Route: East Ridge Posted On: 2023-06-03, By: phlakin Info: No snow until 12,700, about 2.6 miles from parking lot. I strapped on the snow shoes from here to the top, and Im glad I had them. From this point, there is a short snowfield. I eventually got to the summer trail and could have walked it for 1/4 of a mile or so, which would have been easier than the shoes. Further up, its snow, trail, snow, trail. Shoes dont work so well on the trail, but I had to do what I had to do. Was really glad I had them on the way down, when the snow was lots softer. Snowed on me just about the whole time. And I was the only one on the summit. Of Quandary. Thats crazy. Not too many people get to have the experience that I did. |
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Route: South Gully aka Cristo Couloir Posted On: 2023-05-28, By: samharrison7 Info: Great conditions in Cristo today! Cold overnight, so nice hard neve all of the way up. I left Blue Lakes TH (the gate) at 6am, on the summit for just past 8am and down by just past 9am. I was walking rather than skiing. Crampons all the way up and down. Snow was getting softer by the time I descended - I probably wouldn't want to leave it too much later. The gully is getting a little thin in places but still pretty much continuous snow, bar a few steps on rock/scree near the top. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 2023-05-29, By: 1nt3rn3tc0wb0y Info: I took a couloir on the southwest face of quandary and met up with the west ridge. Snow was firm in the SW facing couloir and on the south/southwest side of the ridge. The north side was unconsolidated junk. |
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Route: East Ridge Posted On: 2023-05-28, By: MountainHiker Info: Trail mostly melted down to where floatation not worth the weight. Recommend having pole and microspikes since there is still snow or ice underfoot for much of the route. Can follow summer trail above treeline to where it meets the ridge. Did not posthole at all with careful path selection across snow areas, but did see people punch all the way in. |
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Route: East Ridge Posted On: 2023-05-27, By: Gandalf69 Info: The snow is melting fast, however it was nice and compact going up. |
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Route: South Gully aka Cristo Couloir Posted On: 2023-05-21, By: Cruiser Info: Great conditions in Cristo today. We started up from the dam about 7. Had great snow for crampons until the last few hundred feet of vert which started to get less consolidated. I found that using ski and snowboard tracks helped me not to posthole in that upper section. I stayed lookers right through the entire trip but my partner took the left side and eventually switched to hiking up the exposed rocks instead of snow. Afterwards we agreed that he'd have done better just staying right with me but we both topped out without any trouble so it's all good. Saw several skiers both in Cristo and on the east ridge during our descent. Super delicious all you can eat creamed corn buffet was looking pretty darn appealing but, alas, we were cramping and snowshoeing today. |
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Route: South Gully aka Cristo Couloir Posted On: 2023-05-18, By: theodore_jm Info: We were able to park 0.7 miles away from the blue lakes dam, just before the closed gate on the blue lakes road, and started hiking at 5:00am. The road was almost completely dry. There were 3-4 small snowfields that we hiked up before we reached continuous snow at the mouth of Cristo Couloir. The snow was variable; in some areas, the snow was firm and crampons and an ice axe were extremely useful. In others, it was soft and we postholed. In general, I found traveling on old ski tracks to yield the least amount of postholing. By 9:00am, we were still 1,000 ft from the summit, and after considering our pace, the rising temperature, and enjoyability, we descended. It was definitely skiable, although the snow was crusty higher up and growing softer below. It took me a few turns to grow confident and start ripping. We had to pop our skis off twice on the descent to walk to the next snowfield. On the way down, we saw some mountain goats, and were back at the car by 10:45. I consider myself a capable 14er hiker, yet I once again underestimated the time it would take to climb a steep couloir. I expect that we would have summited if we chose the East Ridge route, although there was a gate across McCullough Gulch road about 0.2 miles before the trailhead. I also expect that our pace would have been quicker if there had been a better freeze the night before to firm up the snowpack. |
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Route: East Ridge Posted On: 2023-05-15, By: 14er101 Info: Well-trenched and if you stay on route, flotation is not 100% necessary but is 100% recommended. Continuous snow from pretty much the trailhead to the summit. Had some fun times chatting with some skiers on the summit (who descended Cristo and said it was good), and got to help two people, who were off route without snowshoes, meeting up with SAR on the way down. My biggest recommendation right now, bring flotation even if you think you don't need it. |
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Route: East Ridge Posted On: 2023-05-13, By: stomblin7 Info: The trail through treeline and the first slope above treeline are destroyed from people without floatation and postholing thigh deep. We ended up putting snowshoes on 1/2 mile from the lower lot, you might be able to go for about a mile or so up trail but it gets nasty and we'd rather just not deal with it. Wore snowshoes the entire way to summit and back down. 5:30 am start, summited just after 9, and headed down the steeper slopes closer to treeline were getting super sloppy even with snowshoes on. People were out skiing but the snow did not look or feel ideal for it. |
