Torreys Peak

Route: Dead Dog Couloir
Posted On: 2023-05-28, By: vertical_volume
Info: Was able to drive 0.5 from the trailhead with Subaru outback. similar 4wd vehicles made it a little further, depends on your comfort level for driving on snow. started at 3:30 am, base of the couloir at 6am and summited Torrey's at 7:45. A lot of skis on, skis off on the way to the couloir. In the couloir the snow was punchy in spots sinking down to the ankles, and firmer in others where I could only get the front points of my crampons in. There was only one person above me on the way up and rockfall was a clear hazard, and the person above me was not the one dropping the rocks. Almost hit by smaller sized rocks on 3 occasions. Dropped in around 8:15, great corn off the top and it was on the heavier side and warming fast in the middle, and good corn at the bottom. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 2023-05-27, By: ssowalskie
Info: Started hiking just after 5:45am, I ended up having to park about .7 miles down the road from the trailhead (more info on the trailhead condition update). I ascended with spikes and poles without any issues. Once you make the push up Grays from the split between the Grays trail and the Torreys trail, the trail isn't super clear due to the snow, with people trudging up the peak however they can. I ended up leaving the Grays trail and jumping on the Continental Divide trail on the eastern ridge of Grays. After summitting Grays, I descended the west ridge to the Grays-Torreys saddle and trekked straight up Torreys. Similarly to Grays, the hiking trail isn't super visible due to snow and lots random footprints/ski tracks all over the slope. After summitting, I descended around 9:30am. I took the Torreys trail back to the split rather than go back up Grays, which proved to be pretty sketchy as the snow was already softening pretty quickly, and spikes were beginning to have little effect. From there, the descent just got increasingly miserable, as the feet of snow covering the trail softened and turned into a postholing nightmare (though I'm sure I was amusing to watch for the people on skis). From about 12,000' to the summer trailhead, I postholed to my knees (and occasionally my waist...for reference, I'm 6'3") with almost every other step (or at least it felt that way). This monotony was compounded by the fact that a storm was rolling in and I could hear thunder behind me but felt like I was moving through quicksand (thankfully the storm held off for another hour or so). I didn't have snowshoes with me, so I'm not sure how much of a difference those would have made. Regardless, as long as the snow conditions remain like they are, I'd definitely recommend trying to be well on your way down the trail by 9am, or else accept that it may be a miserable descent. All in all, it was a great ascent with beautiful views. Car to car it was about 6 hours and 15 minutes. 

Route: Kelso Ridge
Posted On: 2023-05-22, By: jessicaakenn
Info: We did Kelso ridge on May 21st, and crampons and an ice tool are still required. Above 13k, there are still long snow stretches, which turned to entirely snow near the summit. Most of the lower ridge was clear of snow with only a few short sections. There are some spicy sections, especially when traversing in ski boots with crampons and skis on your back. Tuning Fork had excellent corn conditions. We summited around 1:30, and most of the South-facing slopes showed signs of wet slab. It was pretty sunny all morning despite the forecast calling for mostly cloudy. North-facing slopes warmed nicely, but we would not recommend heading down much later than 1:30. 

Route: Emperor Couloir
Posted On: 2023-05-21, By: kyrawhitworth
Info: Headed up emperor. Started just below the first grizzly gulch creek crossing 5am. Skinned up most of the road taking skis off at a few points. Snow was in great condition in the couloir with steps all the way up emperor. Descended Tuning Fork around 11:30am but had to boot over some rock just off the summit ridge. Snow was in good skiing condition in the couloir (once I got my confidence back to make some turns after falling a few times) then slushy and heavy down low. We saw groups descend both emperor and tuning fork. Not much fun on the road as I ended up carrying skis most of the way. Great day out and awesome folks. 

