Mt. Sneffels

Route: Snake Couloir
Posted On: 4/16/2025, By: jhughes26
Info: Skied snake couloir on monday the 14th. Crossed a few snow patches but managed to get to within 0.75 miles of the blue lakes trailhead in a stock 4runner and skinned mostly continuously from there. We got to lavender col near 11:00 am, and the snow was beginning to corn nicely as we went up. I wouldn't have wanted to be there too much later. We found a very new looking anchor on the summit, as well as a surprise abandoned single line which we didn't use. A 60m was just long enough - a 70 would allow you to walk over to a better transition spot but our 60 worked just fine The snow was predictable and grippy, although the choke is longer than I anticipated. The exit was heinous since the snow was isothermal muck when we were exiting. Nonetheless an awesome and memorable day - go get it! 

Route: Lavender Couloir -> Snake Couloir
Posted On: 3/24/2025, By: DeclanKnies
Info: Snake is Fat! Lots of Snow and crux is skiing quite well. Gaining the summit was a tad techy exiting the lavender couloir and I would argue crampon mando. t-hoag left a nice new rap anchor and D ring at the summit for spring off the big center rock. Approach is fully snow covered after the S facing bend on CR-7. We took sleds for a couple miles and then skinned from Blue Lakes trailhead up blaine basin. Snow is faceted to the ground, saturated with water to the ground, or something unpleasant in between. Snow is melting fast so get up there! 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 2/23/2025, By: algryno
Info: Fantastic day out. Didn't see another person. Began a bit after 6am, return a bit after 5pm (11 hrs). Road was easy going (plowed/icy) to second Reunion-Virginus Mine gate, just before the 2WD TH (FYI, parked before curly-cue turn in CR26/Camp Bird Rd). Wore snowshoes from where the road stopped being plowed and broke trail to 13,000'. Switched to crampons there and had mostly great booting conditions to 13.8k. Hopped onto ridge to stay out of the couloir and encountered easy mixed scrambling, though the snow was garbage (super punchy) to the summit at 1pm. A couple of roller balls on adjacent slopes but no other observed slide activity along the route (cut the road to more gentle slope to Yankee Boy/Upper TH). Type 1 day in a beautiful setting. Last CO peak this trip...back to WA! 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 10/26/2024, By: Boggy B
Info: SW ridge is completely dry. There's a bunch of snow in the upper basin and on the slopes around Blue Lakes Pass. Mostly breakable crust drifted to 6". Standard looked dry-ish. 

Route: North Side
Posted On: 10/19/2024, By: Wentzl
Info: Just a photo to show the recent snow. Sneffels as seen from Montrose this morning, 10/19/24. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 10/7/2024, By: FinnishFlicka
Info: We used the Southwest Ridge to ascend and South Slopes to descend - both routes still in full summer conditions. While I thought the ridge was a more fun scramble overall, the south slopes made for a nice loop and was not as loose as I thought initially. The fall colors are incredible in the area right now, both from the drive to the trailhead and when viewed from the summit. A great day for my 14er finisher! :) 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 9/25/2024, By: ryalsbr86
Info: Good conditions in both routes. No snow or adverse conditions. Road is dry and in descent shape to the upper lot(4x4, but no major new washouts. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 9/20/2024, By: AnastasiaC
Info: It's been about 4 years since the last time we drove to the Yankee Boy Basin. I was really surprised at how much the road to the lower 4WD trailhead has deterioted due to washouts and landslides. If you have a high clearance vehicle with a small wheel base, you shouldn't have any issues getting to the upper trailhead. Worst part was the nasty washout at the bottom of 4WD road. For reference we drove Chevy Silverado. Southwest Ridge was dry, but with upcoming storm it will change. We took the standard route down. There is some ice in the notch, it made downclimbing a bit awkward. Microspikes made our descent quick and easy. I can't imagine not having them in that nasty couloir! 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 9/20/2024, By: AnastasiaC
Info: It's been about 4 years since the last time we drove to the Yankee Boy Basin. I was really surprised at how much the road to the lower 4WD trailhead has deterioted due to washouts and landslides. If you have a high clearance vehicle with a small wheel base, you shouldn't have any issues getting to the upper trailhead. Worst part was the nasty washout at the bottom of 4WD road. For reference we drove Chevy Silverado. Southwest Ridge was dry, but with upcoming storm it will change. We took the standard route down. There is some ice in the notch, it made downclimbing a bit awkward. Microspikes made our descent quick and easy. I can't imagine not having them in that nasty couloir! 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 9/9/2024, By: punkcl1mber
Info: Thoroughly enjoyed going up the Southwest Ridge, so much fun scrambling!! Once you get out from the gullies and have to move across some large scree rocks, this area can have some very loose sections. I was a bit down from the true ridge and ran into many loose sections. Perhaps closer to the ridge may be a bit more solid. Once you get through that section, the upper headwall with super grippy and super great rock to get to the summit, it's hard to find a bad section of rock! But in any case, double check what you are about to grab/step and make sure it's good(this is especially true for the gullies up the SW ridge). **Big Note, descending the south slopes is best for after this ascent. after dropping through the V notch which will be a challenge for those of shorter height, but there are holds there to use. Coming down the Upper gully, I mostly stayed on the left side using the wall for support, only venturing across when forced to do so, I moved pretty well down the side as one option. BE PREPARED for the nasty descent down the scree slope under the saddle of the south slopes. Poles can be helpful here. it's a tough call to find the route if there is even one there anymore. i found a mix of the boulders on the right side(going down) and some of the open scree slope worked alright. a large boulder from the right side(facing downhill) got knocked loose by other hikers while i was up in the upper slope, it sounded like a thunderstorm, no one was hurt thankfully. May not be the best first 14er for the unprepared hiker, start early and make sure you up for the class 3 sections. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 8/29/2024, By: Flips
Info: If you see this yellow reflector at about 13,200 to 13,300 elevation, just before the climbing starts, there are trekking poles behind this rock, covered by smaller rocks. If you take the poles, they are yours to keep. If you are doing the loop via the South route, they will be very useful to get down the death by scree slope. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 8/29/2024, By: Flips
Info: The snow from last Sunday, 8/24/24, is completely gone. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 8/29/2024, By: Flips
Info: The snow from last Sunday, 8/24/24, is completely gone. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 8/25/2024, By: supranihilest
Info: I didn't climb Sneffels today but I can see it from my house and it snowed below 13,000' today. It'll probably melt quickly but be warned the next day or two might be wet/snowy/icy. The western side of the range didn't seem to get as much/any. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 8/18/2024, By: Csteve30
Info: Perfectly clear day on 8/17. Drove up to the last pulloff area before the road gets real rough but wanted to camp so decided to start from a little lower where there is a small loop with some campsites. Ended up being about 5.4mi round trip from where we camped. Steep but easy going until you reach the trail split that starts the direct ascent to Sneffels. The scree-covered slope is probably the worst part of the whole hike. Starts off alright but the last 2/3 before you reach the saddle is super loose and with how busy this hike is you need to slow your pace to a crawl to prevent any rocks from tumbling down. The gully is steep but has larger boulders that arent as loose so found this easier to do. The one class 3 move isnt too terrible if you take your time. May be difficult for anybody less than 5'5" coming down to try and reach the last step down. Awesome 360 views at the top.