Mt. Sneffels

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/23/2014, By: Generalcuz
Info: Peak had plenty of snow still but it made for epic glissading. The couloir is pretty boot packed and it was a blast with micro spikes. Upper trailhead is not accessible but the hike up from the lower TH wasn‘t bad. Each week that passes should make it even better. Just be safe on the snow. There is the potential for things to go wrong if you slip. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/15/2014, By: esagas
Info: We did the Lavender Col from Yankee Boy Basin and found excellent snow conditions both ways. We started at 5:00 am and the snow was firm (like styrofoam!) both on the approach to the Lavender Col and the "scree slope" that leads to the summit. There‘s a cornice on the V notch which is easily avoided by scrambling on the rocks to the right. Just a couple of easy moves. No postholing at all on the way down, and a fun glissade. Attached is a pic of the slope leading to the lavender Col. 

Route: NE Couloir from Blaine Basin
Posted On: 6/15/2014, By: jared_j
Info: I did a solo climb of the NE Couloir of Mt Sneffels as described in the Roach guidebook. I wanted to do the Snake, but was concerned about the Class 4 scrambling to reach the summit, and also about having difficulty finding my way back to Blaine Basin via the East Slopes route as I haven‘t been on the mountain before. That said, the lower Snake looks to be in good condition. Anyway, like a lot of other couloir reports right now, this couloir is fat, I‘d say the upper portion is around 40 degrees. A minor bit of scrambling west at the col at the top of NE Couloir puts you in a broader snow slope from which Lavender Col / Scree Col is visible. Moderate snow slope traversing can bring you to this col where you can take the standard route up. The NE Couloir is shaded from the east and the snow was extremely firm quite late into the morning compared with Blaine Basin. In the afternoon I was able to glissade from 13,400 to almost 12,000 continuously, stopping only to redirect to avoid a few rocks and to give my butt a break. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/8/2014, By: KTC88
Info: Climbed Sneffels via the standard route today. Significant snow melt since the last conditions report. Patchy snow from the 2WD TH to the 4WD TH with lots of water flowing over the road. I found trekking poles helpful in keeping my feet dry during these crossings. Still significant amount of snow from the 4WD TH to the summit. Made the summit at 7:15 and used crampons from the 4WD TH to the summit. Snow was consolidated and frozen, so crampons and ice ax were a necessity. No troubles climbing the rock on the right side of the V notch to make the last pitch to the summit. Things softened up considerably once the sun hit the snow, but unless you are descending much after 9, I wouldn‘t bother with snowshoes. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/1/2014, By: jrs1965
Info: Made it to the lower parking lot in the CRV by 3:30 AM. A few bare spots but pretty much continuous snow from lower trail head to summit. Snow was fairly consolidated and frozen that early in the morning and I made it back to the car before 9 AM so post-holing not a huge issue. Saw some recent slide activity on both sides of the basin. The lower couloir had a couple of recent slides but these were actually better to climb up since the snow was more consolidated. Upper couloir had similar conditions. The "V-Notch" at the top of the upper couloir was completely filled in with snow. I bypassed the V-Notch by going to the right and was easily able to climb over the small ridge with crampons. Notch to summit was a breeze, still plenty of snow on the summit. Coming down I was able to glissade most of the lower gully! Pics: 1. Upper Parking lot 2. Looking down lower gully 3. Looking down upper couloir 4. The V-Notch 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 5/17/2014, By: jmc5040
Info: Snow conditions are spring-like below 12,500-ft on sun exposed slopes. Above 12,500 there was a 1-in thick sun crust with unconsolidated powder below on top of the firm layer prior to the storm early this week. Collapsing was noticed in the flats, but no instability was noted ascending the Lavender Col. The Lavender Couloir (SE Aspect) was creamy powder with a slight sun crust near the top of the couloir. The crux exit onto the south face consisted of snow climbing through a chopped out window in the cornice. The exit was much easier than anticipated on mostly ~65 degree snow for a short distance followed by a brief steeper section where I shimmed myself up and over. I was able to ski direct off the summit and into the Lavender Couloir through the same window climbed through. Note in the photo of the face from the summit (#3) a team building an anchor to drop into the Snake Couloir. Just below the team is the window through the cornice to exit/enter the Lavender Couloir. The Birthday Chutes were filled with wet slide debris from prior days. A wet slide was noted from a prior day in the Lavender Col that released midway up and ran to near the base. Road is in good condition and was able to make it to the restroom parking area in a Subaru Outback (8.7-in clearance). 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 9/23/2013, By: jchapell
