Route: West Ridge Posted On: 1/12/2022, By: bmcqueen Info: Getting to the Windom saddle was trickier than I expected. Lots of snow on northern aspects that were screaming caution. I got to the ridge just after sunset and summited at 6:15 pm. A few steep snow spots, but mostly just rock hopping up the ridge. I then retraced my trench back into the basin, opting for a known commodity vs a quicker descent. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 11/9/2021, By: nicoinco Info: Copied from Sunlight post: I hiked into Chicago Basin over the weekend via the Purgatory Flats approach. Ended up summiting Sunlight, Windom, and North Eolus, but decided to turn around at the “catwalk” of Eolus due to what appeared to be unconsolidated and sloping snow on the ledges of Eolus. Sunlight was mostly dry and grippy above the gulley. Ended up with just under 45 miles and 13,000ft round trip for the weekend. I brought crampons, microspikes, poles, and an ice axe into the basin with me, but didn't end up using any traction. The poles were helpful for some post-holing at and above Twin Lakes, and I used my axe on Windom for added comfort traversing some short snow slopes towards the top. There was evidence of some sliding on the north face of Windom, so I'd be wary of any further attempts at the crossover from Sunlight with any new snow. Overall, less snow than expected and an excellent weekend alone in the mountains. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 7/10/2021, By: E_A_Marcus_949 Info: Went down Sunlight gulley and traversed over to Windom across the middle basin area. Some snow - hard packed and icy in the morning, though some was soft enough to posthole (saw one gal posthole to her hip). Most can be avoided, though, with a walk around, though. Descended Windom standard route - very lose, follow cairns. This route seems very much Class 3, not Difficult 2 - we talked with quite a few people going up and down on this route who agreed. |
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Route: Looker right of Widow Maker Couloir Posted On: 6/25/2021, By: Will_Quillman Info: Climbed lookers right of the Widow Makers couloir due to it being dried up and that was the only section holding snow. Used axe, spikes and gaiters. Crampons would have been better but I would not have wanted to make the journey with mountaineering boots on, so I do not recommend using crampons, spikes worked just fine. Snow was soft enough around 9ish to boot kick with mid top runners and spikes. Fun route! There were cairns along this route at the top, it hung left under the ridge, so I am not sure if it intersected with the standard route or not, regardless very fun easy class 3 scramble. Took us 2 hours to summit Windom from the peak of Sunlight, we topped out around 10am. Took the standard route down and made it back to camp in the basin around noon. Had a buddy opt on doing the "couloir" with us and climbed the standard West ridge, he said it was fairly snowy and soft around this time. So I guess the same advice for the standard route... gaiters and spikes preferred. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 10/2/2020, By: Lichen Info: The attached photo of Windom's north face was taken from Sunlight Peak on 9/26/20. The extent of the snow patches when I climbed the West Ridge of Windom two days later was the same. Most of the West Ridge route follows the upper north face. I walked on snow patches perhaps ten times. They were small, with the two largest being perhaps 6-l0' long. I am posting this report to let the snow-wary know that these patches stayed hard through mid-day. Almost all of the patches were flat, and good handholds were always available. My only caution is to be especially careful if the sole of your boot gets wet from walking on the snow. If your next step is on a sloping rock, your foot may well slip. Just kick off excess snow on your boot before taking the step and maintain good contact with your hands and other foot. I am not trying to discourage anyone from doing this route, which I found very enjoyable. I am a cautious climber and was never afraid on the route; nor did I hear any complaints from others. