Mt. Yale

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 7/5/2026, By: gaiadrotar
Info: Overall peak conditions were great, little to no snow and minimal traffic. However, due to the recent fires in the state, it was quite smokey and made some parts of the hike a little hard to breath. Still a great experience as always. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/11/2026, By: jschoonover
Info: Perfect summer conditions. Not a lick of snow on the trail. Started at 0300 and was warm in a tshirt at base, light sweater because of the wind above the tree line. Would advise getting there early, as when we were getting off mountain around 1000 the crowds were really starting to come in. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 5/31/2026, By: Arthur Shagisultanov
Info: Slightly muddy with a few small patches of snow on the switchbacks and a bit more on the ridge, but not enough to need microspikes. Other than that, basically summer conditions. Poles saved my knees on the descent, but would have been fine without them. Awesome (if rather windy) day! 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 5/21/2026, By: caseyczerpak
Info: No longer summer conditions!! (above treeline, anyway) Went today - postholes above the knee, very high winds and snowdrifts galore. The mountain has definitely been hit with some snow this last week. Once above treeline, there is absolutely no telling where the trail is and by the time I was trying to retrace my steps for the decent, the snow had blown my ascending footsteps completely away. I did summit, but what was expected to be a mostly chill hike completely exhausted me. (This marked my 36th 14er and I think it is in the top 2 of miserable hikes). However! If you love winter mountaineering this might be the one for you. Other than miserable conditions, it was a gorgeous hike. I will probably revisit this one for redemption in a few months. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 5/14/2026, By: Izyoung
Info: Trail mostly dry, minus one small water crossing and some ice below treeline.
Otherwise, almost summer like conditions.
Right before the switchbacks to gain the ridgeline, 2 small, soft snowfields at low angle are there. No need for traction for me once. Snow in the packs were super shallow, maybe ankle deep at most with well tracked out areas to follow too!
Great conditions and felt like June up there! 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 5/6/2026, By: theolubke
Info: Above tree-line, and especially above 13k, snow throughout, with frequent post-holing. Mostly ankle or shin depth but occasionally up to knees and hips. Trail tough to follow due to drifting snow. Snowshoes not that helpful due to rocky terrain and hard to locate trail but spikes and gaitors turned potential misery into a joyful climb. We saw no one else on the mountain yesterday. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 5/3/2026, By: Hello_There5820
Info: Just about summer conditions to just below tree line, slightly more snow past that. Did “posthole” a few times but as there’s not much snow it was really only just past my ankle. Would maybe be ok without spikes but I was very glad to have them. Trail was beautiful until it thawed out and became a bit soupy. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 4/21/2026, By: GrantC
Info: Road is only closed just past the trailhead for those concerned. Did the whole thing without spikes- a few icy sections and small snowfields on the way up in the morning (they didn’t posthole since they were mostly frozen), but we preferred 20-30 seconds of scrambling on the icy spots than putting spikes on. The way down was muddy and/or postholing and it didn’t feel like spikes would’ve helped either. Perfect weather but clouds rolled in around 2-3pm as we were leaving. Only one other group did it while we were there, we started at 6:45a, got up 11:30a, and got back at 2:30p. 5h 45m moving time 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 4/11/2026, By: agrayce
Info: Completed entire trail without needing spikes. Some icy snow below tree line but most melted into slush and mud by the time we descended. Few slight snow patches above tree line, otherwise mostly dry from there to summit. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 3/29/2026, By: Will_E
Info: A little sloppy below treeline, some dry stretches, some muddy stretches, some snowy stretches. Nothing crazy, no gear needed, just a little messy. Above treeline is mostly dry. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 3/24/2026, By: Kcmartinez22
Info: Trail is well packed from the TH (snow starts about a 1/4 mile in) past the head wall switch back area (Which is completely dry). Once you make the turn to head out of the trees this all changes. There are three sloppy/messy snow fields to cross in this area. In the morning they are relatively firm and easy to cross (spikes were more comfortable for me here). The trail eventually is lost in the snow but there are several boot packs to choose from. I used GAIA to keep us on track. On the way down this area is a mess and difficult to navigate. We ended up in knee deep, thigh deep for me, snow in spots and opted to simply glissade and bushwhack down the slope to where the trail was visible again. It was very short lived and snow shoes would not have helped. Above the trees all is dry barring packed snow on the trail in spots, especially the final switchbacks. The summit ridge is dry and in summer shape. Posting this update because I know the cool kids will talk about doing this in trail runners, and for me that would have been less than pleasant. I used spikes the entire day and wore gators. Poles were helpful for me, especially in the deep snow section. A great day with very minimal suffering. Our dogs also enjoyed the mountain and had no issues. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 3/23/2026, By: jschmitz
Info: Donned microspikes pretty early in the hike. Trail below treeline is pretty patchy but mostly compacted snow covered. 2-3 sections that required some post holing. Maybe a trench will be established as more people hike it, but seemed like there was no defined path through a couple of these sections yet. Above treeline, the trail has pretty much no snow and seems like summer conditions. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 3/21/2026, By: Outbounder
Info: This is close to summer conditions. Snow shoes are unnecessary, but spikes would be helpful. I wore ankle boots and did have the snow come over top of them a couple of times. We also hit up mascot. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 2/9/2026, By: hudsonbaird
Info: Made the RT hike in seven hours - steady snow from near the trailhead, micro spikes and poles would help (but I didn't have either and was fine). Clean bootlick through most of the snow, only a few spots with ice. Wind picked up above the treeline, take extra layers for the last 2,000 feet. Saw six other people out - there's a few shortcuts but I'd stick to the route, they trim switchbacks and take you through deeper powder straight up the slope. It's a gorgeous view - enjoy! 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 2/7/2026, By: SuperMario
Info: Started at 7am, finished at 3pm, no snowshoes required. There’s a great trench nearly the whole way up the standard route, with only a couple short sections being covered in wind-blown snow. I lost the trail once I got above tree line, but on my way down I didn’t loose it once, so just make sure your navigation is good or else you’ll run into some small issues…

I used microspikes on the way down for the below tree line part because it gets somewhat steep in spots and there were a good four or five sections of “ice puddles” that people have been encountering a lot this season for whatever reason. It also got a little muddy in spots but I never postholed once.

I didn’t bring my ice axe, and the scramble at the top was a piece of cake. All in all, below tree line was about 90% snow and 10% dry, and above tree line was 70% snow and 30% dry (on the trail). All of the snow is packed in and the mountain is ready to be climbed. Get er done!