Mt. Bross

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 5/3/2026, By: Another Steve
Info: Trail from Kite Lake to Bross has a lot of thin snow cover, with slushy and icy spots (especially lower down). The mining roads near the top of Bross have a lot of windblown snow from a recent storm. Did not summit Bross, but saw the slopes near the summit have a good bit of snow cover, but not enough to cover the exposed rocks.

Kite lake road is closed near the top for construction. For more info on that, the lower trails, and general snow conditions see the Mt. Democrat update I posted. 

Route: "Dolly Varden Gully"
Posted On: 4/19/2026, By: Omatt89
Info: Took Rd 787 toward mineral park trail head. Or bristlecone TH, which is free compared to kite lake. The roads in each direction keep going up the mountain. I parked just above Bristlecone hip camp.

Hiked maybe 8/900 feet before snow started at about 11,600 or so ,It was firm In Spots and powdery in others, especially the further up. Snowshoes were helpful. Small choke about halfway is very manageable. Even when that melts, there still will be a lot left to ski. The snowfield stops short of the summit prolly about 13700ish, that's where I stashed my board and snowshoes and got on the roads and went around the east side of Bross, bypassing the summit and heading to Cameron.

Joined the Bross Cameron saddle and tagged Cameron. Windy down low and pretty windy up top at times. Sunny, and cold. On the way down, the snow never corned up.

I finished the Decalibron today but each mountain separate, so Im positive no one has ever done that. I'm the first for sure!

Skied democrat July 7th from the summit to kite lake, 2019,
Did Lincoln from the amphitheatre 3rd class route ,
skied Bross S. Gulley to tag Bross
And Cameron via Dolley varden gulley. Eat your heart out 14ers :) 

Route: SW Gully of S.Bross
Posted On: 4/12/2026, By: jacolc
Info: . After next snow storm you still have the opportunity to last snow climb this season. Park at gate. Hike bone dry road to just above switch back (~11840'= at creek cross). Leave the road and hike ribbon of snow all the way to 13100' whare the trail cross the gully. Remove your spikes if you used it. After both Brosses, start hiking down on tundra initially west on SW shoulder of S.Bross. Soon enter SE Gully and endless fields of scree. At 13000 again hike down or glissade on snow almost all the way to 4x4 road at 12000. After few switchback leave the road to bypass the only private corner with some container and bulldozer. After 200feet use the road again and enter the main Kite Lake road just above the gate. All snow was bulletproof, even south aspect at early afternoon.
GPX at library 

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 4/5/2026, By: colemfujis
Info: Regular route has some snow and ice on it, gully is filled in and compact enough to use in place of the standard route. Traction definitely recommended. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 2/20/2026, By: Eagle Eye
Info: Intended to reach all 4 in a CCW Decalibron loop. Pretty content reaching only Mt Bross today, having fought hard with wind & freezing rain most of the trip. I had micro spikes on all day, mostly finding powdery snow. Below the powder there seemed to MOSTLY be a hard surface. Some post holing was necessary, but mostly near the TH and flat lake areas. I didn’t see anyone else all day but someone had parked by me & walked up the road during the day. 

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 2/7/2026, By: brian4328937
Info: Hiked the loop counterclockwise so started with going up Bross. Such little snow on the peak rn. After the first 1/4 mile from the trailhead it's 75% dirt 25% snow. 

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 1/12/2026, By: jacolc
Info: Parked at gate but was passible to drive to Lake (1 SUV did ). Finally this caused to my way down from South Bross via Red Amphitheater directly to my car. Do not try this in opposite direction. At least until sea of scree will be covered with snow.
I used my micro spike only at the lower part of descent. However they will be useful, especially on Lincoln, after more sunny days.
Do not make my mistake and bring snowshoe in current condition.
Whole loop take me 7.5h 

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 7/25/2025, By: Ariella6
Info: a little bit wet and more slidey but still fine to go up. 

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 7/4/2025, By: BenC
Info: Trailhead states that Mt. Bross is closed due to owners not allowing passage. Signs along trail provide a bypass route around the summit. The rest of the loop (Democrat, Cameron, and Lincoln) is open. 

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 6/20/2025, By: Hiker_Nick
Info: Trail completely clear but very loose scree on our way down to the trailhead. We slipped a few times and probably could have used poles for the descent for added stability. 

Route: "S Gully"
Posted On: 4/25/2025, By: climbnowworklater
Info: Started skinning at 8:30am about 1.5 miles from Kite lake. We were able to skin/ski the entire way there and back.

The S gully itself was nicely filled in and went 95% of the way up. Although, the last ~50 yds were a bit sharky so we stopped at that point. Started descent at 11:30 and upper half was punchy. Not ideal. Bottom half was better and the apron/basin skied the best.

I'd guess we were about an hour early? Skied back to truck by noon. Great morning. Going back soon. 

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 11/2/2024, By: madmattd
Info: Initially dry from the Lincoln-Cameron saddle. The typical Cameron North Slopes Snowfield is forming - there's boot steps through it, but depending on sun exposure time and such, microspikes could be helpful to cross safely - it was OK but not great mid-day today (sunny day) with just bare boots. There's very little snow on the upper 1500' of Bross - what snow there is pretty much covers the trail/misc mining roads. Spikes for the descent of the upper ridge were helpful on thin hardpack. Down lower the snow depth increased (4-5") but was soft/powdery so spikes were of limited help.

Bypass had most of the foot traffic, but there were definitely boot tracks going up/down several of the spurs to the closed summit. 

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 6/23/2024, By: aldsw
Info: We did the full DeCaLiBron standard route. There were a few minor snow crossings on Democrat and one between Lincoln and Bross but the rest of the route was summer conditions. No need for spikes. The decent down Bross is still as chossy as ever. 

Route: "S Gully"
Posted On: 6/16/2024, By: Swerner
Info: Road is open to the trailhead, had no problem getting there in a Corolla with some careful driving. Took the "S Gully" up Bross, which was actually a very pleasant snow climb (maybe a good one if someone's looking for an intro to snow climbing??). "S Gully" is boring so I propose "Salamander Couloir" because it looks like a salamander. Snow was hard all the way up, starting at 6:30ish and summiting Bross around 8. Gully gets minimal sun so it may stick around a while.

Down Bross to Cameron and Lincoln, almost no snow crossings, maybe 1-2 but didn't need spikes. Cameron to Democrat saw a bit more snow to the saddle making you go off-trail a bit. Up Democrat from the saddle you got options of a relatively easy snow climb or an annoying dry talus scramble (trail is covered so you just gotta go up).

Coming down you can find some nice glissades, I cut most of the descent to the saddle with one (slushy snow, though I imagine if it was firmer it would be way too fast). After the saddle mixed snow/trail, with a nice glissade opportunity to cut a few hundred feet.

I'd say you'd be fine without spikes today on standard routes, and trail runners probably fine if you don't mind getting wet. 

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 6/15/2024, By: BiggasPanda
Info: Dolly Varden gully goes for 2000 ft of great riding still.