6/10/2018 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 6/11/2018, By: Flyingfish Info: The trail is essentially dry all the way to the Daly saddle. Through the trees below the lake there is quite a bit of blow down and avy debris. The creek crossing where the ditch trail joins the creek trail is outstandingly low at only ~10ft wide. From the Daly saddle to the last 500ft below K2 there is a very large snowfield which was quite soft even by 9am and on the way back down at 1:30pm was quite frustrating. The north side of K2 is still very snow covered so we opted to climb directly over K2. The rest of the route from K2 to the summit is dry. |
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6/4/2018 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 6/4/2018, By: bmcqueen Info: Approach to the lake is mostly dry until about 11,400. The snow is melting fast though. Above the lake, the trail to the Daly saddle is almost all dry. Beyond the saddle, the descent gully is snow-filled and very firm in the morning. Great snow coverage (and very supportive in the am) going up towards K2. K2's north side easier bypass isn't so easy right now - the north side is covered in snow. Once beyond K2, things are mostly dry across the knife ridge to the start of the east face. On the east face, there are a few gullies holding a bit of snow that have to be negotiated. Most of the cairns are visible and most of the route is dry. Photos: 1 - Capitol from the Daly saddle 2/3 - Descent gullies from Daly saddle 4 - Looking back at Daly 5 - Looking up (K2 visible right center) 6 - K2 (snowy north side) 7 - Summit 8 - Looking back at upper route 9 - Looking up the descent gully to get back to the Daly saddle on the way out. |
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5/27/2018 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 5/29/2018, By: stewilso Info: The trail is clear until about a mile before capital lake. The post holing starts out light and goes to full time post holing 1/2 mile from the lake. The summer trail from capital lake to the saddle is mostly clear. The snow pack was freezing slightly overnight but still had runnings water along the ground and rock out croppings (it is primed to soften super fast once the sun comes up). There is a boot/crampon path for about 1/4 mile beyond the saddle but it ends abruptly where most people turn around. |
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5/24/2018 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 5/25/2018, By: soloclimber97 Info: Didn't make an attempt at the peak but attempted to run to the lake, most of the approach is dry until the last mile or so when postholing becomes a problem. Not sure how much longer till it's all melted out. |
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3/8/2018 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 3/9/2018, By: ScreeSurfer Info: This report is for the West Snowmass Creek/Moon Lake approach to Capitol. We put snowshoes on at the Snowmass Creek Trailhead and didn't take them off until 200' feet below K2. The snow was very supportive and our snow shoes usually only sank below the surface 2-4 inches, occasional short stretches in the trees to 6". We used crampons ascending K2 all the way to the summit staying on the ridge as the eastern face appeared to have 2-3 feet of softer unsupportive snow. Didn't see any slide areas except for one large area across the Pierre Lakes basin on the north face of North Massive. Pictures below: |
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9/15/2017 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 9/15/2017, By: soloclimber97 Info: Turned around at "k2" this morning as there was about 4 inches of fresh powder that fell overnight. There was about 2 inches of snow in the talus fields after dropping from the Daly saddle, on our way back a lot of it was already melted out. Hopefully it all melts out soon as I plan to head back next Friday. |
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9/7/2017 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 9/9/2017, By: kayleenann8 Info: As other reports have mentioned there are several minor snowfields. No need for traction. Easily avoided. Mountain is dry and clear of snow. There were no cairns on K2 when we were up there so added a few. Pretty much all of K2 including every fully looks like a social use trail at this point. Memorize your route! |
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8/20/2017 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 8/21/2017, By: chicagostylehotdog Info: As previously mentioned, the only snow are minor snowfields between the K2-Daly saddle and K2. Some are easily avoidable, but at least 2-3 that require you to cross. The two fields we crossed on the ascent (before we climbed up a gully off-route, avoiding the rest of the snow fields) around 5:00am, were solid, and were borderline requiring traction. Our group made it across without traction, but I can't say it was a great idea. Careful foot placement on suncupped section and old footsteps helped. We crossed all of them easily without traction on the descent around 9:30am when the snow was slightly softer. |
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8/6/2017 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 8/7/2017, By: Marmot96 Info: Summer conditions from TH to top of the pass, then minor snowfields between the pass and K2. They can be avoided but will require that you lose/gain more elevation both directions. Bring spikes and poles/axe and you will be fine. Max angle 30 degrees. |
