7/3/2021 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 7/19/2021, By: Msbaker Info: Still a lot of snow up there as of 7/3/2021.We hiked it with microspikes and poles. Very long day from the 2WD trailhead. Over 24 miles RT and almost 6,000 feet elevation gain (we started at 1:00 AM). Log jam was in good shape and easily passable even at night with headlamps. It is extremely easy to take a wrong turn once you get to the lake and are traveling around it through the willows. It didn't help that there was a tent pitched directly next to the trail juncture (we didn't want to blind anyone sleeping and actually missed the correct turnoff as we assumed no-one would pitch a tent within a few feet of the correct path but alas - someone did.....). From the lake it is very steep with very difficult stretches. The summit ridge was a bit challenging to follow in certain places and it felt like we were doing a lot of class 3 moves in that stretch. Safe to say that we were quite relieved when we got off the summit and back down to the lake. From there it was about 8 miles back to the car. Incredible views though and the colors were unbelievable. |
|
7/3/2021 Route: S-Ridge Posted On: 7/4/2021, By: NatDog Info: Ascended S-Ridge and descended West Slopes. No snow on the entire route. |
|
7/2/2021 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 7/18/2021, By: hjellmre Info: Overall the route is in great conditions and basically summer conditions! Small snow crossing at the far side of the lake. There are still some snow patches around 13k but easy to avoid (pictured). No snow on the ridge. Overall a great hike and was one of 4-5 people to summit and had the summit to myself for about 30 minutes! |
|
7/1/2021 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 7/1/2021, By: CCaffrey Info: Left Snowmass Lake camp at 330a, took the East Slope direct approach, summited by 8a. Experienced solid snow around 12,700 ft. There was no overnight freeze which caused the snow to be a bit slushy on the surface on the way up and some post holes around 12,500 ft on the way down. No snow on the ridge leading to the summit. Partner and I safely glissaded from about 150ft below the direct approach ridge to about 12,800ft. Definitely being ice axe and crampons but leave the skis at home. |
|
6/28/2021 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 6/28/2021, By: tortilla Info: The snowmass is starting to become the grassmass. Large slabs and grassy, wildflower covered slopes melting out from 12300 to ~12900 where the snow becomes continuous. I donned traction here. Snow coverage still good on the 'direct' finish, but talus is starting to melt out where the standard gains the ridge. Climbed the direct but descended the standard as snow was softening, around 8AM. A party of two downclimbing the direct as I was going up didn't look like they were having much fun. Descending standard was talus parkour and then a short, smooth glissade. Snow in upper basin was supportive enough to work on my boot skiing while descending, too low angle to glissade seated save for a short stretch or two. I did randomly posthole a few times. Rocks along the ridge were still frosted this morning which made standing on the summit block interesting. |
|
6/27/2021 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 6/27/2021, By: danwest91 Info: 330AM start > 8AM summit > 12PM Camp at Lake. Did the direct variation via the notch and the snow was excellent as a previous report mentioned, great snow climbers left just before the end of the snow climb. With the previous day's weather, the ridge was covered in ice but I expected it to melt off today. Crampons and axe required in my opinion. Still great, I think we may have only been the only group to summit today. |
|
6/20/2021 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 6/20/2021, By: Dose Info: No snow to the lake. Couple of small snowfields through the willows. First snow starts at 12.3K. Snow was firm. Ice axe and crampons needed. Climbed the Direct Notch. Climbers right is very thin at the top. I would avoid it. Center to climbers left is still solid. Only two snowfields once you reach the ridge and they are easily avoided. Get it soon. Melting fast |
|
6/18/2021 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 6/19/2021, By: GJSloan Info: Two groups (2+4) of us camped at the lake on 6/18/2021 heard of the difficulties jfm3 had with the snow around 8am, so all of us left camp about 1:15am. It was so warm that night I hardly used my sleeping bag. Due to the darkness we had some difficulty deciding where to cross over in the gully climb. Using GPS, the 2 of us in the lead "guessed" our way up the snowmass towards the standard route. The snow was highly unpredictable, but generally okay in the dark if you are willing to struggle through some random post-holing. All prior tracks are completely melted away each day, BTW. Both groups finally crossed the ridge around 4:45am with predawn light arriving just in time. We summited around 6:15am within minutes of each other. We glissaded down on the standard route descent quite aways in really soft snow, so we only had a short section of post-holing before reaching the gully. All 6 successfully summited and were back at camp around 10am. Plan to go out early from the lake if you want to try it. Melting fast! |
|
6/18/2021 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 6/20/2021, By: Peakbagger34 Info: I started from the lake at 1:15AM and summited a little before 6AM. Snow was soft below the snowmass early morning and hardened a little as I ascended to the ridge. Start early and the snow shouldn't be an issue. Great glissade the whole way down from just below the ridge. Saved a lot of descent. Bring spikes and an axe. |
|
6/17/2021 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 6/18/2021, By: jfm3 Info: I attempted a 1-day climb of Snowmass yesterday. I left the trailhead at 1:15 AM, got to Snowmass Lake at first light and reached the top of the slope above the lake as the sun came over the horizon. I turned around at 13,000 feet at 8:15 AM. The snow is completely cooked. I was already sinking in to my shins. The lower section of the snowfield has suncups that are 2 feet deep. The snow was already melting and even with crampons and an axe I was sliding around. I judged the upper part of the snowfield would be too slick and unstable to descend if I did continue to the summit. I was intending to climb the direct route, and not the standard ridge traverse, because I can move faster on the snow than on the rock on the ridge. The trail to the lake is totally dry. Logjam is very easy to cross. The "trail" around the lake is very wet- lots of deep mud, a few lingering snowdrifts and lots of running water. I'll post some pictures later today. Image #2 is the upper mountain from where I turned around. The caption won't save in the report editor. |
