Capitol Peak

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/22/2025, By: Ellwood
Info: Hiked in Friday night and camped at Capitol Lake. Approaching via the Capitol ditch route saves a couple of tricky creek crossings. Super windy conditions but bluebird summit on Saturday. After the saddle there is still some snow but made it up with only microspikes. Snow free from the K2 approach to summit.

*Updating after the 6/24/25 report for clarification: Summitted with ice axe and microspikes. Went off trail to "rock island hop" through the snowfields after the saddle. Direct route still requires crampons. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 5/10/2025, By: FrankP
Info: We tried for a Capitol descent yesterday. Spoiler alert- success was not found. We started at midnight and did the slow grind up to moon lake and through the couloir into Pierre Lakes basin. As dawn started to break, a squall moved in and enveloped us in dense fog. We started up what we thought was secret chute, but as the fog started to burn off and the couloir turned into full blown mixed ice climbing, we realized something wasn't right. Much to our chagrin, after burning too much time and a slow retreat off the ice, we realized our mistake. At that point the snow was heating up and the mountain was hurling little missiles at us. The day was lost. A humbling lesson, but still a beautiful adventure. Pierre Lakes Basin is like no other. After getting a view of the upper face, I'd say it looks very thin this year. Doable, sure. Worth it, hard to say. If you go, don't follow our tracks. 

Route: distant views
Posted On: 3/23/2025, By: WillRobnett
Info: Great view from back side of Snowmass Village 

Route: Via Moon Lake
Posted On: 11/16/2024, By: daway8
Info: Didn't summit but trenched the first 5 miles. Actually the portion overlapping the trail for Snowmass was already well tracked but no recent tracks on the trail going to Capitol via Moon Lake. Stream had snow on both banks but was still flowing vigorously. Water shoes worked great for the crossing - water was about halfway to the knees. Very glad to have a lightweight towel to quickly dry off. Only a few inches of snow at the trailhead and intermittent coverage in the first couple miles. Trail was easy to follow despite no signs of anyone out there after the latest storm since the ground is indented along the path so I followed the dip in the snow. By about 3mi from the trailhead snow was deep enough to be annoying - enough to slow you down but not really enough for good flotation and it was all very powdery. But the snow soon got deep enough that snowshoes were finally useful. At 4mi in I left the trail, having discovered last spring that the summer trail soon puts you on steep side hilling that's treacherous with snow. So I veered left into the valley I had taken on exiting last spring but veered too far left hoping to cut over the stream and get on level ground. That was an epic route finding blunder - worst deadfall ever and rather than crossing the stream once and being done with it I ended up hitting streams, ponds, etc at least 10 times, once precariously traversing a snow covered log in snowshoes with exposed water on either side. At least a couple feet of snow made this nearly disastrous. By the time I finally got through to a clearing at 10k I had wasted so much time and energy that I decided to not bother going on but instead scouted out a better return. The key to that section is, a little before the summer trail starts taking you up along the side of steep hills, drop left into the valley, but stay somewhat close to the base of the hill, crossing the stream and then following its left bank as you head towards Moon Lake. There's still some deadfall and you'll cross water a couple times but not near as bad as if you go too far left into the trees. I'll add a snapshot of my tracks showing where to go and not go. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 10/16/2024, By: stefanb
Info: Some intermittent snow/ice from the downclimb of K2 and parts of the ridge to Capitol's summit. The upcoming forecast will likely change this... 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 10/14/2024, By: masonzastrow
Info: Almost entirely clear as of Sunday. One icy step is required on the ascent up K2, and there's some snow in the boulder field (especially toward the blocker stuff to the north) but all in all still summer conditions. We had maybe 15 minutes of very light snow on the way back to the car but not enough to stick. Winter is coming soon! 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 10/11/2024, By: rwhyde
Info: Summitted 10/10. Decent conditions. Snow mostly avoidable until K2. Went over vs around to avoid as had no traction and more ice on sides than expected. Down climb off K2 I got off route in dark and that was probably crux for my day. Hit knife edge well before daylight and high wind / snow blowing off ledges / biting cold made it seem much less late summer conditions until ~10A. Definitely warmed up later. Winter felt closer up top than below. Would pack accordingly.

Left car @ 0130
Saddle @ 0430
Summit capitol @ 0645
Back on K2 @ 0815
Return to Car @ 1200 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 10/10/2024, By: runbyu1
Info: Summer conditions for the most part. The peak appears to have a lot of snow on it from the trailhead and approach, but the route is mostly clear. We only had 2 or 3 steps total where our feet had to touch snow. Perfect day to summit! 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 10/7/2024, By: pawa1094
Info: Summited 10/5. Route was almost entirely dry weather was fantastic. High winds to be mindful of otherwise perfect end of season weather. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 10/5/2024, By: Zach Measmer
Info: Great weather overall, the route was completely free of snow. There were 50mph wind gusts on the knife edge, otherwise the sun was out and the skies were blue. Could not have asked for a better day to summit. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 10/4/2024, By: PaulineAnna
Info: Route is still mostly clear & dry, only place I encountered a little snow was on the west side of K2, but it was not a big obstacle. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 9/30/2024, By: only1timmy
Info: The route was practically clear of snow and dry. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 9/29/2024, By: awestra
Info: Summitted yesterday (9/28), the route and the southeast-facing aspect were mostly dry.
on the approach in, we were unsure about the amount of snow on the scramble down k2, but when we got up there we saw that it was mostly dry (see picture). 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 9/23/2024, By: ajtrezco
Info: Attempted Capitol Monday morning after the saturday/sunday snow. Spikes are mandatory. Made it to K2 before conditions became unreasonably dangerous to continue. Bypass around K2 was completely snowed over and impassable, and the down climb off the top had too much unstable snow for a safe descent to the notch (see attached). Otherwise a great day! Opensnow had the snow totals at around 10; I would say thats pretty spot on above 13000 in spots between the rocks, with a little less on top of the rocks. Still, all the snow was super unstable in the morning, sliding off of steep rocks when we stepped on them, and it became much worse as it warmed up. Tough to say how much will melt over the next couple of days, and how the sun will impact snow stability, but as long as theres snow and ice on the descent off K2, Id say theres no way to guarantee safe passage to the ridge without rapping. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 9/2/2024, By: Cruiser
Info: Super nice day on Capitol today. Lower trail has been well used by cows and horses so there's no shortage of hoof sized holes or turds. Watch your step.

Wild flowers are past their peak for sure but there are still really nice displays around treeline. Tons of ripe wild raspberries for about a mile along the trail. Plenty of water flowing in Capitol Creek. I brought a whole day's worth of water but next time I'm up there I'm going to filter right before/after the saddle. All the creek crossings were easy to navigate either on rocks or downed trees so no wet feet.

Upper trail past the saddle is in good condition and well cairned, including the section through the talus on the way to k2 from the saddle. Keep an eye out for cairns once you leave the ridge for the east face as they def mark the path of least resistance. It's an airy hike either way but carefully following the cairns after you leave the ridge will help keep you from climbing harder stuff than you need to.