6/21/2014 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 6/23/2014, By: rob runkle Info: Still plenty of snow in the silver pick basin, and also Navaho basin. You can easily avoid snow on the standard route slopes, if you focus on staying mostly on rocks, and gaining almost all the way to the ridge. Gain high, and watch for cairns just under the ridge. This is above the standard route, and is solid class 3, but it avoids most snow, and is a fun way to the summit. I was able to make the complete return trip in trail shoes, no crampons. Recommended crampons for accent to ROA saddle from the TH mostly. Recommended axe for snow travel, multiple traverses, and glissade. |
|
6/21/2014 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 6/24/2014, By: Dan_Suitor Info: Used my crampons and axe on some of the snow. Did some postholeing as things warmed up. Others did the traverse, but I ran out of time. Hope the pictures help. |
|
6/20/2014 Route: Kilpacker Approach Posted On: 6/23/2014, By: rob runkle Info: Still plenty of snow in the basin. Snow starts just above the waterfall, so you still have to walk the miles and miles on ankle twisting rock. But, the basin is pretty full, so it is easier up high. Did not make the summit by this side, but it seems that the class 4 and class 2+ Options both has enough snow up the gully to make for reasonable climb. Recommend crampons and axe. |
|
5/10/2014 Route: Navajo Lake Approach Posted On: 5/12/2014, By: taylorzs Info: Basic info- The north sides of MT. Wilson and El Diente have lots of snow and will be in for skiing/snowboarding/climbing for a while this season. Lots of new snow to create am avalanche problem over the next few days Technical info- Weather •Weather Description: Mostly cloudy for this time period, with very brief periods of sunshine on 5/9, 5/10, & 5/12 (no sun on 5/11). Breezy to very windy for most of this time period. Variable new snow fell in the drainage. I would estimate between 6" and 12" new but with the amount of wind judging exact snowfall was a challenge. Ridge top winds came out of the southwest with valley winds running directly west at 11,000‘. Temps probably never got above freezing for the four days we were up there. The wind chill definitely did not. Snowpack •Snowpack Description: Interesting mix of snow conditions. Still a lot of decomposing snow present on 5/9 and 5/10 above 11,000‘ mixed with sections of frozen melt freeze crust. Lots of new snowfall and wind drifting on 5/11. New drifts present this morning on primarily the east side of the compass but with many sections of the snow surface above treeline scoured to the pre-storm melt-freeze/dust layer crust while other sections were drifted 12"-18" deep. New snow seemed to be bonding moderately well with no cracking or collapsing or natural/human triggered activity noted in the area today (5/12) after the storm moved through the area. The north face of Mt. Wilson was comprised of a surface dust layer in places. In other places it was covered in newish decomposing snow and windslabs on 5/10 but this was noted before the storm came through and we did not go up high besides crossing the Rock of Ages saddle after the last two days‘ storm cycle. Avalanches •Avalanche Description: While skiing the north face of Mt. Wilson from Navajo Basin I triggered one wind slab with a slope cut and another partner triggered another wind slab with a ski cut. Both were expected releases and no one was caught in the slides (both D1/R1 but big enough to carry one over cliffs on 5/10). The weak layer culprit appeared to be the most superficial dust layer in the basin recently. Lots of new snow since then. I would probably give anything in the area a day or two of sunshine and warm weather before venturing into couloirs in the area. |
|
9/21/2013 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 9/22/2013, By: jimmtman Info: Significant snow on the mtn above 13k feet. Luckily someone had been up recently and there was a nice boot track all the way to the top otherwise I wouldn‘t know where to go. This track may be more of a winter route as it stays left and intersects the ridge way left of the summit at a notch (at the top of a couloir). We didn‘t bring any traction or an axe but it would be a good idea to have them. I thought of doing El Diente by the Class 4 route and then the traverse but bagged it given the snow. I‘ve included a couple of shots showing these routes for those who are interested. |
|
6/28/2013 Route: Kilpacker Basin Posted On: 7/7/2013, By: Wanderlust Info: All snow fields avoidable. Hot, dry and mosquitos - wow and only June! |
|
6/24/2012 Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse Posted On: 6/26/2012, By: ChrisinAZ Info: We ascended El Diente via the North Buttress route, traversed to Wilson, and descended the standard route back to Navajo Basin. North Buttress--almost entirely dry. There were a few snow patches above the fourth bench that made things a bit sketchy and wet, but we were able to navigate around/through them without snow gear. Took the alternate route to the right to attain the ridge crest, which was replete with 4th class rock but solid. No need for any snow gear. Traverse--also almost entirely dry. A few patches to cross through/just under on the north side of the traverse just east of El Diente's summit. Snow is present, but avoidable with some route-finding when passing the gendarme just before the last dirt gully (shortly after the crux and knife edge). One more patch at the base of the last dirt gully can be avoided by dropping down. Again, snow gear is not necessary. Descent--most of the route is melted out. Crossing the first gully on the way down involved traversing 10-15' of snow. This may be doable without an ice axe, but it's safer to use one (I didn't use one, but my partner had his and crossed first). Crossed/descended a few mild snowfields further down, and even in mid-afternoon did not post-hole. An axe may be desired, but shouldn't be needed for much longer. What little snow there is on these routes will probably be gone in a few weeks. |
