Torreys Peak

Route: Dead Dog Couloir
Posted On: 5/23/2026, By: Tnesper
Info: Climed Dead Dog today. Based on videos I saw on Facebook from 5/21, there was a slide in it likely on 5/22. Bottom is all avy debris that lessens as you go. Conditions off the debris were great and likely to hold and improve. Very high winds on the summit today. Well corniced on the saddle. We put a boot pack in the face of Grays which was wind loaded and gave us mild concern to cross. There were a few spots where we felt a weak bottom layer but it was overall fine. I don't think Dead Dog would have been a great ski today, but in a day or two as they avy debris melts out it'll get better. 

Route: Dead Dog Couloir
Posted On: 5/15/2026, By: Nathan Hoobler
Info: Perfect climbing conditions on Dead Dog. Fantastic snow. Quite a bit of avy debris, but that doesn’t get in the way of climbing. We started seeing falling rocks at 6:30 am so start early. 

Route: Kelso Ridge
Posted On: 5/11/2026, By: Anima
Info: Still lots of snow on Kelso Ridge, but pretty dry / muddy up to the turn off. Followed a set of boot prints that looked like they had crampons on, but I never put any traction on (started at 7:15 am so the snow was softening by the time I got on the ridge.) Traversed over to Grays. The standard trail on Grays is pretty much snow covered all the way from the Kelso Ridge turn off to the summit. 

Route: Dead Dog Couloir
Posted On: 5/11/2026, By: swilson753
Info: Booted Dead Dog, hiked down the standard trail. Dead Dog is in great shape for climbing, but pretty chopped up for skiing. There's a solid booter all the way up. Most of the couloir was firm, but the top 200 or so feet to the Kelso Ridge exit was soft with wind drifted powder. We saw some small rocks dropping on our way up. I'd expect more rockfall and changing conditions with this week's heat. 

Route: Dead Dog Couloir
Posted On: 5/10/2026, By: Danger_D
Info: Road clear to upper trailhead. Possible to a-frame with trailrunners on the summer trail all the way to the summit, though you can start to skin right after Kelso Ridge turnoff. One small section right as you gain the saddle that was hard enough to warrent some microspikes or hard boots.

We dropped in to dead dog from the summit at 10:15 ish and snow had softened nicely. Top section to the emperor/DD split was sketchier than other years. DD itself was filled with big chunky blocks and avy debris. It had softened up a lot, but it was still some very difficult survival skiing. Coverage was still pretty good, so hopefully some freeze/thaw or new snow will iron out a really bumpy descent.

After the apron the snow was discontinuous to the main gully so we just booted down the summer trail

We also got reports that Lost Rat skied really well, but the top was melted enough to make it hard/dumb to drop in 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 5/10/2026, By: Jschramm87
Info: Started just after 3a at Loveland pass. Snow is pretty continuous once you get away from the parking area. Microspikes weren’t necessary until I started ascending Grizzly. I avoided anything steep/sketchy up until that point. There are some pretty steep snowy sections there where traction helped out. There are some workarounds to climbers Right to stay on more rock if you prefer. I left microspikes on until I came back over Grizzly and Cupid later in the morning. Snow was firm, but softened up very fast once the sun came up. I took the ridge as far as I could once I left Grizzly headed for Torreys. There was a deep boot track I was following, but the ridge was a little thin in spots. I stayed tight to a ski track down the East face of Grizzly (soooo lucky) to the saddle. If I deviated, I sank pretty quickly. Even early in the am.
Route up Torreys was pretty tiring. No track to follow but I never sank deeper than my shins. A lot of rock is exposed, but much of it is loose. I found the snow to be easier for travel in most sections but that was pretty early in the day. More shin deep post holing for the last push to the summit.
Return is a bear. Start EARLY for this one if you’re traveling on snow. 

