6/18/2021 Route: South Face Posted On: 6/20/2021, By: JBORDEN1503 Info: Summitted on 06/18/2021: Spent the night camped at the lower lake. The road is dry all the way to the trailhead. The upper 4wd road to the old trailhead is pretty wet in places from runoff, but snow-free. From the old trailhead to the lower lake there are still large patches of snow, some of which we noticed were getting very unstable because of the water running underneath them. It is melting very fast, so use some caution when crossing them. There is still a good amount of snow headed up from the lake to broken hand pass. One member of our group had an ice axe which he found very helpful climbing broken hand pass, although it can be done just by kicking steps. I would even say that there was enough snow to ski down from broken hand pass. Above the pass there were only a few small patches of snow, but nothing that really interferes with the route, it's 99% dry above the pass. We ended up spending 2 nights camped at the lake. Both days thunderstorms came in at around 2pm and brought lightning, heavy rain and large hail, so be aware of that. We also witnessed two rockslides, one more minor one caused by goats while we were down climbing broken hand pass and one very large one on broken hand peak. |
|
6/13/2021 Route: Ellingwood Arete/Ledges Posted On: 6/14/2021, By: shattuckml Info: Camped at South Colony Lakes and summited Needle via Ellingwood ledges. The "Most Ledges" start was the clearest of snow - only one small snowfield to cross that already had great tracks in it. Was thankful to have my ice axe and spikes (not crampons), but I get spooked by snow easily so I think many could cross without these items. Fairly straight forward navigation to the summit. Scrambled most, pitched the last two routes. The decent on the South Face was clear of snow (yay), and had minor snow melt areas to avoid but was very easy to do so. Broken Hand Pass had a good amount of snow. We glissaded down easily using our axes. We left camp just below lower S Colony lake at 6am and got back to the tent by noon. Super fun day! |
|
6/12/2021 Route: South Face Posted On: 6/13/2021, By: tjfoelix Info: Needle standard route us almost dry and buddies and I summitted it and the peak and one long day via standard routes. No traverse. Needle is much better than peak if you follow the class 3. Off route it will get sketchy so take your time. Echoing what AndyFromDenver said about the peak, broken hand pass has snow. We got up climbers right with microspikes and scrambling albeit pretty early. Broken hand pass trail conditions are pretty bad even once you clear the snow. Very loose and very steep. Needle standard route and class 4 variation are almost completely dry and safer than than Crestone peak right now. Still very challenging but manageable risk. I included a picture of the crestones traverse final pitch for anyone interested. Did not get a good look at most of that route though. Refrence my same date Crestone Peak report. Any questions just post in the comments. Stay safe. |
|
5/25/2021 Route: South Face Posted On: 5/30/2021, By: Czechoslovian Info: Road to upper trailhead is dry. Above trailhead, road/trail is dry. Above that, the spur route (shorter, steeper way into lakes area) had snow and was a fun postholing/crawling section because I didn't bring snowshoes. Below the peak snowshoes needed unless you enjoy postholing. Rest of route above broken hand pass is dry. Did not summit because holy 90+mph gusts |
|
4/10/2021 Route: South Face Posted On: 4/12/2021, By: Buddyboy27 Info: Road is snow covered about 1/2 mile or so above the lower 2WD lot. Continuous snow from there to Broken Hand Pass Saddle. Ridge approach to 13.3k downclimb is 50/50 snow/dry. Hoping to ski the south face, but appeared out so did not attempt to summit. Photos |
|
1/10/2021 Route: South Face Posted On: 1/12/2021, By: moon stalker Info: From cottonwood TH the trail is well packed to about 3.5 to 4 miles up. Then when it hits the boulders Paul mentions, fewer people have gone that far. I lost the previous tracks around 11,000k. I went right, the previous tracks went straight up. Go straight up, if you start going down, just keep going up. I missed the previous tracks again at about 12,000. Above treeline the trench is harder to follow as it has been filled in various spots. Stay in the middle of the valley and don't climb too high above it. Below BHP, there is a weird snow formation at the base that did not look appealing to get through. I gained the ridge one gully to the west of BHP. There were tracks there too. Once on the ridge, the cairns were easy enough to follow. The fresh snow on Saturday left about 2 inches on the ridge, nothing noticeable down below treeline. The snow was melting when the sun was out, Sunday was near bluebird. Quite a bit of the rock was wet from the melting snow that covered everything, which will turn to ice. I got away with microspikes, but I wouldn't be surprised if crampons will be required very soon. The crux was not dry, had a dust of snow on it. |
