6/8/2013 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 6/8/2013, By: ezabielski Info: Trailhead perfectly accessible on a rough dirt road. Very little snow to Shavano summit, and much of it can be avoided. No need for: crampons, microspikes, gaiters, mountaineering boots, waterproof boots, or ice axes. Seriously. Maybe bring trekking poles if you have them. Temps were very nice, hiked in shorts and a trekking shirt. |
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6/1/2013 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 6/1/2013, By: ColoradoLawDobe Info: Snow is melting pretty quick, but there are a few fields that are across the trail. It would be possible to walk around them, but they aren‘t that much of a nuisance and the snow is soft enough, with enough kick-steps already in place, to not worry too much. I only used trekking poles and was fine (but if snow was harder I would have preferred spikes going up Tab-picture 1). |
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5/25/2013 Route: Angel of Shavano Posted On: 5/26/2013, By: Double Oh Seven Info: Climbed Angel of Shavano and stayed on the northern arm had continues snow other than about a 0.1 mile stretch up to the east ridge and a little boulder hopping at the summit. Snow was firm all the way to the top. No snowshoes needed as snow was easily avoidable below treeline. Descended standard route and there is a fair amount of snow above treeline didn‘t need any traction around late morning but microspikes might be helpful early in the morning. There was a recent wet slide in the couloir immediately south of the angel. |
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5/25/2013 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 5/26/2013, By: alex_303 Info: The trail was good, didn‘t need snowshoes. Trekking poles wouldn‘t be a bad idea in a few spots after treeline. I post-holed a up to my thighs a few times but this was in the afternoon and I am a big guy. Also some gators are good to have too. |
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5/24/2013 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 5/25/2013, By: hatchmaster Info: I climbed Shavano on Friday May 24th. Snowshoes were not needed. After the standard route crosses the angel it is snow covered. A steep slog uphill is in order to gain the ridge. We glissaded the angel to descend. If you start early and are not confident crossing snow slopes traction devices would be recommended. |
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5/20/2013 Route: Angel of Shavano Posted On: 5/22/2013, By: Furthermore Info: No snowshoes were required. We climbed up the Angel to Shavano and then over to my real objective, 13,712. We did not descended the standard route but glissaded down the Angel. There were pockets of snow between ~11,000 and 11,400 but it can be avoided. In the afternoon, some minor post holing was encountered but was tolerable. In the early morning, crampons would be advised on the Angel. |
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5/13/2013 Route: Angel of Shavano Posted On: 5/13/2013, By: esagas Info: The Angel is in great condition, but with rising temps I recommend a very early start and to bring snowshoes to avoid postholing on the way back (I postholed with snowshoes in some sections below treeline!). Two pics of the Angel attached (one from up close and the other one from afar). |
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5/11/2013 Route: Angel of Shavano Posted On: 5/11/2013, By: lodgling Info: Summit ski is probably about as in as it ever gets. I was able to skin to the summit and rip skins like it was a lap at BP. |
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5/5/2013 Route: Angel of Shavano Posted On: 5/6/2013, By: jeremy27 Info: My partners and I climbed the Angel yesterday, 5/5. Nice firm snow almost the entire way from the base of the Angel to the summit. A summit ski might be in but I suspect you will be billy-goating in a couple places between the saddle on the ridge and the summit. We ascended the left arm (climber’s right) and descended/glissaded the head which I recommend for beginners. This was my wife’s first snow climb and she was able to handle it with just snowshoes and an axe. There were a couple hard/icy spots on the arm but the head was much softer when we descended. The head was almost too low angle and soft to get a good glissade until the bottom where it is steeper. As far as the trail is concerned the main trail has been well cleared of trees and is easy to follow. The left turn to get to the Angel is not obvious and there are multiple trails through the tree and across the drainage. Its easy to pick you way through without too much hassle. Just get to the south side of the drainage as best you can and from there you should have smooth hiking/skinning. Snowshoes highly recommended for ascending from the main trail to the base of the Angel and back from the base of the Angel to a good bit back down the main trail as it softens up. Good luck. |
