Quandary Peak

Route: South Gully aka Cristo Couloir
Posted On: 6/22/2011, By: SkiBum1287
Info: Climbed and skied Cristo today. The new snow has smoothed things out quite nicely. But, since it hasn‘t been through as many freeze/thaw cycles, it softened up a lot quicker than the older snowpack. I started about 6:00, topped out about 9:00, and the snow was firm the entire way up. I waited around the summit a bit too long, and some of the new snow was sloppy, but stayed on the more west-facing aspects as much as possible and all was well. 

Route: South Gully aka Cristo Couloir
Posted On: 6/19/2011, By: joelsteidl
Info: We got a late start (near 7) Friday morning due to rain/snow. Overcast skies kept the snow in pretty good climbing condition. The snow is mostly continuous to the summit. There is a 50 yard section that has melted out a few hundred feet below the summit. It was short enough that we left our crampons on to cross it. After the melted out section, we enjoyed some steep snow until just before the last 100 - 200 FT of rock/scree that led to the summit. We enjoyed a quick trip down (glissading). The snow was getting a bit soupy once we approached the dam. This would have NOT been possible or recommended on a sunny day. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 6/12/2011, By: pklotzbach
Info: Climbed Quandary Peak via the East Ridge early this morning. My wife and I did the climb with Yak-Trax for traction, and they certainly came in handy on some of the parts of the trail that were still icy. If you get off of the summit early (before 9am), you‘re probably ok, but after that point, you are probably going to have some significant postholing to contend with. Also, certain portions of the trail are filled with suncups, which might make for some treacherous hiking once the sun hits the snow and thaws it. All in all, Quandary is definitely climbable right now, but I would recommend going early to avoid some potential postholing. The ridge from 13,000 feet to the summit will likely be melted out in the next few days, but I would suspect that the trail from 11,500 to 13,000 feet will have some snow for the next couple of weeks. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 6/12/2011, By: nasmolnisky
Info: We began the ascent at 8:15 and given the amount of post holing we dealt with throughout the day due to melting I would recommend beginning earlier. The trail is mostly melted with the remaining snow drifts fairly well packed down until you begin to reach the tree line. With our late start even the beginning snow ascent from 11,500 to 13,000 ft meant dealing with post holing problems, and while we only had snow boots we did witness people with snow shoes post holing as well. It was negotiable by closely following some of the snow shoe tracks earlier hikers had left. The initial snow ascent was the most melted, and after fighting through that difficulty it was a pleasant surprise when the final snow ascent from 13,000 to the top was basically post hole free. The ridges after the tree line are not near melted enough to attempt them with anything less than snow boots, still recommending snow shoes, however a few girls with tennis shoes attempted the first hill of the snow ascent and were turned back down to try another day after continually falling waist deep in snow. The final ascent was pleasantly solid and part of the ridge is melted and after another week or so it will be significantly improved. On the way down we were greeted by a friendly mountain goat who we followed at a distance down the trail for several hundred feet. The easiest way down as the snow melted and became slushy was to glissade, either using the standing slide for those able or else take a seat and ride the waterslide. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 6/16/2011, By: summit_push
Info: We arrived at the summit around 9:00 am. Higher up on the ridge, the snow was softer and required some sort of traction. I believe you could skirt the snow and stay on dry rock most of the way but returning over the snow without snow shoes would be problematic. I advise bringing snow shoes until more of the snow melts they come in handy especially on the way down. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 6/12/2011, By: starke12
Info: Early ascent and best attempts to hike without snowshoes- and courteous to follow previous lines... The hike up the East Ridge presents with 3 snowfields of varying difficulty. The earlier you start, the better. The first snowfield after breaking through treeline was the only difficulty pushing to the summit. As you continue to gain altitude, you should be fine as long and you are ahead of the sun‘s melting effects. Snowshoes would be helpful, but not 100% necessary. Returning to the trailhead from the summit is just a bit different. As the sun heats the snow, you will end up post holing through the snowfield after the summit ridge without snowshoes (and even with if it‘s later in the day.) The further down you get, the worse the conditions will be. Be prepared for soft snow if you get a late start and even if you summit early, bring snowshoes or an ice axe for a glissade. 