|
6/13/2021 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 6/14/2021, By: wanderingsteve Info: Easy hike up to the lake. The logjam is pretty easy to cross, though take your time and use poles. Camped at a great spot just before the lake at 10,800. Like others, I would suggest an early start (we left at 3). Trying to follow the trail around the lake in the dark, with patchy snow, and with willows covering the trail in many spots, is hugely frustrating. Ascending the gully is straightforward until just over 11,700, at which point it becomes very steep and loose. Ascend the snow to the right if you can. The snowmass is pretty pleasant and doesn't feel that steep until the last few hundred feet. Bring crampons and an ice axe. We took the direct route. From that point, the ridge is almost entirely free of snow, so no need for crampons or an ice axe on the ridge. Pretty fun intermittent glissading for about 1200 vertical feet. Descending the top of the gully was a mess with the loose rocks. It's probably the worst part of the route. The snow around the lake surprisingly wasn't that soft on the return. The hike out from camp felt long! |
|
6/12/2021 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 6/13/2021, By: CharGalli Info: The hike up to the Lake was a breeze... Snow is pretty much all gone replaced with green lush vegetation and blooming flowers. The logjam felt pretty stable and easy to pass ( but bring poles) the lake is no longer frozen the water was incredible cold and clear and I was surprised with the size of the fish... Now for the climb... We started around 2 ish Am went around the lake and aimed to the direct route , snow was decent/ stable at this time , however around 6 Am the Snow seemed to be getting softer... we summited by 7 Am and unfortunately didn't spent much time on the summit because we were worried about how sluggish the snow would be ... Indeed was pretty scary coming down the cornice as it is pretty vertical and add the soft snow to spicy it up ... Crampons and ice axe a must... Tho I was lazy and decided not carry mine so I just had spikes... Doable but that snow melting was not helping... My partner had his crampons but was sliding too... I took a bad fall on the glissading because I got too much speed , holding for dear life on my axe I still fell several ft before it came to a stop as the axe slided thru snow like a knife on butter. My take on this trip: start early snow will be soft by sunrise and it's melting fast ... |
|
6/10/2021 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 6/11/2021, By: KingHenryJames3rd Info: It's crazy how quick it is melting out! My conditions were similar to the last. I did it in one day yesterday. Again thanks to whoever took time to place logs through the log jam. Got through it in seconds with the very clear placed path through it! Snow around the lake at 5am soft but not bad made good time through it. From then on everything was pretty soft and coming down at 11am it was all slush. I took the direct route and the very top on the glissade down was super soft so I stepped down a few steps then glissaded. The glissade is definitely past it's prime but still a fun way down. I was able to get 3 rides with some walking in-between. |
|
6/6/2021 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 6/7/2021, By: ladnerkm Info: We made this a two day hike and camped at the lake. Consistent with other reports, the logjam is crossable but takes some effort. Second hand, we learned that a group ahead of us spent three hours fixing the log jam to make it crossable. So a big thank you to that group for their efforts. Intermittent postholing starts on trail at ~10,550 feet. We left the campsite for the ascent at 1:40 am. This proved to be optimal timing. It was very warm at the lake and during the ascent. This made the postholing very difficult, wet, and sloppy around the lake. The first mile around the lake took an hour since we were knee to waist deep most of the way. Snowshoes may have helped for this portion. The ascent was soft but we weren't sinking in too deep. Crampons and ice axe are a must. Direct route is solid and seems to be the best approach at this point. Once on the ridge we found it safest and easiest to stay directly on the ridge and to not follow the standard route below the ridge on the left. The standard trail is covered with snow and slabs are falling off from the warm weather making a fall much more likely. Summited around 7. We opted to glissade from the direct route cornice to ~12,300 feet. Was fun and saved us a ton of time. Descent was easy until lake where postholing remained an issue. Back at camp around 9:30. This was the most effort-intense 14er I have personally done (#47) due to length of hike and severe postholing. The snow isn't completely consolidated yet, so if you are wanting optimal early summer conditions, give this hike a good 2-3 weeks for snow to melt. An amazing day with amazing views! |
|
6/6/2021 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 6/8/2021, By: kdrhodes1 Info: An awesome hike, camp, and climb! We started from the trailhead a little before 9am on Saturday (6/5), and we made it to camp a little before noon. No issues crossing the log jam. The snow was fairly continuous about a mile from the lake- we didn't use snowshoes, just lots of postholing. It was warm this weekend, though, so the snow was melting quickly and maybe be mostly gone soon. We were the first to arrive to the lake on Saturday, which was surprising for a weekend, but three other groups arrived throughout the day, and there were plenty of campsites for all of us. We started from camp at 2am, and this seemed to be the perfect time to start, as it was warming quickly and the snow was turning slushy on the way down. We reached the summit around 7am- I was definitely not expecting it to take 5 hours, but it was slow moving in the snow! We used snowshoes starting at the lake, and we were glad to have them. I traded them from crampons around the boulder fields, and my friend used micro spikes and those worked fairly well too. We chose the direct route up the notch, and we felt this was the best route for the conditions at the time: we also glissaded directly down the notch (and I was glad I had an ice axe for this!). Made it back to camp at 10am, rested for a bit and then back to the trailhead around 4pm. Definitely one of the most physically demanding 14er trips, but it's a beautiful area with excellent camping and all kinds of terrain to hike/climb! |
