Mt. Shavano

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 5/18/2026, By: afcolorado14
Info: Shavano was entirely summer conditions. Still some snow around but completely avoidable. The dirt road to the trail head was a little rougher in parts than the description; 2WD could get up there but you definitely want some clearance. There was almost no wind when we were up there and weather was great! We were getting out as some weather was coming in so might be a little more snowy up there now. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 5/15/2026, By: fancyco
Info: Entirely summer conditions, there were 1-2 snow patches but they could be avoided easily. The ridge over to tab had more snow on it, but could be avoided. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 5/11/2026, By: hunterfleming
Info: Trail is mostly dry (90%), patchy in the upper sections and at the summit. No postholing and I personally wouldn't bother with spikes. Angel is still mostly in, a group skied it today. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 5/12/2026, By: sconzo1922
Info: 90% summer conditions below tree line. Above tree line ascending to Shavano, there was enough snow to make route finding a bit more difficult, but never needed spikes. I expect the snow that is still there on ascent to melt out pretty quickly barring any more major snow storms. Overall a beautiful day with zero wind. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 4/26/2026, By: Will_E
Info: Started at Angel of Shavano TH, dry most of the way to treeline. Above treeline it was snowing off and on, not much accumulation, but a little cold and windy. No gear needed today. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 4/26/2026, By: jackbdew
Info: Trail is in great shape! There are three spots where we had to cross snow, but these were completely manageable without extra traction. The route from Shavano to Tabeguache appeared to have a bit more snow on the ascent back up to Tabeguache, so if you plan on bagging both then I would plan for some snow. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 4/7/2026, By: cmarhanka
Info: East Slope route no longer goes to the saddle between Shavano and Esprit. CFI has done a lot of great work on the new route and looks like the old route has been worked for reclamation. I recorded 4.9 miles to summit on new route. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 4/5/2026, By: spencerrr25
Info: Overall conditions are very dry with the exception of a few small snow pockets, mostly between 12-13k feet elevation. Trail to Tabeguache peak was covered, but easily avoided with some light scrambling. No major issues getting to both summits. Clear skies and low winds today. 

Route: Angel of Shavano
Posted On: 3/29/2026, By: bschiff
Info: Glissaded down the angel after taking the East ridge. Super fun but not much snow at all. Don’t think anyone has been there nearly all season, trail was tough to find. Almost completely dry. No microspikes needed, summer conditions. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 3/29/2026, By: Omatt89
Info: Bone dry. Looks like July here. I will say there is a some snow further in the range West. One medium patch of snow, 2 very small patches.. No water. Angel is barely there.. wind wasn't bad , a couple powerful gusts to lean into but very manageable. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 3/22/2026, By: benglish
Info: Is it June already? Trail runners are all you need. Warm, bluebird day. Very windy on the traverse to Tab, otherwise calm. We broke through slushy snow a couple of times on the descent. Some people might feel more comfortable with traction in a few spots but my microspikes stayed in my bag. The Angel is not connected to the snow in the lower trees or the saddles so wait for next year if that is your plan. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 3/20/2026, By: gregpeak
Info: The road is clear to the trailhead. I summitted in trail runners without any issues. The trail is about 65% clear. The remaining snow is hard packed and I was able to cross it pretty easily without flotation or traction. Some people may want traction. The lookers left arm of the Angel is still in and skiable. It goes almost to the ridgeline. It's pretty narrow though but still wide enough to make a turn. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 3/2/2026, By: Jonathan Deffenbaugh
Info: Was able to drive all the way to the trailhead. Trail was easy to follow up to the cut off for accessing the East Ridge direct (approx 11,800’), with some sections requiring snowshoes above 10,500’). At the cutoff continued to use snowshoes till we finally got to some of the rockier sections approx above 12,100’ where we ultimately stashed our snowshoes. From there followed the ridge directly to the summit, then over to Tabeguache. Ridge up to Shavano was dry enough not to warrant microspikes however were to nice to have just in case. On the way down we used the main trail heading down then traversed back over to the north where we intercepted with our snowshoes on the lower end of the East Ridge. Ended up not needing them due to our trench being well consolidated at that point. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 2/1/2026, By: MMAfightingClimber
Info: Shavano and Tabegauche today. We went up the east ridge leaving the standard trail at about 11,900ft. Over to Tabegauche and back down the Shavano standard route. Ran into the king of Shavano @Will_E

The standard route is doable still, but there’s some ice/hard snow with a little run off that goes down toward the angel. Not too bad but it definitely slows things down a little bit.

The East ridge has some snow and minor bushwhacking to deal with once you leave the trail but it’s mostly dry once you get above treeline. I think it’s the faster way to do Shavano right now with the snow and ice.

Spikes would be useful on the standard route for the ice/snow runoff section right above treeline, but we got by without using them. No need for snowshoes. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 1/18/2026, By: globreal
Info: Climbed Shavano on Friday. You can still drive all the way to the summer TH!
Very little snow anywhere on the mountain. No snowshoes needed at all.
Microspikes are helpful in spots especially lots of ice due to packed trail.
The winds were horrific on top so we did not go over to Tabaguache. The east slopes route is mostly protected from the northwest winds. But still some very stiff wind gusts. The NOAA forecast was for gusts up to 57mph. No doubt we were hit with some at those speeds.