Route: South Gully aka Cristo Couloir
Posted On: 6/5/2011, By: areed20
Info: Hard snow in the morning made for some great climbing conditions. It will get soft in the afternoon though so be careful. Here is a picture. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 5/22/2011, By: a94buff
Info: Heavy winds and deep deep snow along East Ridge route yesterday. 12-15" of heavy new snow up there above treeline, especially loaded in on that last big pitch before the summit. Visibility was extremely poor. Snowshoes, skis or other foot accessories definitely needed above treeline; we kept snowshoes on the whole time. TR forthcoming 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 5/14/2011, By: rockymountaindiva
Info: Trail is very icy at start, then fairly well packed snow for remainder. Snowshoes not needed, yak trax or micro spikes helpful, post-holed about 10X towards the bottom on the descent after snow had softened. Someone has built a wonderful little snow shelter on top! McCullough Road to TH not yet open, parking is at Blue Lakes Road. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 5/1/2011, By: Tombguard544
Info: Snow, snow, snow. Postholed from the car to the summit. Some type of flotation was a must. The summit wasn‘t too bad. No good views, but the wind wasn‘t bad at all. On a brighter note, the AT skiers seemed to be loving it. At least 4 inches of powder everywhere you looked. All in all, a very long day of climbing. Attached are summit pics. 

Route: South Gully aka Cristo Couloir
Posted On: 4/9/2011, By: Carl
Info: Picture of the Cristo Couloir from Cameron. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 3/21/2011, By: OnyourLeft
Info: You can leave your snow shoes in the vehicle if you are hitting the trail early. At 7:30 it was hard packed all the way up. A little sloshy coming down around midday but shoes were not warranted. I ended up turning around at somewhere around 13,600 due to severe sustained winds turning my dog into an ice block. Next time. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 3/13/2011, By: COBuckeye
Info: We dug a pit on a 25deg angle aspect on the east face just below the final summit ridge (approx 14,000ft). Fresh storm snow (approx 6in) bonded well to current snow pack. Top 18in were homogenous and soft. Very hard consolidated (wind) slab about 6in thick burried about 18in deep resting on a weak facet layer. This weak layer failed after 10 wrist, 10 elbow and 10 shoulder compressions. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 3/11/2011, By: jimmtman
Info: Snow all the way from the parking area to the top. The trail was well packed down. The first hill above treeline had boot deep snow before putting on the snowshoes. Above that the trail was pretty firm so shoes may not have been required but helped since the surface was icy. Shoes helpful on the decent. It was a warm day so at noon back near treeline I was punching through even with the shoes on (22" MSR Evo). 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 2/18/2011, By: vetmike
Info: The first 3/4 mile or so of trail is solid boot pack. Then it gets a bit more sketchy - the storm last night dropped a few inches of new powder that is blowing around. There are a bunch of tracks going in different directions (most of them used for ski ascents), so the key is to stay on the hard stuff. Snowshoes are a must in the soft spots in my opinion, although as things settle boots might be ok in a few days. Once you get above the tree line, everything is boot packed and solid. There is definitely some wind loading and hard slabs on some slopes, I stayed to the left and on the ridge to avoid them. It was really windy when I was up there today - I‘d say gusts were around 55mph or so. I‘m no expert at guesstimating wind, but a few gusts knocked me off my stance and one put me in the snow (I was using ski poles for stability). With the new snow I experienced a few short whiteouts. I didn‘t have anything to measure temps, but it was chilly when the wind got moving. I just got some Mountain Hardware mitts and was glad I had them. The actual summit was surprisingly calm, I‘d like to figure out the physics behind why that was... Overall it was a good day. Drop me a message if you need more info. I‘ll be posting a full trip report soon.