7/23/2022 Route: South Slopes Posted On: 7/29/2022, By: ltduffy123 Info: Not that crowded, fun at the top, miserable in the col. Longest mile of my life! |
|
7/3/2022 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 7/6/2022, By: kyrawhitworth Info: SW Ridge was completely free of any snow and ice heading up. Route was wet in spots from rain that night but no traction needed. Definitely some loose rocks going up various gulleys on the route but that final ridge was excellent rock. |
|
6/30/2022 Route: South Slopes Posted On: 7/1/2022, By: Evey1134 Info: Caught golden hour on Sneffels last night. The center of the scree gully is deteriorating due to water runoff however the upper gully past the lavender col was quite nice. Very nice climb above ~13,500'. |
|
6/24/2022 Route: South Slopes Posted On: 6/30/2022, By: maylemay1 Info: Route is fully clear of snow. Great views from the summit although it did snow on us a little while we were up there. Made it to the outhouse in a stock 4x4 grand cherokee with no issue and camped right by the car as we arrived late. Hiked up the road the next morning. You could get a bit further if you wanted to, but would need something serious to make it to the upper trailhead. |
|
6/21/2022 Route: South Slopes Posted On: 6/22/2022, By: srtaylor1317 Info: South slopes are in full summer conditions. Flowers are coming out--not sure how many more are still to come, but the valley was beautiful and green. It was perfect weather with lots of folks out. When climbing the talus slope, we found it helpful to hug the rib that extends down to hiker's left, as the footing felt more secure. I would also note that if you're looking for easy class 3 terrain, there is plenty to be found on this route once you're in the gully above the talus. On the return trip, a protracted skid down the scree that is adjacent to the talus can provide a fast and fun (and perhaps risky) descent a good chunk of the way, if you're so inclined. Watch out for climbers below you, but the only hikers we saw stayed to the talus, which is mostly not below the scree. |
|
6/20/2022 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 6/20/2022, By: E_A_Marcus_949 Info: Went up SW ridge today and down standard route. Lots of melt this last week! One small snow patch at top of blue lakes pass but can be avoided. One small snow crossing on the ridge route, but only a couple of steps, if that. Down standard route - some snow in gulley but all avoidable. |
|
6/12/2022 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 6/12/2022, By: Buckie06 Info: There are two short sections of snow crossing where microspikes would useful. I was able to hike without them but really wished I had spikes |
|
6/10/2022 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 6/11/2022, By: zootloopz Info: 4x4 road good until blocked by a drift around 12,100'. No problems getting to the bathroom at 11,350'. Minor snow crossings to blue lakes pass. Snow avoidable or easy to cross on SW ridge except for the 2nd gully leading to crux. Messy and sloppy snow for 100 feet. Microspikes not needed but could be a comfort. Definitely makes it more time consuming. Ridge direct was great. Excellent rock near the top. South slopes down. No snow in the V notch. 150 feet of sloppy snow near top of lavender col. spikes once again not needed but could be a comfort. A couple of mini glisades were fun. Beautiful day!! Teakettle and friends looking like summer conditions as well. |
|
6/7/2022 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 6/9/2022, By: Slawson405 Info: I'll add to the other previous reports as conditions are changing fast. Took the ridge, made it to the 4wd TH with no problems snow wise. The basin has a few very short sections of post-holing, very brief. Up to the pass is pretty dry. The ridge is mostly dry, with the exception of the 2 exit gullies. Gullies are still full, but the snow is very soft so traction didn't e help much. Too soft to kick into. But if you hug the rock wall on the left side it gives some stability, couple tricky moves to avoid snow. The two walls are dry, but caked with snow at the bottom so just Have to find a few moves to get out of that. Ridge itself is dry. Standard route going down is dry. Take the 2nd lowest gully, marked by cairns, it's dry and easy to get down. Really pretty out there right now. |
|
6/3/2022 Route: South Slopes Posted On: 6/8/2022, By: Terrapin17 Info: Hiked via the South Slopes. Conditions were excellent besides a few snow crossings. The final gully had snow in it from halfway up until the V Notch. |
|