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Route: East Ridge Posted On: 2023-05-11, By: idistrust Info: Conditions yesterday were pretty much those reported by others in recent days. I'm not sure how they've changed given the snow that's been coming through today. Leg holes all over the place from tree line to the false summit. I started at 6:30 am and the snow was nice and crispy, but even still I post holed early on and decided to put my snow shoes on which fixed everything. I stashed them on the flat catwalk on the ridge and switched over to spikes for the final push up to the summit. I got off the summit a little later than I'd intended and the snow was getting soft in the late morning. The final descent down the false summit to the winter turn off was absolute hell -- I was post holing like crazy even with snow shoes. Immediately into the tree line was more of the same and it took quite a bit of time to slog through. So with all of that said, I strongly recommend flotation and getting off the summit as soon as you can before the snow softens because it was a long slog through all of that! Obviously the snow is still quite deep. You could do this with spikes only, but I think you'd really need to start as early as possible and get off the mountain as soon as you can. |
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Route: South Gully aka Cristo Couloir Posted On: 2023-05-10, By: Gibson135 Info: Started up the hard packed snow on Cristo a little before sunrise. It was pretty solid with some staircases always kicked in for much of the way which made it a little easier at times. Before warming up, it was definitely not terrain I'd have any interest in skiing at all. It was warm enough to start loosening up a little before reaching the top - no clouds with a high of 40 for the day. I was kind of surprised witnessing how quickly it was changing. Coming down the East Ridge, I was certainly glad to have carried up the snowshoes up because that field of mashed potatoes would not have been very fun coming back around. |
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Route: East Ridge Posted On: 2023-05-09, By: wmagnuson7 Info: A perfect, gorgeous day on Quandry. I started at 6:30 a.m. and summited around 9:15 a.m. (slower than normal since I sprained my ankle descending Sherman too quickly yesterday). I used spikes and poles and was glad to have both. I did not bring flotation but would recommend it for the descent if you start later than I did. Cheers and God Bless! |
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Route: South Gully aka Cristo Couloir Posted On: 2023-05-08, By: wintersage Info: Previous conditions report for this route is still valid. Very crusty - some parts were like concrete - previous footholds helped a lot on the way up. Several people were skiing down it and said it was more difficult than usual due to the variability of the snow. Overall a good easy day |
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Route: East Ridge Posted On: 2023-05-07, By: mellymel Info: Started skinning at 7 am and kept skis on almost the whole route minus a few patchy areas down low in the trees, and last 300 ish feet after we got tired of kick turning into the wind. First bowl skiing was crunchy, but everything below was nice and soft. Beautiful day!! There are massive postholes all over the middle section near treeline; I literally dont understand how people are making it out in just hiking boots, because the area below the false summit until treeline is so soft by midday. Start early if you plan to do that, I guess? Anyways, it made for a hilariously awkward ski out trying to avoid falling into peoples leg holes. |
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Route: South Gully aka Cristo Couloir Posted On: 2023-04-30, By: 14er101 Info: Cristo was in great condition today, always a pleasure to kick the steps up a couloir! Good snowpack, mostly stable, perfect for kicking steps the entire way up. Saw some people skiing it today, looked like Spring corn. |
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Route: East Ridge Posted On: 2023-04-28, By: Windcruiser15 Info: Thursday night's storm left 5-8 inches of new snow below treeline and windswept it above treeline into mixed sections of crusty broken up by occasional deep pockets. No issues climbing on skis, snowshoers were putting in extra effort from the occasional post holing and sections where the skintrack traversed deep/softer areas. The track is already very well established below treeline and comes and goes above. Fun conditions for a good day climbing and skiing |
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Route: East Ridge Posted On: 2023-05-03, By: LightningSye Info: Lots of Skiers heading up to the top (50+). Went with snow shoes and really needed them right out of the parking lot. Snow was hardpack till 11 am or so coming down then started post holing 2-3 feed through. Noticed a lot of people losing stuff in the snow so just be aware. Highly recommend floatation and layers. |
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Route: East Ridge Posted On: 2023-04-17, By: Misi197 Info: In the great spikes versus snowshoe debate, this one depends on your start time. We started at 6:30 and spikes were more than sufficient. The thaw was getting going around noon but spikes fine for probably another hour before post holing was unleashed. Snow is still deep. Crust is solid. |
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Route: East Ridge Posted On: 2023-04-17, By: mtn14 Info: Started at 6a, and snow was solid early. Wind met us at treeline as forecasted, and then continued to increase until we were constantly being knocked off balance (50+ mph gusts according to my little wind meter), so we turned around about 0.5 miles from the summit. Snow got soft quickly during our decent, and we had to army crawl at one point in the trees; would have needed to put on our snow shoes had we descended any later in the day. https://youtu.be/_Yai38xC5JU *From Summit County Rescue Group: YOU NEED SNOWSHOES IN THE BACKCOUNTRY RIGHT NOW!* |
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Route: East Ridge Posted On: 2023-04-11, By: nollidsirhc Info: Looked on the CIAC website, they're saying conditions there's about level 3 avalanche conditions. Looking to solo for my 10th summit of Quandary on 4/13. Can anyone confirm CIAC's rating? |