Grays Peak

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 6/10/2026, By: htbyron
Info: Still lots of snow on the trail (at least 80% coverage) above 12,500 feet to the Grays summit. Early morning ascent conditions were firm and good traction with microspikes but by 11am on the descent snow was soft and footing was loose and unreliable; microspikes did not help much. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 5/29/2026, By: JaylenKorth
Info: Snow started about half way up the trail. It was decently well packed down and easy to traverse on the ascent, but postholing was pretty bad by the time we were coming down around 10:30am, leading to lots of slipping even with microspikes. 

Route: Lost Rat Couloir
Posted On: 5/18/2026, By: paigemoney
Info: The exit of Lost Rat Couloir is dry. The zoomed-out photos are from Saturday, and the close-up photos are from Sunday. Note: we did not climb the couloir. On Sunday, we hiked the ridge to get a better look at the exit. The direct exit appears to be loose scree with some microwave-sized rocks mixed in. The climber’s right exit, which looks potentially scrambleable, also contains a significant amount of loose rock, especially near the top. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 5/16/2026, By: Angrymountaineer
Info: Climbed in the morning, starting at 5:30 am finished around 10:30. Snowpack started a little bit under 13k all the way to the saddle. Highly recommend microspikes for this portion. Once at the saddle, there were plenty of routes with no snow.

There were people doing it without spikes… I don’t think that it would be safe. One fall and you’re down to the valley.

Really enjoyable hike, no issues. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 4/24/2026, By: Sameerkumar1979
Info: Drive from Winter trailhead to Summer trailhead is without snow and like summer conditions. Beautiful day today with a few wind gusts here and there but all in all not too bad. Bluebird and feels like 30s plus. Up to about 12,500 ft of elevation, there are a few snow fields but can be easily tackled with regular hiking boots. Past that it gets a little tricky and I would recommend carrying micro spikes with you. There was a group of three that did it without spikes but I could see they were sleeping a little bit and it was a little more challenging for them. Trail does get narrow with mostly packed snow almost all the way to the summit. Poles may also be helpful if you're used to them. Gators not needed but I might still recommend as they don't weigh a lot and just in case you go off route there may be a little chance of post holing. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 4/19/2026, By: Dignus
Info: Seems winter is briefly back upon us. Quite cold and windy, more so than previous weeks. Alternating dirt and very slick ice on the lower trail but doable without spikes if you rock hop. The snowfield going up to the saddle alternates between calf-deep postholing and impenetrable hard pack/ice. Spikes highly recommended. Going up to Torreys it's probably best to still wear spikes but the Grays trail is gentle enough they're not as necessary there.
https://youtube.com/shorts/kK6YCXzTysM 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 4/7/2026, By: jackson 12
Info: As confirmed by others summer th is open and as long as you have a good clearance vehicle you’ll be good, we started at 11:45 and snow was slushy up until khelso ridge turn off and realistically micros would have made it a lot better. Doable for sure without micros by just taking the greys th route which we did. Icy in certain spots but doable since rocks are uncovered for traction, if you’re reading this and you skied the dead dog couloir please be safe and ski something within your limit, pulled airbag with no avalanche and all 4 people skiing at the same time in the chute 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 4/6/2026, By: theolubke
Info: As observed by others, road to TH rocky and rutty but passable by moderately high clearance vehicles. About 10 cars at TH at 7:30a Mon morning. Lower trail covered in snow in many sections. Traction may help you move faster but not needed. Harder packed snow on trail in higher sections. Traction was helpful here, but many people today were summiting Grays without it. Most precarious is traverse connecting the Grays/Torreys saddle to the trail back to the TH. Snow field is steep and the snow, especially earlier in day, is hard and slick. Much, much safer to cross with traction or go back over Grays to avoid. 

Route: Lost Rat Couloir
Posted On: 4/4/2026, By: Aphelion
Info: Lost rat does not quite reach the ridge top, so no cornice concerns. Good coverage otherwise, booting up was a bit of a slog but great ski conditions today. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 4/4/2026, By: SlowMagpie
Info: Road to summer lot is largely melted, with a few short stretches of rutted snow. The trail to Grays still was icy enough to warrant spikes; you would regret not bringing them. Lower trail was getting pretty wet and slushy in the sun. Appears lower sections will melt but ice/snow seems likely to remain for a little longer at higher elevations. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 3/30/2026, By: Piotr
Info: Drove all the way to summer TH, only few little sketchy parts on the road. Number of Subarus and other SUVs made it as well. Will probably change with upcoming snow storm.
Lower trail up to 12K about 90% snow covered, melting rapidly. Upper parts of trail can be done without stepping on snow, Grays/Torreys connector snowfield was still hard at 2pm, spikes advisable. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 3/29/2026, By: Alpine_Exchange_36
Info: The trail is fine. Some packed snow, trenches are being made and consolidated. Nothing too sketchy. Just bring spikes, no need for snowshoes. Trail up to Grays is packed snow, a little slippery not too bad. Torreys is almost snow free on the ridge. The traverse back down is pack snow.

All in all conditions are a bit slippery but good. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 3/25/2026, By: nodoubt99
Info: Started around 6:00 am. Attempted to drive up to the summer lot but was a little sketched out certain areas so I went back down to the winter lot. After walking up to the summer lot I realized I probably could've driven up. A lot of it is dry but there are some spots that you will definitely require 4wd for.

After starting at the trail it was pretty smooth. It appears there was a lot of wear on the trail due to post holing making for some odd walking patterns. After hiking about 2.5 miles from the trailhead I decided turn around as I was the only one there and the wind gusts were pushing me around along with post holing very often.

I cannot speak for the area above 13000ish feet but for below I would recommend snow shoes for the time being outside of the 3 mile walk to the trailhead. Most of the trail below was still covered in snow and the warm weather has definitely weakened it causing post holing incredibly often.

Needless to say, if you're up for it, getting to the summit didn't seem out of reach at all. Just requires extra patience 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 3/18/2026, By: skhodgson
Info: Road to trailhead was still skiable with one gap on 3/17. I expect by the end of the week much of it will be snow free. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 3/4/2026, By: Dan+Max
Info: Parked at winter lot. Road to summer trail head was an easy walk up. I do not recommend trying to drive to the summer lot. If you do attempt the drive, you will likely end up like the F-150 that was stuck in deep snow ruts and sliding halfway off the road. There is a deep section of snow about halfway up the road where it got stuck.

The first mile from the bridge had about 1-2 inches of fresh powder on top of an established & mostly supportive boot track. After that the trail was very wind-blown with no visible tracks. I could have used snowshoes most of the way to the summit, but I just used spikes and booted up fresh tracks all the way to the summit. After about 12,200’ most of the trail was very wind-sloped making progress very slow. There were a couple of sections below a ridge between 12,700 and 12,900 that were a little sketchy and required kick stepping across the steep slopes in fresh powder that was very slippery. I put on snowshoes on the way down as the snow was softening and I needed more traction and flotation.

Overall, it was a nice summit on a blue bird day with minimal wind. Only saw one other person on the way down. Apparently, a local dog just decided to start following him from the road all the way to the summit. I saw a group of 3-4 over on Torrey’s peak.