Mt. Wilson

Route: East Face
Posted On: 4/26/2026, By: Jcinco
Info: The Boxcar is still skiing reasonably well. Enough snow coverage to ski down to 11.2 K. The approach to this is pretty miserable. There is still plenty of snow in the woods for the long section of off-trail rolling terrain, which required wallowing both going in and out. There’s also a long dry stretch after that with a few annoying drifts up until the aforementioned 11.2 K mark. It ended up being a bigger day than I expected because of those woods. Pics are in reverse chronological order. 

Route: East Face
Posted On: 3/27/2026, By: Gavin Goold
Info: Boxcar was still filled in and skied in great corn. Summited around 9:20. The first ~0.5 miles from the trailhead is dirt but after that there is consistent snow. 

Route: East Face
Posted On: 4/6/2026, By: Splitboard14ers
Info: There is already a good condition report of this from 1 week earlier than I climbed, but I thought I'd add mine as well. Be aware that between 16-19" inches of snow was reported on Lizard Head Pass since this date of climb, and that will change conditions almost entirely.

Nevertheless: I began at Lizard Head pass and had almost consistent snow coverage in, choosing to skin. I made my way up Cross Mountain Trail. I looked for the turn at 1.87 miles, but it is all just forest. So at 2.11 miles I finally just turned left into the forest. I think this is West, or SouthWest.

The forest was dense, and the snow was refrozen slush with poor isothermic conditions. This section was a tough push for miles, with no clear line of direction. Some terrain changes occur, such as up, down, and across to finally descend a ways till reaching some creek(river) crossing. I found a downed tree and hopped across *(about 5-6 feet). Once across it was another half mile or so to reach the top of tree line and work my way into the basin of the peak.

It was easy going from this point, with great reference to directions seeing Gladstone peak, and the route to the center of the East Face. It's not very steep, but the snow was firm and I used crampons from here all the way up the East Face. I reached the top of the Col, and transitioned to boots for the remaining fifty feet or so to Summit. It was class 2 or 3 climbing up the rocks to reach the Summit.

From Summit back down the same route to the top of the Col. I strapped into my snowboard and rode down the East Face making my way across to Boxcar Couloir. There was a rock band of about 3 feet width to cross before entering Boxcar Couloir. The top of the couloir was quite narrow and I had about 20 feet before I could open up and make turns through the couloir. The Couloir rode very nicely. The bottom section where shadow from the rock walls on either side made shade on the snow caused that snow to be frozen and icy, which is worth noting because there were two enormous boulders at the choke exit of the couloir into the Apron.

I rode down the Apron and back across till it was rocky, and I had to unstrap. I transitioned to skins and worked my way a short distance down to treeline. From the forest it was a reverse of the approach path. The snow had warmed in the Sun and was entirely collapsable. Working back up the ridge was a chore. If you had snow shoes on, you would likely sink every step.

Once up the ridge I made my way back through the forest following my tracks until I reached Cross Mountain trail. I was able to skate ski some sections to maintain flotation and ride a few others, but the snow was pure isothermic slush all the way back to Lizard Head pass.

Start: 3:39am
Summit: 11:06am
Finish: 3:30pm
Total Time: 11 hours 51 minutes
Total Miles: 13.87 round trip
5234' Vertical Feet 

Route: East Face
Posted On: 3/18/2026, By: ericahlstedt
Info: There is continuous snow currently from the cross mtn TH. Firm and supportable snow today all the way to the summit. Around 1130am the descent was mostly great corn skiing from the summit col into the box car and lower mountain bowls. Great route! Summit block top 50ish feet from the col is pretty much snow free. 

Route: East Face
Posted On: 1/19/2026, By: Kiefer
Info: All snow once you leave Cross Mountain trailhead. GREAT bootpack on the trail from skiers & snowshoes.
Some deep powder in the forest. Slate Creek equally holding snow. Even the southern aspects are holding snow (kinda surprised at that one). Despite our tracks, you'll more than likely be trenching.

Couloir has variable snow, not the best, but manageable. Some good cramponable sections, about a 200' section of icy, bulletproof cement and soft unsupportive at the col. Pitch ranged between 34° to 46°.

