10/24/2013 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 10/29/2013, By: Oliver99 Info: On Thurs Oct 24th conditions were good and probably have only improved in recent days since then due to warm weather. Icetrekkers and poles were very helpful for stretches of the trail, but not absolutely necessary for experienced hikers. Snowshoes were not needed at all. Due to the snowfalls on the weekend of Oct 19-20, about 80% of trail had some degree of snow on it when we went up in early morning, in warm afternoon sun much snow melted off, became slushy above treeline, and below treeline was slushy/muddy in sunlit areas and slick frozen compacted snow/ice in shady areas. Trail was easy to follow and well compacted from traffic. |
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9/21/2013 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 9/21/2013, By: Tyler Phillips Info: Everything is nice and clear all the way up to the start of the West Ridge. Snow accumulation begins and makes the crux area and other walls near the summit (within 0.5mi of summit) slippery. Makes for difficult and somewhat dangerous Class 3 conditions. Recommend taking some rope or webbing if travelling in a group to help anchor each other. |
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7/23/2013 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 8/24/2013, By: DDePenning Info: Conditions were great. About a half dozen mountain goats were see along the route. Quite unafraid of people. Some dog owners were not controlling their dogs. As a result, it was reported that one dog on the summit was gored by a goat in the leg and side and had some bleeding. The dog was still able to decend. |
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7/20/2013 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 7/20/2013, By: BillMiddlebrook Info: Climbed the West Ridge route today - dry except for the pesky snow in the small, rust-colored gully, near 12,500', during the approach. |
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7/6/2013 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 7/8/2013, By: thebeave7 Info: Went up the standard East Ridge route, its clear with the exception of a 10-15ft patch of snow that can easily be crossed or skirted around. Trail is in good shape and its normal rocky self near the top. Descended Cristo, as a ski/snow climb it is OUT. Only a few hundred feet of continuous snow left at the bottom, otherwise all dirt and rock. Descended the ridge just West of the gully, it\\\‘s steep by footing is decent. Photo #1: Throngs on the East Ridge trail. Photo #2: Looking South from near the summit over Blue Lake. Photo #3: View down Cristo, very little snow left. |
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6/15/2013 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 6/15/2013, By: Cheaton6 Info: Started hiking a little after 4 am. Trail is mostly snow free, there are some areas with snow but mostly until the last 500 feet it is avoidable. Carried spikes which were not necessary and same with snow pants. This trail can easily be done right now with just jeans and hiking boots. Beautiful day though! Last picture shows Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross if that helps with current conditions there |
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6/12/2013 Route: South Gully aka Cristo Couloir Posted On: 6/13/2013, By: jbchalk Info: Cristo was fun yesterday. Clouds obscured direct sun for a few hrs in the early morning and spent about an hour or more waiting for the sun to cook the couloir. Skied down at 11am which was perfect. Other than a 10 ft rock section just below summit ridge and another 100‘ section in the upper couloir, a continuous ski like can be had down to the couloir‘s apron. About 2000‘ of the 2,500‘ can be skied. Another few days the middle of the couloir may be melted out, however. |
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6/9/2013 Route: South Gully aka Cristo Couloir Posted On: 6/9/2013, By: pseudoghost Info: Climbed it today. Conditions were OK; snow was firm and well consolidated in the early morning, but you‘ll start breaking through as soon as the sun warms through the overnight freeze. We started at 6:30, and probably should have been at the base of the couloir at sunup to maximize the snow. There‘s a good stretch of about 100 feet now that has completely melted out about 3/4 of the way up; so it turns into a mixed climb. If you do go, make sure to stay on the solid rock to the left of the couloir. Do not traverse across as the rock is extremely bad (I almost knocked down a few fist sized rocks). Probably won‘t last much longer. There was running water in some parts of the couloir. With the very warm temps forecast, it‘ll probably be done by the end of next week, if not sooner. |
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6/9/2013 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 6/10/2013, By: rlaur001 Info: Perfect hiking weather. Started around 9:20 and made the summit a little before 1:00. Relatively warm day, so the snow was definitely softening up as the morning wore on. I used yaktrax, but everyone else in the group used only boots and didn‘t have any difficulty with traction. Past treeline, once you get onto the actual ridge, it‘s mostly covered in snow. However, a fair amount of the trail is snow free, so if you get sick of hiking in the snow, you‘ll have some breaks. We also saw a mountain goat on the way up. |
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6/4/2013 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 6/4/2013, By: Pops921 Info: There is still occasional snow below the tree line, but the trail is still easy too follow. Above 11,800‘ (roughly the tree line) there is a a lot of snow, but occasional dry trail segments. I carried snowshoes and crampons, but did not need them. Footing on the snow was very comfortable for both the ascent and descent. The snow was softening up rapidly on the descent especially below 12,000‘. I would still follow the winter trail as mentioned in the route description. It was a windy day. Most of the route was relatively protected from the wind, except for the last 30 or 40 yards to the summit, I estimate it was blowing over 50 mph on that stretch. I stayed on the summit for about 30 seconds and then sought cover lower. Leave early too avoid post hole misery on the descent. I left the trail head at 6 am, got to the summit at 9:30 am and back to the car around 11:30 am. |
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6/3/2013 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 6/4/2013, By: Kassia Lawrence Info: Could drive up to the trailhead with no problems- minimal snow up until tree-line, and then snowfield up the rest of the way to the summit. Snowshoes were not required, and the snow became very mushy on our descent around 10 in the morning. Nice easy hike, steep finish with the snow. |
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6/1/2013 Route: South Gully aka Cristo Couloir Posted On: 6/1/2013, By: esagas Info: Great snow all the way to the top. However, an early start is required as the snow gets soft by mid-morning. |
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5/25/2013 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 5/27/2013, By: forbins_mtn Info: Good trail through the trees. Microspikes could be useful. however none of our group wore them. Snowshoes are mandatory past 11am from treeline up to the summit. Our group was running late(started at 8am) so we wore our shoes pretty much the whole way. There were plenty of people in front of us (descending at 9-10a) in just spikes. Things got super slushy around 1pm(yeah, we were taking our time - it was a gorgeous day and my girlfriend‘s first 14er). It‘s gonna be a little bit before this route dries out. Spikes might be a mandatory piece of gear on the East Ridge for a few weeks. |
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5/20/2013 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 5/23/2013, By: MissH Info: Still lots of snow, pretty much whole way to the summit. Snowshoes are a great idea, especially if sun comes out. Snowed on us nearly the entire time from timberline to summit to back down to the trees again. Left winter TH at 12:45, back to car by 6:30 with just a few freezing minutes on the summit with NO VIEW (white-out). |
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5/19/2013 Route: South Gully aka Cristo Couloir Posted On: 5/19/2013, By: Jyak Info: The route was in excellent shape for climbing, as we got a hard freeze the night before. No bucket steps the entire way up. The snow felt fine and consolidated, but we did notice some debris to climber‘s right. Staying left and well away from the fall line seemed prudent. Coming down was another matter. We headed down around 10am, and it was already pretty slushy. I‘m not sure there was a good mode of transportation down. |
