Windom Peak

Route: Chicago Basin Approach
Posted On: 9/25/2025, By: moosifer
Info: Chicago Basin was clear on 9.21.2025. Climbed Windom and Sunshine on 9.23.2025. Snow, grapple, lots of thunder and lightening. Probably 2-3 inches fell overnight with icy conditions. 

Route: Chicago Basin Approach
Posted On: 9/17/2025, By: dakotasmama
Info: Rode the train to Needleton and hiked up to the basin last night, then summitted today. Started at 5am, reached the summit at 8:30, back to camp at 11:30. Route-finding gets pretty wonky at the 13k/Sunlight Peak divergence. Cairns are literally everywhere. It looked like some hikers chose to take an immediate, more direct route from just before the divergence up to the ridge. Luckily the rock is all very stable so going off route meant some weird hopping maneuvers but not certain death. Lots of elevation gain in a very short distance, so be prepared for it to take a lot longer than you expect. Windom is the only one of the three 14ers in the basin whose route isn’t in the sun until afternoon, so it was preeeety chilly. I didn’t bring my spikes and did okay, but there were a handful of snowy/icy spots that I would have felt much more secure if I’d had them. Little to no exposure along the route, but once you get to the final pitch the exposure on the east side is crazy. All of the rock on the final pitch/ridge/summit was very stable. I didn’t plan for this one to be my finisher but that’s how it ended up, and I couldn’t have asked for more beautiful weather or a more surreal, perfect ending to the last five years of hiking. 

Route: Chicago Basin Approach
Posted On: 9/20/2025, By: 14RBND
Info: Very small amounts of snow and ice up on the final approach to summit when climbed Wednesday morning. I easily avoided it and didn't need micro spikes. 

Route: Chicago Basin Approach
Posted On: 8/8/2025, By: JoeDan4th
Info: Crossed a few small snow fields while trying to cut off distance after descending Sunlight. No snow when coming straight from the lakes, and no snow on the ridgeline. Otherwise bone dry, albeit a little smoky 

Route: Chicago Basin Approach
Posted On: 7/14/2025, By: zackj99
Info: Pretty much unavoidable snow at about 13,100' but no problem in trail runners with no spikes. Beautiful weekend at Chicago Basin with a ton of hikers out and about! 

Route: Chicago Basin Approach
Posted On: 7/7/2025, By: psa954hiker
Info: We climbed Eolus and N Eolus, but took this photo of the saddle between Windom and Sunlight. Some snowfields remain. 

Route: Chicago Basin Approach
Posted On: 7/2/2025, By: kylefwip
Info: Good bit of snow on the north face on windom, but you can stick to rock bands up to the saddle and only need about 100 ft of low angle snow crossing to get onto the ridge. Some small snow patches going up the ridge near the peak, but avoidable. Start early, post holing is a problem. If you want to glissade down on the north face, ice axe is fairly necessary. I summited with just trekking poles, but an ice axe and microspikes would've been helpful. 

Route: Chicago Basin Approach
Posted On: 7/3/2025, By: LSchmidt75
Info: Did the Sunlight to Windom combo and the Windom snow field is still significant / unavoidable. We had microspikes and ice axes and were happy to have both; we talked to groups that managed it without, but wouldn't personally recommend if you're going in the next few weeks. The run-out on the snow field is generally safe, which I know well because I took a free ride down after a fall and had to hike back up. Spicy postholing up to our waists when the sun comes out - if you're doing the combo, consider climbing Windom first to hit the snow field early in the morning. Fun and safe glissade down! For the summit push - there is still significant snow at the top and all available routes we found were Class III with significant route finding and bouldering / upper body work. Very achievable but leave yourself time to route-find at the top. 

Route: Chicago Basin Approach
Posted On: 6/27/2025, By: puckpunk
Info: There is still considerable snow in the valley between Windom & Sunlight. Depending on the direction and pitch, it ranges from solid to waist deep (and maybe bottomless!) postholey. You will encounter snow as soon as you reach Twin Lakes. It is possible to stay above the snow and trail for much of the initial ascent, but you will eventually be crossing a large snowfield to reach the saddle. From there, it appears clear, but there will be more areas of snow on the climb to the summit, and you may have to get creative in your route finding in a few places.

If attempting both Windom and Sunlight, starting with Windom will allow you to glissade from the saddle (whee!) right to the cairn that marks the trail between, and save some steps and time. 