6/1/2022 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 6/1/2022, By: Wentzl Info: Leave the snowshoes at home. No need at all for them any more. Climbed the SW Ridge from Blue Lakes Pass. The couple patches of snow that are left have consolidated and are easy to walk on now. Lots of snow still in the section of SW Ridge before the crux, but there is a gully to the right (east) that makes it possible to do all of the SW ridge stepping on snow just a few times. Axe was a comfort here and there, no traction used. On descent, V notch still full of snow, but rock alternate down still a faster/safer option. Some snow to negotiate off the summit, but not difficult. Still soft, not icy yet. Here are a bunch of photos, compared to two weeks ago, very different experience. Shout out and congratulations to Cygnus X-1 and his crew from Fort Collins. The last photo shows them celebrating their summit! |
|
5/29/2022 Route: South Slopes Posted On: 5/29/2022, By: d_baker Info: I didn't hike Sneffels, but here's a couple of pictures of the S slopes route and Yankee Boy approach. TH bathroom is unlocked and stocked. |
|
5/27/2022 Route: South Slopes Posted On: 5/29/2022, By: andy_schlichting Info: Was originally going to sleep up there and attempt it Saturday morning, but I arrived at the lower trailhead at 2 pm so went for an afternoon/evening summit Friday. Was definitely a great decision based on the weather. The road above the 2WD trailhead is challenging right now due to the amount of water running down. My tires (I drive a Crosstrek) spun on the first set of wet rocks as I was heading up to the outhouse and I decided to settle for the 2WD trailhead, especially since it's only an extra mile or so each way. Above the outhouse, the trail has a lot of sections of snow (and streams, which are also below the outhouse) that you need to cross. For the most part, it's very firm snow (soft, but firm in the afternoon). Occasionally, though, you'll punch through and posthole to your knees or even thighs. It's easy to see where those spots are based on the tracks in the snow. The South Gully is a slog (not because of conditions). You can pretty much avoid snow in it if you want, but it's all talus and scree. The Lavender Col has a lot of snow in it and you can see the snow below it on the ridge. For whatever dumb reason, I tried to avoid putting crampons on as long as I could, so I climbed up some rocks just below Lavender and that was Class 4/5 scrambling. It worked, but it was sketchy with some loose rocks. I'd advise just getting into the snow right away. Once in Lavender, there is a line without snow to about half way up, but then it's all thick snow. There's also a line with snow the entire way--pick what you prefer. Like the trail below, it's very firm, but soft on top right now. Even in the afternoon heat, my crampons dug in well and were stable. Once you get to the V-Notch, you'll see it's completely filled in with vertical snow. It was a Class 4/5 climb to get around the snow. I didn't feel as confident climbing up this snow because it's soft and not ice so I chose the rock. If you want to avoid this completely, make a left from the Lavender Col up a snow field about 50 feet below the V Notch. You can't miss it--just solid snow leading up to the left from inside the Col. The snow is steep, but good. I think this is the best descent route right now, rather than downclimbing that short Class 4/5 set of moves in the V-Notch. After the V-Notch, it's a mixed climb for the last 50 or so vertical feet, but you're through the crux. It took me about 3.5 hours up and only about 2:15 down thanks to the snow fields. I descended 1,000 feet from the summit in about 20-25 minutes because I was able to glissade (carefully) through the snow in the Col and was able to "run" down the snow with my crampons on in the South Gully for a ways. Started at 2 p.m., summited at 5:25, and was back at my car by 7:50. If you have any specific questions and I don't respond quickly here (I don't always check this and just discovered an unanswered message from last fall), DM me on Insta (@andy_schlichting). |
|
5/27/2022 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 5/27/2022, By: TheSpaceForce Info: We started late (~6:30), but ascended the SW ridge and descended the standard route for a “tour de Sneffles.” The trail up to Blue Lakes Pass was a little hard to follow at times with snow/snowmelt/mud. On ascent, the ridge had lots of snow and ice that limited route options. We used ice axes in the couloirs on ascent and descent. Some melting snow in the V notch on descent made for a slippery down climb. The gully near the summit on the standard route is still almost entirely filled with snow. The weather was great, but the melt-off made for a slushy, muddy, and wet afternoon. |
|
5/25/2022 Route: South slopes up, Snake Couloir Ski Posted On: 5/25/2022, By: slawrence2011 Info: Sneffels was in great shape today, very firm conditions all the way up, started at 5, moved very lesiurely to let the snow warm, summitted just after 10. Chilled at the summit for an hour to let the snow warm, then rapped and dropped into the Snake. No suncups and great conditions! Then I climbed a couloir that I thought would go back to the Lavender Col, but it cliffed, so I got to get some bonus skiing in. Then found the actual East couloir, and that was an hour slog back with a bit of easy exposed scree at the top. |
