Snowmass Mountain

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/5/2016, By: eyost11
Info: Abundant wet slides. Trail dry past logjam until you get up in trees, then mix of firm and super soft.
Bear at 3 miles from TH about 7:30pm 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 5/30/2016, By: KyleS
Info: Hiked in on Saturday and camped at around 10k, about a half mile past where the patchy snow begins. Heeding the advice from the guys who were hiking out (thanks!), we started out from our frosty camp early, under clear, cold skies. The patchy snow was supportive from a decent overnight freeze and postholing was tolerable. Continuous skinable snow starts where "the switchbacks reenter the forest" (~10.5k) and later we were able to ski back to this point.

The sun was rising by the time we reached the lake and like the previous report, we wished we had gotten an earlier start. We were cramponing up the headwall when the sun hit and it immediately turned into postholing. Once on the snowmass, the snow was still firm and we skinned up to the final pitch below the summit ridge before the snow was ripe. Considering the high temps and calm winds, we decided to drop from there rather than go for the summit and risk the headwall getting any less stable. There were impressive rockslides coming off of Hagerman Peak but surprisingly, we didn't see any wetslides or even rollerballs. Saturday's new snow seems to have consolidated into the melt/freeze crust nicely. Nevertheless, we were glad to be down and off of the sloppy snow on the headwall by 10am. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 5/28/2016, By: thurs
Info: The Elks have a ton of snow right now! Do not be fooled by Front Range views. Even Sopris had damn near 100% coverage on all aspects down to treeline.

No snow for 4ish miles. Twoish miles of patchy/fairly continuous snow to logjam, lots and lots of slow goin' post holin', sidehilling on slush, etc...But nothing worth breaking out the skis/snowshoes for. Patchy snow up "serpentine" trail after logjam. Totally skinnable past that (we refreshed the skin trail a bit). 100% coverage to summit ridge.

From the lake, everything is in to the ridgeline, nary a rock to be found.

About that coverage: 2-4 inches fresh warm wet snow overnight to add a confounding dimension to snow stability. Didn't seem like anything has gotten a good long freeze since earlier in the week. Cloud cover in the nights. Point releases and roller balls by 6-7am, possibly just on new snow layer. Fresh slides in past 24 hours, mostly from thermal nonsense near the rocks. We wish we were in the snow mass by sunrise, there is still a lot of action up in that snowpack.

We didn't like what we saw at 5am...The snow is not anything close to like what's going on in the front range right now. We're just going to have to come back in a few weeks. If you do it on a good night though you could get away with it. Just factor in the postholing delays as we failed to do. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/10/2016, By: dirtbagdame
Info: I know this is an old CR and I didn't post it earlier because many people posted that day. Just wanted to let everyone know I came across a bear at mile 3 of the approach. He or she was on the other side of the river. Heads up! 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 5/22/2016, By: AnnaG22
Info: Bit of avy potential at the moment. Very deep snow around the lake still, though the lake itself is starting to melt out. Approach is dry for most of the first 5 miles, should be dry to the logjam within a week or so. Last mile doesn't look like it will be melting out in the next few weeks. Four groups were up there this weekend, 4/5 people from one group summited today, the rest of us turned around near 12k. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 5/20/2016, By: trsippel
Info: The route is fairly dry up until 4.5 miles in. There are a few (very short) snowfields that are easily crossed, most only calf deep. We still wore gaters, which was appreciated in these spots! At 4.5 miles we hit snow that was continuous enough to skin the rest of the way. We only had to remove our skis for 2 sections where there was not enough snow. The snow was super soft and we ran into a guy on snowshoes who said he was postholing even with snowshoes on. We were fine with our skis however. Made it to the lake and stayed overnight but didn't go further due to weather - no visibility. Attached is the clearest picture I could get from the end of the lake. From what we could see from the lake there was a lot of avy activity on the slopes of Snowmass Peak and Hagerman, most likely afternoon wet slides. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 5/14/2016, By: AnnaG22
Info: Went on a recon march up the Snowmass Creek trail this morning. As per the CR from a few days ago, 85% or so of the trail is dry, but the remainder is intermittent snow fields 1-3 feet deep and 5-50 feet long on the trail. I counted 8+ downed trees on the section of trail I hiked. (Can't speak as to whether snowshoes are necessary or not; my guess would be that given how some of the basins hold snow, you'll be hauling snowshoes up to the lake but not needing them until then.) For anybody, wear your gaiters from the car. For skiers...don't bother bringing your skins, the trail didn't look like it was going to have differing conditions until the lake.

Got up to the viewpoint near Bear Creek, the snowmass looks full up to the ridge. I will post my pictures tomorrow night or Monday.

Rumor also has it that JK is in the Elks, so his site might have some beta sometime soon. 

Route: S-Ridge
Posted On: 9/28/2015, By: aholle88
Info: The bad: the traverse over to north snowmass has quite a bit of icy snow and required some careful work to get over and back. I would recommend not tagging north snowmass and if you do, have an axe or at least some snow and solid rock climbing experience as it turned class 3 moves into class 5 moves really easily. Staying high on the ridge is your best bet.

The good: S-ridge and West slopes are good to go, beautiful aspens all over Lead King basin. No snow. 