|
1/4/2021 Route: South Face Posted On: 1/5/2021, By: paulbarish Info: Went from cottonwood creek TH. The first mile or so is well travelled and then I broke trail from there. I'm happy with my line because although this is a rough approach I didn't have to deal with the slabs I've read about. There is about 800' vert of boulderfield that is harsh tho. I camped around 11,400' and it was a perfect spot for the next day. I took the East gully all the way up and the crux rock section is dry. In fact it was so warm on the way up I was bare handed! The snow was surprisingly stable in the gully although it's mostly avoidable. Overall the route is in great shape, sometimes I made a wrong turn and my descent tracks are better, sometimes not. Someone should take advantage of my trench! It's a great climb! |
|
10/31/2020 Route: South Face Posted On: 11/1/2020, By: Will_E Info: Summitted the needle today. Far more snow than I anticipated. 2 jeeps made it to the Rainbow trail parking area (talked to them, they were Custer County SAR, nice guys), and a 4 Runner was parked there when I passed by at the end of the day. There are ATV tracks from the Rainbow parking area to the 4WD TH, no traction needed to this point. From the 4WD TH to just past treeline I was in snowshoes breaking trail. After treeline its wind scoured enough than I didn't use traction. Broken Hand Pass was the toughest part of the day, the snow is pretty variable. On the way up I stuck to the south side of BHP, staying in snow I could kick step. On the way down I went to the opposite side, the rocks were mostly dry, but steep, and hard to navigate down. If I were to do it again, I'd descend the south side with crampons (I had them with, but was looking at every possible option to avoid putting them on). From BHP to the East Gully, just a little snow here and there. Same for the East Gully, I was mostly able to stay on dry rock all the way up. I didn't crossover to the West Gully. |
|
10/17/2020 Route: South Face Posted On: 10/18/2020, By: someoldman Info: Not much has changed since the last report. A little bit of snow just before broken hand pass. Easy enough to skirt around the edges. Never broke out the spikes. Breezy but beautiful |
|
10/3/2020 Route: Ellingwood Arete/Ledges Posted On: 10/4/2020, By: angry Info: There is snow/ice in the crux pitch and belay ledge. Climbed entire route in approach shoes. Got a late start and was surprised to see another party. Be prepared for a long day. |
|
10/2/2020 Route: South Face Posted On: 10/3/2020, By: BrookStout Info: Echoing other reports, route is still in great dry condition except for the top of broken hand pass. Microspikes and a trekking pole are all you need. |
|
9/30/2020 Route: South Face Posted On: 10/2/2020, By: Moogie737 Info: With wonderful weather as our companion my partner, Lana Christiansen, and I successfully completed the "list of 58." We needed and used microspikes and ice axes for the last 200 vertical feet of the ascent/descent to/from Broken Hand Pass. At the crossover point we had a short conference and decided we would take the east gully all the way. We did and both agreed that if one is comfortable with 4th Class climbing this way is just fine. On the summit the feeling of elation for completing our 6-year journey was overwhelming. We descended the east gully and found it nicely cairned, many of which we hadn't been able to spot on our ascent. This is a fabulous peak and certainly ranks as one of our favorites of all the 58. Special thanks to Bill Middlebrook and Gerry Roach for their excellent work and thanks be to a God who heard and answered our prayers. |
|
9/27/2020 Route: South Face Posted On: 9/28/2020, By: mountainkat Info: Snow mostly avoidable except for the top of broken hand pass, where spikes are pretty much necessary. Trekking poles could help With balance through the snow too. The rest of the trail and all the technical parts were bone dry. |
|
9/24/2020 Route: South Face Posted On: 9/25/2020, By: aholle88 Info: BHP has snow in the left side gully going up. Spikes/axe recommended. There are foot steps. Snow is very firm/icy. Right gully is snow free and a good alternative, it does involve more scrambling however nothing more difficult than one would find on the Needle itself. Needle looked to be mostly snow free except for maybe a few small patches of snow. |
|
9/19/2020 Route: Crestones Traverse Posted On: 9/20/2020, By: Dani_C_123 Info: Snow on the ascent of broken hand pass, otherwise clear. The snow had a good boot pack. Spikes/gaiters recommend. |