Mt. Yale

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/20/2024, By: gregpeak
Info: Summer conditions 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/17/2024, By: KurtLemon
Info: Conditions are near full-summer, no traction required. There are a couple very small patches of snow but nothing in a consequential place and that can't be done in approach shoes. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 6/17/2024, By: Catwhite
Info: Some snow patches above 13k that you have to cross. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 6/15/2024, By: JerJerBinks
Info: I did this as a loop. Ascending the East ridge and descending the sw slope. Either way it's in summer condition in my opinion. Any snow is insignificant and doesn't play a factor. The conditions at any creek crossings must have improved drastically and fast. Nothing to worry about there. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/15/2024, By: Pwrfghtr08
Info: 95% summer conditions, a few snowfields above 12500' but you can easily follow the trail through them, and some snow on the ridge, no spikes or anything required. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 6/8/2024, By: Da Legit Master
Info: Some snow patches between 11,750' and 12,000'. Then clear to somewhere around 13,000' where there are more snow patches all the way to the summit. No snow crossings are on dangerous terrain and none are more than about 30' long. The snow was super warm and soft today, but even when it firms back up I wouldn't bother bringing spikes. You should be fine walking through other people's post holes. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/10/2024, By: sarapeppers
Info: Got on trail around 4am on Saturday - we were first on trail and for sure paid our taxes! Wet feet immediately with an impassable creek crossing unless you veered severely off trail. Snow was in abundance once you veered off at the trail fork for Yale (~11k). Old tracks helped us stay on trail but we did a lot of scouting for the trail when those tracks were less obvious. Snow was pretty consistently patchy from 11k to the summit, Id say nearly 40-50% of the trail was under snow. Lots of post holing to the knees or deeper on our way up and down. Traction wouldve been useless with the snow being soft even pre-sunrise and flotation may have helped, though some people were saying it wasnt worth it (we decided against). Ended up being a bit slower than we wanted due to the snow making the trail harder to navigate but it was a beautiful day for a summit! On our way down, it seemed that people were trying to avoid the snow at all costs as they ascended Yale, but just a friendly reminder that with the spring here - these ecosystems are fragile! We should make efforts to stay on trail (either summer trails or through the snow) so we can preserve all the hard work trail volunteers have done over the years. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 5/28/2024, By: Prometheus1
Info: First mile or so of CT snow free. Patchy snow for a while and then fully covered. Snowshoes helpful on the CT and then micro spikes only after making the left turn. On a few of the steeper sections an ice ax would have been helpful, but there are options to go around those steep angled frozen sections. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 4/22/2024, By: Will_E
Info: Pretty good conditions on Yale and Mascot today, there's a pretty good trench through treeline. Snow was firm in the morning, I didn't put snowshoes on until the first steep section, stashed them just past treeline. no issues getting up Yale or over to Mascot, on the bypass I kept ice axe handy on a few of the steeper sections, the snow was pretty nice for stepping, I didn't use traction today. Snow was pretty soft through treeline on the way back, I kept snowshoes on most of the way. A little windy up high, particularly between Yale and Mascot, but overall pretty nice day. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 1/3/2024, By: madmattd
Info: CT is packed to just below the saddle where the track wanders off the trail a little bit but gets there fine. Track continued at least a little bit to the North side of the ridge. The initial bit of the East Ridge route has some deeper snow to below the first knob but its brief and honestly not worth bringing snowshoes for at all. The ridge from there is a mix of bare rock, shallow loose snow, and a few small wind packed snowfields. Spikes were helpful in a few spots, but no other special gear was needed. Descended via Mascot Peak, separate CR there for that route. 

Route: from Mascot
Posted On: 12/30/2023, By: artemavovk
Info: up Mascot ridge from Avalanche TH to Yale and down Mascot; spikes and snowshoes not needed; a few snow crossings but they're not deep. looks like an easier route right now than any of the standard ones 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 12/21/2023, By: Steep Slabs
Info: 12:21/23 The trail is good until the Hartenstein Lake/Yale Junction where everything gets a lot snowier. A long stretch of snow shoeing was required and depleted a lot of my energy pretty early into the outing. Thankfully, the weather was perfect, any inclement weather would have been bad news. Route finding was quite challenging due to all the snow and you really don't want to get off trail out here. The ridge was doable and microspikes helped. The East Ridge route might be a better option at this time but I'm not sure. There is avalanche risk but getting stuck in a spruce trap or sinking in deep snow is probably more of a risk. Overall I would describe trail conditions as difficult and dangerous. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 11/22/2023, By: strausnb
Info: Trail below tree line under 12,000 mostly snow covered, used traction eventually. Was able to follow bootback trail so not much route finding required. Above 12,500 there was no defined trail and I used snowshoes, I think it would be extremely difficult without flotation. My trail might still be there but snow was blowing so it might be covered again. Once the sun was out the snow got soft. Long 9 hour day, snow made hiking slow going. Started at 5am, summited at 11am, back to the car at 2pm. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 11/14/2023, By: Gumby65
Info: No traction needed until last switchbacks to the saddle. Snow depth 8" on switchbacks with some trail hunting required. Ridge scramble has patchy snow. People have inadvertently carved a quarter-mile "new" trail in the snow just before treeline on the way up. Ends up in the right place. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 11/8/2023, By: Fred C Dobbs
Info: Trail up to the treeline is well packed and visible. Once you exit into the wide, flat approach, the trail is nearly invisible and the drifts are a little deeper than I expected in places. On the route to the ridge, knee deep snow in places, and at a couple points I had to ascend straight up- I had no idea where the switchbacks were. Extreme wind all the way up to the ridge. Ridge to summit: a little snow but a very fun scramble. Snow in the next few days will probably up the difficulty. FCD