Summit ridge is holding snow in recesses. Made for a SPICY climb. Left a register. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 10/31/2025, By: jamal
Info: Sumitted yesterday, not much snow recently, pretty dry . Beautiful weather! You will need crampons and an ice axe above 13, 850 ft. as there is a healthy dose of consolidated snow above that. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 10/3/2025, By: ColoNativeGal
Info: These conditions are as of Thursday, there is a storm coming in Fri-Sat that is supposed to drop 3-5" of new snow, so take this report with a grain of salt. All north faces and places with shade are holding snow. We had frost on the talus early morning, made it tricky to avoid slipping. Small amount snow in the gully leading up to the cross over and in the gully leading to the notch. Had spikes, but didn't use them. Fall colors were amazing! 

Route: Mt. Wilson + El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 9/29/2025, By: Jonathan Deffenbaugh
Info: Easy going on the south sides of the ridge. However definitely recommend bringing traction for sections where there's new snow traversing the north side of the ridge especially near coming off El Diente and traversing down on the narrow section of ridge leading to the final gully that climbs up towards Mt Wilson's Class 4 summit ridge. On the final Class 4 section of the ridge leading up to Mt Wilson's summit, ended up climbing from the left side, however there was new snow there too, also recommend traction (i.e. micropsikes). Will post pics. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 9/29/2025, By: Jonathan Deffenbaugh
Info: Ended up descending around sunset after a late summit day. Summit ridge condition described from Mt Wilson/El Diente traverse conditions report. Recommend having traction for the upper sections still caked in snow. Anything north facing is guaranteed to stick at this time of the year. Minor down climbing involved. Conditions improved once I got lower down, followed the path of least resistance trying to find the ridge leading down into the basin. Hiked back to Woods Lake TH, best approach for these peaks IMHO, especially for hitting up the North Buttress of El Diente. 

Route: Kilpacker Approach
Posted On: 9/23/2025, By: HarknessHooligans
Info: No issues with ice or snow. Only a few snow patches near the notch but nothing requiring spikes. Since I had spikes though, I did wear them going down those sections because it gave traction for the mud/scree and saved me from tired legs. Routfinding was not an issue if you study the route. I feel like there were a couple of 'crossovers' before the last official crossover. There is a path from notch to summit that was fun and not too technical. Because we backpacked in, we were able to start hiking at first light to reduce any mountain lion encounters. A girl that hiked same day as us did see one in the dark. Weather was on and off with clouds, fog and beautiful skies. Overall, a great mountain! 

Route: Mt. Wilson + El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 9/8/2025, By: David Sandretto
Info: Despite the fresh snow on 9/6/25, the snow on the traverse was sporadic and already packed down in most places. I didn't love how much snow there was toward the top of North Slopes on my descent, but it was manageable. 

Route: Kilpacker Approach
Posted On: 9/1/2025, By: MaryinColorado
Info: This isn't really conditions (all dry), but just a heads up that if you've heard any rumors about mountain lion activity on the Kilpacker approach, the rumors are true. :)

A little ways before the El D trail junction, we were flanked on the left by at least one cat. We made a bunch of noise and kept hiking. No issues, just spooky in the dark. We had heard reports of two cats prior to this, and later in the day others told us they saw two cats.

I assume they might be guarding a den in the area. 

Route: Kilpacker Approach
Posted On: 8/31/2025, By: The_Ramp
Info: Hiked Mt Wilson from Kilpacker TH. Very little snow in the upper boulder fields, but recent rains and cold overnight temperatures left an annoying coating of frost on everything (see photo) until the sun popped over the ridge and warmed the talus up. Route-finding dead-on with the route description. Lots of folks hiking, most doing the traverse. Beautiful day! 

Route: Kilpacker Approach
Posted On: 8/12/2025, By: Ariella6
Info: Trail mostly dry and summer conditions.

13100 and 13300 both have some some hanging out there. The 13300 one is larger. Was able to walk around it though. It looked like some folks had opted to go through it. 

Route: Mt. Wilson + El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 8/5/2025, By: Boggy B
Info: Up El Diente N Buttress via Navajo trail (from Kilpacker TH), down Mt Wilson SW route.

Surprised to learn the south routes are now "standard" considering the bullshit talus character of Kilpacker basin. Guessing that rock glacier is moving too fast to sustain a trail to CFI standards but, maybe. Suppose in the talus/mileage/vert equation it still beats out Navajo and RoA by a slim margin.

Anyway the amount of (avoidable) south/west facing snow on the SW descent off Mt Wilson was a pleasant surprise in August and provided joint relief for a couple hundred feet, making real turns in boots/shoes and counting it as a technically complete ski descent of Mt Wilson is a bonus.