Route: Chicago Basin Approach
Posted On: 5/15/2025, By: AlpineSplit
Info: Still plenty of good riding to be had on Windom, the Widowmaker is getting a little thin but not bad. It did not warm up until very late in the day. 

Route: Chicago Basin Approach
Posted On: 12/23/2024, By: paulbarish
Info: *Copy and pasted from my post in sunlight peak*

Very safe but physically brutal! Took the train to Cascade Wye (much better than hiking from purgatory like I did for Eolus a few winter ago). Expected to be on skis out of the gate but ended up walking in approach shoes until shortly after needle creek when I could FINALLY switch to skinning! Luckily there were plenty of down trees blocking the trail so lots of transitions haha. Camped at 11k. Many running water sources available just above. At least 3 good ones within 20 of the trail. The trail is mixed snow and rock until Twin Lakes where it was hard packed all the way until 13k where you turn onto the south face of sunlight. Then it needed flotation but skied like a sheet of ice (over to Windom). Skinning this section was heinous and Ski crampons would have been awesome. Upper mountain had post holing that could be avoided with extra scrambling. Overall the snow was soft and not very supportive. Summit block was tricky in ski boots, but it was my first time so maybe I could have done it an easier way . I skied from approximately 13700 over to Windom trying to lose as little vert as possible, then stashed skis and took a Rocky rib on the north face to link with the ridge. I skied from 13400 to twin lakes easily then on and off skis until the prominent switchback in the trail around 11800. I took skis on and off probably 30 times in the next few miles and I skied through a lot of stuff that people who care about their skis wouldnt have! Then proceeded to pack up camp and go all the way back to Cascade Wye to catch the train. Overall, I think snowshoes would have been easier and saved a lot of energy, probably in the end faster. More snow will help a lot. Yesterday was a 22.5 hour day and I suffered more than I expected! I hope this helps someone. Happy solstice!!! Pics on the sunlight page 

Route: Chicago Basin Approach
Posted On: 9/28/2024, By: null_pointer
Info: Main route has snow. I was able to avoid it to 13,700 feet, but it becomes very heard to avoid after that. If you stick to the climbers route above this...you will be crossing snow. Snow is 2-4 inches deep. It was soft and wet in the afternoon, which made the wet shoes and rock combination dangerous. I followed the ridgeline proper back down to about 13,700 which avoids 95% of the snow. I would not attempt this after an overnight freeze. Just way too much risk of a fall. There is also snow lower near as you attempt to gain the ridge, but you can just traverse below this. See pics. 

Route: Chicago Basin Approach
Posted On: 9/28/2024, By: null_pointer
Info: Main route has snow. I was able to avoid it to 13,700 feet, but it becomes very heard to avoid after that. If you stick to the climbers route above this...you will be crossing snow. Snow is 2-4 inches deep. It was soft and wet in the afternoon, which made the wet shoes and rock combination dangerous. I followed the ridgeline proper back down to about 13,700 which avoids 95% of the snow. I would not attempt this after an overnight freeze. Just way too much risk of a fall. There is also snow lower near as you attempt to gain the ridge, but you can just traverse below this. See pics. 

Route: Chicago Basin Approach
Posted On: 8/10/2024, By: jalexander
Info: Summited Windom with my 11 year old daughter on 7/31, great conditions. Has been raining some recently but our few days on the trail were perfect. We hiked off the train. Many folks grabbing all 4 in Chicago Basin on the same day, we just did Windom. Trail on Windom near the top is a little hard to find. I was "off" more than "on" trail in the last 1/2 mile, but there are many ways to scramble to the top. All Trails is great, but not spot on near summit. Cairns mark the whole way, you can see them much better on the way down. Enough cell service on top to call and check in with my wife. 

Route: Chicago Basin Approach
Posted On: 7/15/2024, By: caesarsalad
Info: A couple small snowfields to cross just before the standard Sunlight/Windom split. I did Windom on 7/14 in the early morning (crossing snowfields before sunrise), and they were slick and difficult to cross quickly. Due to lots of rain on the 13ths, the footsteps in them weren't super helpful. Would have been nice to have spikes for those 5 minutes.
On the way back, I took the upper route which bypassed the sloped snowfields, and the incoming sun seemed to be quickly softening them.