Route: Emperor Couloir
Posted On: 2023-05-20, By: sarahmariekirk
Info: Ascended via Emperor Couloir and descended via Tuning Fork today. Conditions going up Emperor were fantastic, and there is a nice booter in place. Coming down Tuning Fork was slow going since we were climbers and not skiers, but skiing conditions looked pretty good, with only one spot of rocky / minimal snow near the summit. We had a few fun glissades, lots of heavy wet snow right now on Tuning Fork. 

Route: NW Face/Tuning Fork
Posted On: 2023-05-07, By: skiandbike
Info: Skied the right side/skier's left side of the Tuning Fork on Saturday. A few short melted out sections on the approach past our parking spot at the Y junction at 7 am. Had to downclimb 100' from the ridge to get back to continuous snow after skiing from the summit at 12:45. Mixed snow conditions on the descent, but all very skiable. Some pockets of softer snow from the wind. Fun corn past the apron back down to the approach. 

Route: Dead Dog Couloir
Posted On: 2023-05-06, By: stomblin7
Info: Started from lower TH 3 AM. Arrived at the base at 6 am and began my climb 6:30 am. The east face and couloirs were covered in avy debris, so take note for those of you who start later. Topped out around 8 AM, no large cornices, just some loading on the left side at exit. Snow was really firm throughout entire couloir this morning and felt excellent for climbing. Also weather turned quite cloudy and the sun disappeared for a while. Watched some skiers drop in around 9 AM, I can tell you the snow was not good for skiing that early with today's weather/conditions.. I think they lost a ski and it was a bit rough likely due to the avy debris. - We descended from Grays/Torreys saddle and took the standard route and road back to the car. The saddle has a pretty good cornice formed. The road was mostly dry to the 'Y' (1 mi up), and then gets patchy. There were very deep ruts around mile 2, and just past that it is completely snow covered still - oh and an FJ is still blocking the road - so not likely to get past him till he's towed out. 

Route: NW Face/Tuning Fork
Posted On: 2023-05-03, By: cloudkicker
Info: I did not climb, but I figured a picture of Tuning Fork and Emperor from Cupid might be helpful. They appear to be in although both couloirs look a little bony closer to the top. 

Route: Emperor Couloir
Posted On: 2023-04-30, By: kushrocks
Info: Lots of new snow since I was up in the area last week. Made it up the couloir but it was some deep post holing most of the way up getting only slightly better the top 10% of the route. We went up Emperor and walked out the normal way without snowshoes using crampons or microspikes the whole time. For better couloir conditions I might give this route another week or two for it to be in better shape unless you really enjoy a good suffer fest. 

Route: Emperor Couloir
Posted On: 2023-04-22, By: emtkhumbu
Info: Emperor goes! Top to bottom fantastic conditions. Encountered sluff on the first pitch off Torreys summit. Skiable from the peak to the Bakerville exit parking lot ~2 PM. Bring crampons if you have them! 

Route: Kelso Ridge
Posted On: 2023-04-18, By: kushrocks
Info: Route was in great shape for a snow climb. I wore microspikes while my 2 friends wore crampons. For now I would definitely recommend crampons over microspikes for the few exposed bullet proof snow sections. We started early enough where we didn't need flotation except for post holing a few times on the way out. Started at i70. For now it'll be hard to get far up the road unless you have a heavily modified vehicle. 