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7/28/2017 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 7/31/2017, By: emcee smith Info: As of last Thursday, there was a dead cow on the ditch trail about 1/4 - 1/2 mile from the parking lot. By Saturday on the way out, it was smelling pretty ripe. Over the saddle, there is still quite a bit of snow to cross, beginning with some in the bottom of the gully if dropping low and early into the basin. It may be possible to completely avoid the snow if one were careful, it would seem you could zig zag through the basin and then ascend toward the ridge on the right a bit earlier than standard. The is quite a bit of snow if on the standard route, right at the "corner" in the basin. We had spikes and poles and felt comfortable on the snow. For some of the crossings lower in the basin, we didn't have spikes on. No snow on the K2 bypass. |
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7/22/2017 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 7/23/2017, By: Beas Info: Both the ditch trail and Capitol Creek trail were muddy after Friday's rain. Microspikes would still be helpful to bring, as there are some snowfields to traverse between the saddle and K2. I managed a short glissade or two on the way down. Other than that, Cap is in summer condition. |
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7/16/2017 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 7/17/2017, By: windwaker Info: Took the Capitol Creek Trail (Not the Ditch). We started a little after 0300 at the trail head. We took the Creek Trail and not the Ditch because the Ditch trail head is not that easy to find in the dark. There were still a TON of cows on the trail. They use the trail to travel which made it muddy, very uneven, and their social trails made the actual trail difficult to stick to at times. We took it slow during these sections to make sure we didn't make mistakes. (We saw the Ditch trail on the way back out where it connects. There is not a great way across the creek, which means you have to get wet, and the exit on the other side to reconnect with the Creek Trail is VERY deep mud). Sunrise was welcomed at the base of the switchbacks below the lake. Hit the lake at about 545am and hung out to get some food, and water. Ascent to the saddle made for quick easy work on the well defined trail. After the saddle there is more snow than previous trip reports lead on. We did not have any traction or ice axes, and ran into several groups who turned around because of this. We were more then comfortable with snow fields so proceeded. There were (3) "major" fields we had to cross, mixed bag of about 27 degree to (1) 45 degree snow field. Anywhere from a quick 100 ft across to about 1/2 mile on the last one to K2. I thought the snow was much easier than the rock scramble on the way back to get to K2. If you are not comfortable on snow would HIGHLY recommend traction and an ice axe for the next few weeks at least. K2 was easier to go over than around (as far as stable rocks). We did the summit on the way up went around on the way back. Both passable, but the summit felt better. We hit the Knife edge at about 9am and had to wait about 20 minutes for a group that was descending to come back over. There is plenty of loose rock, and this made for slower than we would have liked travel, between waiting for groups to down climb past us, and making sure we weren't kicking anything down. All around the route is easy to stay on, there are plenty of carins, but there is some room for error as we saw several go too low to dirt patches that at first glance appeared to be trail. Took the ridge proper up the last 100-150ft to the summit because it had more solid rock. Summited at about 1030am and then had an uneventful down climb. Back out to the car at 4pm after the 500ft climb back up (which felt great after 5300ft of down climb!) Side note the bugs are pretty relentless in the daylight bring deterrent! |
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7/16/2017 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 7/17/2017, By: cochsman Info: Hiked to the lake on Saturday. Left the tent at 4am. Smooth sailing up to the saddle. Snowfields are bigger than I thought but the wife and I managed with just microspikes and poles. We brought axes but never took them off of our bags. The snow was softer than I would expect at sunrise, and of course was softer on the return. Other than the backside snowfields, summer conditions everywhere. Very fun route and the knife edge was a breeze for those comfy with exposure. My wife is not and she had a meltdown but got her sh*t together and cruised it. The rock is decent but also lots of lose stuff exists. Bring a helmet, follow cairns, take your time. Great mountain! |
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7/14/2017 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 7/15/2017, By: JaredJohnson Info: Same as previous reports -- traction and axe required for the standard route, snow approx. from Daly saddle to K2 -- if you haven't been there, that's a long way, longer than it looks in the pics. This was my first time but I'm guessing with the right equipment, the snow was much easier and quicker than the talus underneath would have been. If you want to avoid the snow you could turn right at the Daly saddle and take the dry class 4 Ridge Direct route to K2. I saw one guy off the ridge without traction who managed it by climbing cliffs below the ridge to traverse less snow, but much steeper, which seemed extremely unwise. Just get some gear! Speaking of unwise, for any other first-timers, retracing the last section from the summit is very confusing, be careful not to get yourself stuck on a loose ledge like I did, spending 5 minutes on a short 5th-class downclimb picking out the solid holds and praying :) |
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7/9/2017 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 7/10/2017, By: timashurst Info: An echo of what everyone else has said, just thought I'd throw a couple of pictures up. Dry except between Daly saddle and K2. |