Info: The snow has melted from much below the gulley, but the gully itself and Lavendar Col were full of deep (8-12") snow. Will probably melt quickly in coming days. The snow compacted very easily, I don't think you could have slid if you tried. We summitted with poles, gaiters, and microspikes. The V-notch was full of snow and slick, - we took 10 minutes to clear snow/ice from holds before attempting a hairy climb. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 7/21/2013, By: AlabamaTLC
Info: Col snow free. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 7/13/2013, By: DRAspen
Info: On July 12, 2013 we departed the lower trailhead at 8:10 a.m. or so. The route to the base slope was relatively dry after a storm the night before. Footing was easiest to the left of center up the slope to the col. Left at the Col we heard reports of slippery snow up the main gully, we took the narrow gully to the left. It was wet and some loose rocks with snow towards the upper reach of the gully where we took a hook left through a hole in the rock. Navigating to the top from there was dry and good conditions. On the return we past the "hole in the rock" and navigated down through the steeper rocks just past both gullies and snowfields. We had a 13 year old in tow and the route proved to be a good choice. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 7/6/2013, By: nyker
Info: Standard Route from Yankee Boy Basin still has snow in the upper couloir you must pass through to get to the top, about a 100ft worth in the steep section. There are steps kicked in here and there, though traction and an axe would be helpful. Two people slipped on it yesterday sliding several feet: I caught one of them, literally before they would have slid into a rock. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/24/2013, By: Shawnee Bob
Info: Going up the southwest Ridge, it's mostly free of snow. What is there is mostly avoidable or bootpacked and hard enough early in the day that's it's easily negotiable. Going up the standard, the top half of the gully leading to the notch is still mostly filled with snow. Recommend an ice axe and crampons, and on either route, wear a brain bucket. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/25/2013, By: Falconerd
Info: The majority of the route was passable rocky scree as expected. The small gully that ascends from 13,5 to 14,000 ft was about 2/3s filled with snow. The snow was packed into steps from previous hikers, but by the late morning it was starting to get soft and easily slid out from under me. Doing this climb without crampons was frankly stupid. The way down took about an hour to get past the snow. Crampons at the very least and an ice axe are recommended for the near future. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/11/2013, By: Nelson
Info: I climbed the SW ridge today and it is in excellent condition. I had crampons on and was using the ax from 13,150 to 13650. This is about 75% snow. Above that to the summit it was pretty clean. It was very windy today and this kept the snow firm so you really did need the hardware. After you go through the notch at 13,500 you descend on snow and the reascend on snow up to 13,650. All this snow was very firm. I descended the standard route. This is 80% snow and was firm enough that I put the spikes back on. The good news is the notch was pretty much melted out and I got through this pretty much like in summer. I did not have to do the class4 high descent. 

Route: East Slopes - from Blaine Basin
Posted On: 6/10/2013, By: esagas
Info: Went up the Snake couloir (from Blaine Basin) and the snow was in great shape. Descended via the Lavender Col and the snow was getting really soft, so start early. I saw people ascending the Col at around 11:00 am, way too late! Pic 1 - a close up with Snake Couloir on the right. Pic 2 - Looking down Snake Couloir from the turn past the constriction. Pic 3 - the Lavender Col from Blaine Basin. Pic 4 - SW ridge. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/3/2013, By: --bb--
Info: Road to lower TH - dry with minor stream crossings; road to upper TH - intermittent snow then full snow higher (no one has gotten up there yet); hike to Blue Lakes Pass - intermittent snow; from upper TH to couloir - snow patches to start then full snow in gulley; soft snow requires crampons and ice axe; the "V" notch (V) is blocked with snow - continue up higher and over rocks to left.