Route: NW Face/Tuning Fork
Posted On: 2023-04-12, By: thurs
Info: Tuning Fork still has a ways to go. Not super wintery but definitely not isothermal. That said we bailed before 13k because the snow really sucked and wasn't getting better. Maybe it's better up higher but it was only getting icier as we ascended (at 2pm, lol) Today despite the heat and sun it was pretty locked up even in the afternoon. Top of the snowpack was a very crusty 2" wind slab that was fairly saturated with water and was weird to ski -- at best... Apron is fully isothermal and it is possible to ski to and from the lower TH. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 2023-04-10, By: ssowalskie
Info: I decided to attempt Torreys Peak after summiting Grizzly Peak. The descent from Grizzly Peak was fine when I went down the mountain, around 8:45am. The snow/ice on the ridge was hard packed and only required spikes (I used spikes and trekking poles for the majority of the hike). The west ridge of Torreys Peak is a pretty steep talus/scree field and lacks a clear trail (though there are faint trails running all over the slope), or there is a gully filled with snow that goes straight up the mountain if you wanted to attempt that (there were several tracks leading that way). I hiked up the scree for a bit and then cut into the gully and went on from there. After Cupid, Grizzly Peak, and the other highpoints you have to cross along that ridge before Grizzly, Torreys was exhausting. The summit was covered in hardpacked snow, as you might expect, and I had it all to myself. I decided against attempting Grays Peak as well, since I knew I still had to go back over Grizzly Peak and the others. I imagine if you continued to Grays and finished at the Grays Peak Trailhead instead of back to Loveland Pass, that would be more enjoyable (but would require someone taking you back to Loveland Pass if you parked there). Re-summiting Grizzly Peak from Torreys was also exhausting, as the snow was beginning to soften and proved a little sketchy at parts near the top of the ridge (I still made it with spikes and poles, but snowshoes would've probably been more stable). All in all, a long, tiring, and rewarding day. From car to car, it took around 8 hours, including time spent on the summits of Torreys and Grizzly. 

Route: NW Face/Tuning Fork
Posted On: 2023-04-08, By: runningbuff
Info: A big thanks to everyone in the forum who dropped ski route recommendations! Tuning Fork looked quite enticing, and my ambition got the best of me, so I decided to give it a go yesterday. Beautiful day, there was a nice skin track all the way up Grizzly Gulch, though I took a bit of an odd route to get to the base of the couloir. Snow conditions in the couloir seemed relatively stable? Ive attached pictures, those with more experience can comment as I am still learning how to judge the snowpack. A little wind loaded in some sections. Skiied the lower 2/3ish of the couloir as I had a slight ski mishap at the top and accidentally watched one of my skis slide itself a good 800 ft or so down. Had to take off my skis to get down to Grizzle Gulch Rd from the base of the couloir due to navigational fault again, but it would be possible to ski continuously back to the parking lot if you aim right at the bottom of the couloir. Overall a fun time! 

Route: Kelso Ridge
Posted On: 2023-02-28, By: Grisel
Info: Road up to upper TH had snowmobile tracks about half way in the morning but all the way up by end of day. Trail from there had somewhat of a trench until standard trail turns right towards base of of kelso mountain, from there we kept going straight to avoid getting near the base of kelso. On the return, we aimed for the creek and followed that to the bridge. Avy debris on a couple of the slopes of kelso. We stashed our snowshoes right after the turn off towards the saddle/start of kelso ridge. We donned micro spikes til the first snow ramp, I went up it regretting not switching to crampons which my partner did. There's a 10ft deep cornice right after this to be wary of, we climbed around it as best as possible but definitely the spookiest part of the day. The white wall had a snow ramp up to the scrambling portion but we rode the rock around it just fine. The crux of the route was staying ridge proper where the summer trail skirts the last bump. The slopes were loaded with cornices on top so be mindful of what you're standing as you get closer to the knife edge. The knife edge was surprisingly easy. Snow made it about 6 inches wider and we just walked across it. The snow there was stable and supportive( didn't see any signs of instability the whole day). Snow storm was rolling in once at summit and we high tailed it out of there. Trench from upper TH was all filled in with new and blowing snow. Overall snow conditions were good but everything was definitely loaded and getting new snow. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 2023-02-11, By: 14er101
Info: Went from Loveland Pass to Torreys, to Grays, and then down to Bakersville today. Would recommend spikes for the entire day at least. I wore snowshoes until the top of Grizzly (cause they had heel lifts) but completely unnecessary, spikes were good. Descent from Grizzly to Torreys saddle was a pain as always, would advise crampons and an iceaxe. Climbing up Torreys was uneventful, just booted the side of the gully for 1600ft. The route over to Grays was good, there had been at least one party over there already which helped. Descended the Grays' standard route, and then took the winter variation to avoid the avalanche slopes on Kelso mtn. Flotation might have helped, but I did not use it nor traction for that part of the hike and was OK. Road is well-packed with snowmobiles, observed a couple of people trying to drive it and they did not make it very far, one got seriously stuck and had to get dragged out. Overall a great day, great route, perfect weather, not too many people. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 2023-02-11, By: stomblin7
Info: Might as well just put spikes on from the car at Loveland pass - I put them on for Cupid's descent and that's all I used the entire day. If you don't want to slide around Grizzly's ridge descent - I'd recommend crampons, but you can manage with spikes if you are comfortable on slick snow. The snow is pretty soft and slick, and in places it is wind crusted and in places you will sink calf to knee deep. I did get my axe out for a glissade and to regain Grizzly, I recommend bringing it. A lot of ppl on ridge before Grizzly opted for snowshoes, I didn't find them necessary. It took me 1 hr 45 min from Grizzly summit to Torrey Summit - that ridge is never ending. Was a great day out. I will update pics when I get out of ski traffic. 