Route: Kelso Ridge
Posted On: 5/4/2026, By: jordo
Info: Summited Torreys via Kelso Ridge. Road to trailhead was mostly dry with a few icy sections. Lots of deep, wet snow on the ridge after recent storms, but it was melting fast in the sun. I managed with microspikes, my buddy used crampons. After about 1000 the melting slush on top of rock slabs was a little spicier than expected, if we had brought axes we would’ve used them. On the summit & the way down we ran into a number of folks skiing the couloirs off of Torreys, which looked good but as of early afternoon were starting to look a little patchy near the bottom. Started at 0730, summited 1330, back to the car by 1630. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 4/25/2026, By: AgaLub2
Info: Hiked to Grays then Torreys & skied South Paw couloir.
-road was in good conditions and we got to the parking lot in a Mitsubishi mirage ( there’s a couple spots you need to be careful when driving with a lower clearance vehicle but overall it was doable)
- the trail: We hiked first to Grays peak and then took the ridge to Torreys. We had micro spikes in our backpacks but we didn’t need to put them on because the trail was mostly snow free, and icy only in a few spots.
- Snow/ski conditions: we skied down the South Paw couloir. There was a cornice right above the main entrance but we were able to avoid it by entering a little bit more to the skiers right. The snow was definitely very hard and icy but we got some good turns in! From what we saw today most people still did dead dog couloir. If you want something more open the bowl from the ridge that connects Grays and Torreys was also skiable right now.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXlBK_KjYgL/?igsh=bGZhOTN6YjZjNnVn 

Route: Kelso Ridge
Posted On: 4/24/2026, By: jkillacky
Info: Access to trailhead is easily accessible by most cars at this point, no snow remaining. Trail has some packed ice sections but no traction is needed. On the ridge itself there was not much snow on any of the climbing, but if it gets icier some of the steep snowfield crossings will be a little scary. We went down the standard route, which had some icy sections but no traction is needed for the full route. Started up at 6:30, summitted at 10:30, back to car 12:15 

Route: South Slopes/Dead Dog Couloir
Posted On: 4/21/2026, By: oliverrobinson1224
Info: Climbed the south slopes and snowboarded down Dead Dog Couloir. South slopes up has a tremendous amount of ice and a good bit of snow, would recommend microspikes for the beginning and right before the saddle, but it is manageable with carefulness without spikes, as I didn't bring them. I downclimbed into the couloir from the summit, as the face seemed extremely rocky and I couldn't find a path in. Couloir is starting to bump up a little in the middle, but there was a great deal of powder on the sides. 

Route: Dead Dog Couloir
Posted On: 4/19/2026, By: swilson753
Info: Climbed up Dead Dog, traversed over to Grays. Got a late start with the cold weather - we left the parking lot at 6:30, started up the couloir at 8:30, and topped out at 10:15. No avalanche concerns in the couloir. The last storm dropped 6-9" of fresh pow. We had perfect booting and skiing conditions in the couloir today. South Paw also got a lot of love today too - watch the cornice. We saw evidence of a wet side in South Paw some time in the afternoon.

Spikes were helpful but not required for the summer trails. It's icy in several spots. Get it while it's good! 

Route: Kelso Ridge
Posted On: 4/20/2026, By: csf-lhiver
Info: Started from summer trailhead around 7:35ish. Packed snow patches along the trail but can be avoided entirely. No flotation required.

Brought an axe and crampons but we didn't need them on the ridge. The route will require navigating through snow and icy sections, but it's manageable. Knife edge is nice and packed with snow on climbers left. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 4/11/2026, By: nodoubt99
Info: Summer lot is easy to get to, no snow on the road up. I recommend microspikes because there is still consistent snow in certain areas. Other than that, no shocking details. 

Route: NW Face/Tuning Fork
Posted On: 4/7/2026, By: jkillacky
Info: Road is dry up to first river crossing where I parked, subaru outback did just fine. Mostly dry or hardpack conditions on road after, creek crossings arent too bad. Made it up to 13,000 before turning around at 9am. Snow was a mix of thin powder and bullet ice, made some good turns and had pretty consistent snow from couloir to close to the creek. 

Route: Kelso Ridge
Posted On: 4/5/2026, By: jryor121
Info: Summer TH is open for the season. Kelso is totally fine after the storm. Some snow but I didn’t bring or need spikes. Bopped over to grays and the descent was less icy than 2 weeks ago. No need for spikes anywhere unless you like the peace of mind it brings.

At least 16 parties going for dead dog today. I’d be surprised if it doesn’t look like a Mary Jane mogul field by the end of the day