route is snow free. Did the traverse to Ellingwood Pt and the Class 3 traverse route is snow free. |
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6/18/2017 Route: Blanca and Ellingwood Posted On: 6/19/2017, By: MissH Info: As of Sunday, could still get a snow climb in to the ridge between Blanca and EP from Lake Como. Melting fast. Here are some of the views from EP. |
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5/28/2017 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 5/28/2017, By: Yalegirl09 Info: The road is mostly dry to Lake Como. We used trail runners for the approach. Snowshoes were needed until below crater lake. Ice ax and crampons are still mandatory. We climbed the north face direct on Blanca. The ridge is narrow snow and exposed to the summit. The traverse to Ellingwood is still snow covered and extremely exposed. |
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5/20/2017 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 5/20/2017, By: bmcqueen Info: See my Ellingwood report for conditions down low. We didn't climb Blanca today, but thought I'd provide a pic of the face and ridge from EP in case it's helpful. |
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4/15/2017 Route: LB-B Traverse Posted On: 4/16/2017, By: GregMiller Info: Most of the bypasses on the last half of the route are covered with poorly-frozen snow, requiring ridgetop travel and sketchy downclimbs. Recommend waiting for summer conditions. |
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4/8/2017 Route: Blanca and Ellingwood Posted On: 4/9/2017, By: jmc5040 Info: I was able to drive to 9,800-ft in my 2011 Outback before snow blocked further progress. Jaws 1/2 looked to be demolished, to the point that I would have attempted driving through. I heard there was road work on Lake Como road and this must have been part of it. Snow is nearly continuous on the road from 10,800-ft with just a couple small dry patches just after the creek. The creek crossing is mostly snow with a small hole open to running water. With recent storms there is an average snowpack in the Lake Como area. Ellingwood was thin as typical from the summit for a ski decent, but coverage quickly became solid after the first 50-ft. Blanca Peak has good coverage after traversing through rocks and ledges for the first 300-ft. Once in the skiers left couloir coverage was good. |
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2/26/2017 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2/27/2017, By: mrkai Info: Snow extends to about halfway between the lake and the parking lot, and is getting old and consolidated. The snowpack between the lake and the summit includes wind crust and hard-pack, and makes for fast progress. I was on skis, but snowshoes would have been more efficient. The upper portion of the mountain presented good cramponing. Weather on this day was a challenge, but hopefully you fare better : ) |
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2/21/2017 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2/22/2017, By: illusion7il Info: Road is mostly snow free to 9300, then the snow is continuous above 10K. There was an excellent trench to Lake Como, but Sunday nights storm must have covered everything up above, so I put in a fresh track all the way to the B/E saddle. Snowshoes mandatory. Traction is optional for Blanca. For the traverse to EP, I used spikes and a pole, however I think most would want an axe and crampons. |
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2/4/2017 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2/5/2017, By: brerrabbit Info: Trench has been refreshed and snowshoe track to Blanca-EP saddle. Ridge is in good shape right now, the final one or two exposed moves ridge proper are a little challenging in snow but manageable. We did turn on our beacons for some slopes above treeline. Used snowshoes to the Blanca-EP saddle, the basin's still holding lots of snow. PM for additional pictures of Ellingwood Point, I have some close-ups of the ridge. |
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2/1/2017 Route: Lake Como Approach Posted On: 2/1/2017, By: brerrabbit Info: Started from CO-150 since the road is still holding a lot of snow. There are ATV or narrow jeep tracks that go to 9,800' at about 3.4 miles in. I put on snowshoes after the first mile but that could maybe be delayed a little while if staying in the tracks. Was able to find some traces of globreal and bmcqueen's trench but it was mostly buried by all the january snow. I did have a bit of trouble at about 11,350' with routefinding but just take a left turn and then a right turn to stay on my trench. |
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1/4/2017 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 1/4/2017, By: bmcqueen Info: Good trench is now in place from 8,600' to the summit. |
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11/26/2016 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 11/28/2016, By: ironman1942 Info: Overnight temperatures at Como Lake *very* cold - guess would be -10 to -15. The cabin was indispensable in the cold. Thanks to whoever installed the door and cut wood! The lakes are pretty much frozen solid at this point. Roughly 8 inches of snow around the lake area. Reports that there was snowfall earlier in the week and there are snow drifts thigh to waist deep when getting up towards Crater Lake. The ascent is getting extremely difficult and my group was unable to make it to the ridge, though the summit was in sight. An ice axe and carbide tips were very helpful. I had crampons with me, but did not use them. There were portions of deep frozen snow on the ascent to the summit ridge where they would have made travel much easier. Snowshoes would also be reasonable for a decent portion of the trek between Como and the summit at this time. |
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11/21/2016 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 11/21/2016, By: Wolfman_CO Info: Storm moved in Sunday night with light but steady snow for much of the night. 2-4" around Lake Como, 4-6" up to 13k and upwards of a foot in places to summit. Light snow starts on Lake Como Road around 10k I would guess. Tough snow conditions- enough coverage to hide gaps in rocks and even decent sized boulders to trip on but far from enough coverage or consolidation for any advantages snow can have for travel. |
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11/8/2016 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 11/9/2016, By: Mountain Maverick Info: The Como road was relatively clear up to the lake. There was scattered icy spots between Jaws 1 and Jaw 2, but avoidable. There was snow accumulation around Lake Como, but minimal and scattered. The continuation of the trail out of Como was fairly clear, and again with only scattered spots of snow and ice up to Blue Lakes and Crater Lake. This is where the "fun" began. The initial trail up from Crater had increasing depth of fluffy snow as we hiked farther up into the basin. The real snow challenges began around 12,800'. We did not put our microspikes on until later, but certainly probably should have at this point. We continued along the unified Blanca/Ellingwood trail and the conditions deteriorated rapidly. Finally, we were forced to put our microspikes on just prior to the B/E trail split at 13,250'. I continued solo up along the main Blanca trail and encountered much more snow than I anticipated. Microspikes are a must up there, even if there is some melting the next few days. There was enough continuous snow (3-5" in spots) and icy underneath the snow, to warrant extreme caution in the areas above 13,250'. I significantly took my time once I reached the ridge up to the summit. The last 500' were even more challenging, and slow maneuvering is a must. I ditched my climbing poles at the beginning of the ridge to have my hands available. The conditions turned this normally class 2+ into a much more difficult undertaking. The last 150' before the summit required careful route finding, and triple checking footing, as the fluffy snow released incrementally. The cairns on this route are enormously helpful. Take your time on this route, and bring ice ax and microspike traction. No crampons necessary, at least for now. |
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10/29/2016 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 10/30/2016, By: clairekm Info: Some snow on the easier cairned route to the summit above about 14,000. That route was still passable and it is also possible to avoid the snow completely by staying on the ridge |