Route: Kelso Ridge
Posted On: 2023-02-11, By: jryor121
Info: Bootpack/trail from summer TH to the kelso split is a bit of a mess. Kelso was surprisingly nice since a lot of the snow had been blown off from all the wind the last few days. I brought my crampons and axe and only used my axe maybe twice (I would recommend bringing them just in case regardless). Made it car to car in just under 7 hours round trip. Also has anybody else noticed the ropes/bolts on the ridge? I never saw these over the summer. Not sure why someone would bolt the first headwall on the ridge, personally I think it's completely unnecessary. Who am I to judge though, I'm just one person on the mountain. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 2023-01-08, By: Aphelion
Info: The route is mostly windblown, and what snow there is is largely hard supportive crust with a few inches of powder cover. Aside from the constant wind (no respite on summits), it's about as easy as this track can get in winter right now. You might want traction if you can't kick steps. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 2022-11-24, By: AndyFromDenver
Info: Gorgeous day and the strong winds that were forecasted never came, although when the breeze came up above the saddle it was the coldest I've ever been! The road is actually drivable to the trailhead--I did not, but somebody passed me a half-mile from the trailhead in a Subaru. I met him again at the trailhead and he said he had to gun it in a couple spots, but otherwise it was fine. He also struggled in the parking lot, which is why he wasn't already on the trail when I got there. There's one icy patch about 1.5 miles from the bottom, but otherwise it's just hard-packed snow with a couple dry sections, so if you have good tires, you'll make it to the top. The trail is also in great condition. I postholed up to my shin for almost a 1/4 mile about 0.9 miles from the trailhead, but the trail quickly went back to hard-packed, wind-blown snow. Microspikes were an excellent choice. I wouldn't bother with snowshoes right now because it would be a hassle to have them just for that short section. I did Torreys first and once I reached the saddle, it got a lot tougher. The small breeze was bitterly cold and going in and out of that, with the warm sun, made for drastic temperature swings. Heading up Torreys, there's a lot of postholing, but not more than shin-deep. It was really just powdered sugar. Not much texture to the snow on Torreys. Going up Grays from Torreys, the trail was in better condition on that side, probably because it faces more north/NW. There was some beautiful rime on the rocks near the summit of Grays. Both summits were a mix of packed snow drifts and dry rock. I considered summiting Torreys via Kelso Ridge, but decided not to after looking at it (and not bringing an ice axe or crampons). There is some loaded snow in a few places on the ridge. You can judge for yourself in the photos if you think it would be a good idea or not. Anyone looking to ski, a couple of the couloirs are in, although that's all that's in. There's no way to ski back down to the trailhead right now, or anywhere outside of a couloir. ALSO, I found a phone connected to a charger on the trail. If you think they're yours, DM me on here or Instagram (@andy_schlichting) and tell me what kind of phone you are missing. I plugged it in and it turned on so you're in luck if you happen to see this post.