Route: S Ridge
Posted On: 9/25/2015, By: sstratta
Info: S ridge route is 99.99% free of snow, just a few very small patches that are avoidable. Included two photos looking down the standard route towards Snowmass Lake, looks like that side has a little bit of snow left up high, but not much. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 9/20/2015, By: bdloftin77
Info: Parts of the trail were muddy. No snow issues. On the steep scree slope above the lake, just below the smooth rock with water flowing down, find a cairn on the right and go to the right to avoid further misery. Didn't see any snow on Capitol from the summit. Aspens are turning yellow. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 9/11/2015, By: pcrotty41
Info: Climbed this difficult peak last Sunday in two day push. Began trip to Snowmass Lake Saturday morning and arrived @ 5 ish Saturday evening. Backpack in is fairly easy albeit long but strenuous with a large pack and we did encounter one heavy rain storm in the afternoon. The climb on Sunday was a long affair. Stay on the trail around the lake through the willows and prepare for some bush wacking as the willows have overgrown the trail (trail crew would do well here to trim back the willows). Moving onto the scree slope is not difficult however, once on the scree slope this is a very steep, loose and dangerous trail and would recommend donning a helmet for this section.

After the scree slope things loosen up a bit onto solid rock but route finding becomes tricky. My advice would be to stick to the cairns and avoid the direct route. Once on the ridge, the teeth of the route show themselves. The route is well cairned and again, would advise to follow the cairns without fail. The final section before the summit has some exposure and would recommend going left of the ridge and stay well below it if you don't like exposure. Downclimb was also tricky and found it more difficult going down than going up in regards to route finding. The views over to Hagerman Peak are stunning and on the summit views of Capitol are also great, but did not linger on the summit as it is a very small ish summit and you have to almost peer over to see Capitol.

Weather was overcast with clouds whipping up behind the ridge and Hagerman, was difficult to judge the weather as the Elks have their own system and it seems that Capitol and Snowmass also have their own micro climate. Just watch it carefully. The scree slope was extremely dangerous on the downclimb and would be worth exploring the grassy section to the right looking up the slope, but it also looks like it cliffs out in several areas.

Was mesmerized even more by Snowmass Peak the 13 er that rises up from the lake and looked up but found no information on climbing routes up this spectacular peak, seems like most of the focus is on climbing Hagerman Peak. 

Route: West Slope
Posted On: 8/16/2015, By: jonandmalia
Info: No issues on route, other than the extremely loose rocks of all sorts of sizes on the climb. Just be careful where you step and test hand holds. Helmet recommended. FYI, we were at the first patch of grass, on our way down, and heard something coming at us. A rock, about half the size of a bowling ball, came whizzing past us (luckily)! So, until you cross the stream, you're still a potential target :-). The wildflowers are absolutely amazing! There is a porcupine at Lead King Basin TH. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 8/16/2015, By: LoveThisSite
Info: Summer conditions on Snowmass via the East Slopes. Stay next to the lake, and the willows section should be no problem. Gaiters are very helpful for this section. The scree slope above the lake was pure misery. There is, however, a very nice trail on the climber's right of the gully where the water streams down which avoids most of the scree misery. There was a cairn as of 8/15 to mark the entrance to that trail on the right of the gully - it starts probably 1/3 of the way up the scree slope. There are a couple of snowfields while gaining the upper ridge that can be completely avoided, OR you can use micro-spikes to work your way up those snowfields, if you've hauled them all the way up there (the snow was very supportive). All in all, not worth carrying any traction. It was an awesome day on the mountain. Be prepared for a slog - and carry plenty of water (or a filter). I needed almost 4L, starting @ 10,000 ft. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 8/9/2015, By: Sunshineof1985
Info: I am attempting to climb all the 14ers this summer. This makes number 21! You can read more on this hike and others by visiting my blog at Sunshineof1985.com!

Distance: 23.25 mi.
Elevation Gain: 5,800 ft.
Time started: 3:10am
End time: 7:50pm
Time to Summit: 9 hours and 5 minutes
Time to Descent: 7 hours and 20 minutes
GEAR (to bring):
GPS, extra socks, phone, SPOT Satellite Tracker, Map, hiking boots with 2 pairs of socks on, long-sleeve, wind-guard/raincoat (didn't need), light weight puffy coat (didn't need), lightweight gloves (didn't need), day pack with water sack, food, sunscreen, lip balm.
Road Condition: Easy and short dirt road to the main trailhead and there are some hidden campsites you can camp at as well.
Trail Condition: The trail is well marked for the most part. Once you get to Snowmass Lake, it's easy to miss the proper trail. I have taken pictures to help you along the way. Just stay near the water and in the willows. Once you're above treeline, there's also a dirt trail you can go up vs. bouldering straight through the large basin/gully. When you start nearing the steepest cliff like area, you'll need to check each rock for your hands and feet as they are very loose. 

Route: West Slope
Posted On: 8/2/2015, By: LivingOnTheEdge
Info: I'll keep this relatively brief since I plan on posting a TR on this a bit later. We ascended the S Ridge and descended the West slope. No snow or anything to deal with that on that side. There is some snow VERY high in the West slope gully but it is a complete non-issue. Also when descending, keep to the RIGHT side (about 50-100 feet) of the gully, we descended there and there wasn't nearly as much loose junk. It's not great but certainly manageable. The gully is a nightmare if you stay in there.