|
6/22/2012 Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse Posted On: 6/22/2012, By: Matt Lemke Info: Ascent of the north face of El Diente was a 40 degree snow climb...Crampons and axe mandatory. See Wilson Peak conditions report for approach over Rock of Ages saddle. Got to the ridge and the entire ridge to El Diente was dry apart from one small avoidable snow patch near the summit. Rest of the traverse was dry. Summit pitch on Mount Wilson was fun but downclimbing was a little sketchy. |
|
6/21/2012 Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse Posted On: 6/21/2012, By: Nelson Info: I carried ax and crampons the whole day for nought . I climbed from Kilpacker and returned via the gully where the traverse joins the standard route. It is messy with some snow but very doable and better than the alternatives. |
|
6/2/2012 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 6/4/2012, By: SkiAndClimb Info: Dry up to the upper basin, except some patches. Decent radiation freeze the night before, cool air temps, but snow pack shallow and rotten. Once on the ridge, dry nearly everywhere. Evidence of previous shallow wet-sloughs on Wilson direct and El Diente couloir. Upon return, we watched a hard-slab avalanche on the lower, steepest sections of Wilson "direct". I'm guessing the snowpack was so shallow, that water percolation from the previous very warm day had got all the way down to the rocks and lubricated the surface. No melt freeze consolidation going on here, be careful! Is the snowpack this poor all over Colorado? |
|
5/19/2012 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 5/20/2012, By: sstratta Info: Climbed the north face of Mt. Wilson from the Navajo TH yesterday. The trail is dry all the way to the lake (with a few small minor snow patches), and after that it‘s a mix of snow/dry spots. Navajo Lake is about halfway melted out. The north face is still holding lots of snow...I climbed up and down the north face direct instead of staying on the northeast ridge. Above the face though it‘s mostly dry up to the summit, although there are a few snow and ice patches on the class 3/4 section. If you want to go around the class 4 "crux" to keep it class 3 you will encounter some snow. I brought snowshoes but never needed them. Crampons and ice axe are necessary though for the north face and northeast ridge. The north face of El Diente still has lots of snow as well, but the south side from Kilpacker is mostly dry. The Kilpacker and Slate Creek approaches for Mt. Wilson looked like they still had a descent amount of snow in the upper basins. The Wilson/El Diente traverse looked pretty dry. Over on the Rock of Ages Saddle and Wilson Peak you‘d encounter intermittent snow patches on the standard route. |
|
9/30/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 10/1/2011, By: TravelingMatt Info: Soft, deep snow above 13,000 feet. 2-3 feet deep in places. It was possible to at least gain the ridge at its easternmost point with a minimal interaction with the snow, but good luck getting from there to the summit. On 9/30 an afternoon storm dumped more frozen precip above 12,000 feet. Approach to Navajo Lake is very pretty with aspens close to peak. |
|
8/21/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 9/4/2011, By: Wyoming Bob Info: Climbed via new Silverpick Trail to Rock of Ages Saddle. No dark appracoh route finding issues on new trail due to excellent signage; trail down to base of Wilson Ridge clear, talus up to near Wilson summit self explanatory and stable for us, trail segments easily located; did ridge traverse to El Diente, did drop and climb back up to one thrid point notch, muddy descent and very minor snow crossing or two, middle third ridge was dry and no route finding issues, gendarme bypass for final third of ridge was well cairned and dry but for some of the gulley portions, side of El Diente was muddy, Couloir drop back to basin was knee jarring hell as always. |
|
8/7/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 8/8/2011, By: tmathews Info: Summited Mt. Wilson via the new Rock of Ages Trail. Some snow still remains in a gully close to the summit once you leave the ridge and begin to traverse toward the summit. The snow is hard and firm in the morning and the run-out is long, so tread carefully if you choose to cross it. You can climb up to the top of the gully on some pretty solid rock to the climber‘s left and avoid the snow altogether. |
|
7/7/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 7/10/2011, By: lakecityrat Info: Summitted Mt. Wilson 07-07-11 via Northeast Ridge from Navajo Lake. Route is mostly clear of snow. You must cross a large snowfield in upper Navajo basin and must cross two steep couloirs. Crampons not necessary unless you are hiking VERY early in the morning. We crossed the couloirs around 9 AM and were able to get very good traction. Ice axe is highly recommended as a fall in either couloir could likely be fatal if you did not have the ability to self arrest. We did not need snowshoes or crampons on this climb, but ice axe is nescessary for safety‘s sake. |