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4/14/2013 Route: Angel of Shavano Posted On: 4/14/2013, By: jaquetcj Info: Skied the Angel of Shavano on 4.13.13. Colorado trail and Shavano trail were mostly snow covered (we were able to ski to within half a mile of the trailhead) Conditions on the peak were windy, with large to extremely large wind gusts. Wind slabs and sastrugi everywhere there was snow, with PM heavy solar mashed potato snow. Trailhead required 4wd access see trailhead status for more info. |
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4/13/2013 Route: SE ridge Posted On: 4/14/2013, By: Yikes Info: Bushwack up the Pt 13630 SE ridge directly from Angel of Shavano CT trailhead. Minimal snow - dry to 6" crust. Turned around at 13,400 due to some strong winds; had to drop and cling to rocks a few times. Descended Pt 13630 E ridge, which had slightly more snow (4" to 18") - which was like potato soup late in the day. From what I can tell, it looks like a ski descent from Shavano is in. Sawatch has been getting some snow recently. There appeared to be continuous snow from the summit down to the angel. At that point you will be in blowdown hell, but that's just part of the game. |
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2/22/2013 Route: Angel of Shavano Posted On: 2/23/2013, By: seano732 Info: My buddy Matt and I attempted Shav/Tab on Friday, 2/22, from a high camp in the Angel of Shavano basin. We got to the Shav/Tab TH about 1130 am on Thursday, the 21st. According to the register, someone had been there on the 17th, so there was a faint boot path to follow, making route finding very straight forward. Until... we got to the area where you leave the standard trail and head west towards the Angel of Shavano basin. What followed was quite possibly the most miserable, arduous trailbreaking I have ever experienced in the mountains. We consistently wallowed in knee to thigh-deep powder through the trees for 2+ hours, while wearing snowshoes and carrying 35 pound packs. to say it sucked would be a HUGE understatement. In addition, as we got closer to the basin, we started noticing a lot of whumps and cracking from the snow pack, and this was on fairly moderate terrain. As we got to the basin itself, we saw signs of natural avy releases on both the north AND south aspects of the basin. The Angel herself looked pretty loaded as well. With the CAIC calling for considerable danger on all of the aspects we could have climbed, and for being absolutely smoked from the previous days shenanigans, we bailed after only making it to ~12,000ft. I think we made the right call too, because the mountain was totally socked in as we left, and when we checked the CAIC website on the drive out, all of the Sawatch avy danger had been upped to high. Anyone interested in climbing Shavano in the near future should stick to the East Ridge, but be careful right near and above treeline. Feel free to shoot me a PM with any questions. PEACE. pic #1- On the road to the TH pic #2- Deep into the suck locker pic #3- The Angel‘s there somewhere pic #4- After the beatdown. |
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11/5/2012 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 11/6/2012, By: bhollamby Info: Great conditions! Few patches of snow here and there. All snow can be avoid with very little effort. |
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10/6/2012 Route: Angel of Shavano Posted On: 10/7/2012, By: wincoder Info: Route 2.3.4 in Dawson. Trail is clear of snow up to 13,000. From 13,000 to the saddle are a few patches of snow. Above the saddle at 13,400 there is no snow. The reason that there is no snow might just be because of the constant 60 -70 MPH winds with occasional gusts to - ‘hang on to something‘. Actually it wasn‘t windy at the top. Oh and it was about 0 deg F at the saddle (at about 3:00 AM). So yeah - it was cold. On the way up on Friday evening (for bivvy at 12,400) I met two guys from Idaho on their way down. They had the Shavano summit register with them. I said I‘d put it back on top. When I got there I found one of the register tubes smashed. The other had a register in it. So I put the register in the ziploc poly bag with the other ones in the gap in the rock. Needs a new tube. |
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9/22/2012 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 9/23/2012, By: wonderfullyrich Info: The trail‘s in good shape, with lots of fall color in play. No snow on the trail, but some was still in rock shaded areas. Cross to Tabeguache is also in fine shape. The sign in canister on Shavano was in need of replacement, but may have been done on by another party on the 22nd. |