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 8/24/2020, By: jryor121 Info: Continuation from: https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/peakstatus_entry.php?recnum=17888 https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/peakstatus_entry.php?recnum=17889 Made it down from Sunlight at 11:00 AM, and traversed the tales field to the beginning of the Windom ridge at 11:20 AM. As we got to the saddle, there was some scare of thunder and rain, as to the south about 10 miles there was a mean looking cloud. About 1/4 the way up the ridge, the thunder continued, and I even saw a bolt of lightning. As I kept close to ridge proper to make sure the rain stayed far away, I continued on. Eventually the rain moved away, and made it to the summit at 11:50. We descended back down and made it to needle creek around 3:40 PM, making it a 20 mile trip. But we didn't;t want a full 10 mile hike out the last day so we packed up camp and kept moving all the way down to the Animas River, making it a full marathon day. https://www.strava.com/activities/3955220004 |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 8/22/2020, By: Clint the climber Info: We traversed to Windom from Sunlight. We stayed as high as possible in the basin to mitigate elevation loss and it worked out well. After we summited Windom it was a haul back to Cascade where we spent a second night. Took 44 hours car to car to summit all four peaks with big packs. It'd definitely be more enjoyable if done in 4 or 5 days. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 7/31/2020, By: durkan Info: Windom/Sunlight on July 26th, Jupiter on the 27th, and North Eolus/Eolus on the 28th. SurfNTurf and I were able to bag the Chicago Basin Centennials in what felt like a sunless few days. Photo taken From Sunlight after tagging Windom. Summer, albeit post-monsoon, conditions from Purgatory Flats up to Chicago Basin and then up to the summits. Moisture and mist made for some spicy ascents depending upon the time light hit and dried up a route. We had the summit to ourselves each time, but as we left it definitely seemed the area was getting more foot traffic. Some small snow fields to traverse going up Windom, but that was largely due to the route we chose going up to Windom's saddle. They probably could have been avoided. We left all traction at home. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 7/15/2020, By: Unknown Info: Once again, CFI trail which has great steps to the basin, different route than gpx provided. Take your first right after the lake, once at the big cairn above the headwall, snow lingers at the 13,100' split. Ascended Windom which was a very fun class 2-3 scramble depending on the line. Dropped down the 2nd from furthest gully to gain Sunlights saddle. Very loose and don't really recommend it |
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Route: Chicago Basin Approach Posted On: 7/11/2020, By: s mckinney10 Info: Hiked in from the Purgatory trailhead. Everything was in full summer conditions. There are a couple small snowfields to cross, but no traction is required for the ascent or descent. Lots of marmots and goats in the basin and around the twin lakes. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 7/8/2020, By: emily_m Info: Traverse from Sunlight has snow, but is soft enough where you don't need microspikes or an axe. You won't posthole as long as you stay away from rocks poking up from the snow. There is one small (maybe 150 ft) section you can glissade down (fine without an axe) below the saddle. The ridge is dry, apart from a couple very small remnant snow patches that are very easily avoided. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 7/9/2020, By: tiffts16 Info: Route over from Sunlight was a bit sketchy before the sun hit it (about 8:30/9am this time of year.) Microspikes before that would have been helpful but it depends how cold it gets the night before. If it is cold and the snow refreezes highly recommend microspikes. If it is pretty warm then the snow would be soft enough to hike over no problem. The trail up and down the west ridge is a bit hard to find at times but it is pretty easy to get up and down the west ridge. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 10/6/2019, By: TieDye Info: Sunlight: S Face still totally dry. Windom: Fresh snow dustings are starting to stick around on the portions of the trail on the NW Face which lie in the northern shadow (Photo 1). Was fine without traction but watch your step. These snow dustings are accumulating on the NW Face (Photo 2) and on top of the leftover snowfields. Went straight up a snowfield to the W Ridge instead of dropping all the way down. Fine in trail runners in the afternoon. Eolus: Similar to Windom, fresh snow dustings are starting to stick around on the ESE Face where the trail drops down from the ridge. No traction necessary around 6 PM. Watch your step. N Eolus: Totally dry. The snowfields from this past winter aren't going anywhere. All manageable without equipment at the times I was on them (times listed for reference). Everything else dry (approach, catwalk, whatever doesn't get caught in shadows all day). Still overwhelmingly summer conditions. Get it while you can! Overnighters said it got down to 17 F at whatever elevation that is Friday night into Saturday. Purgatory TH - 710 AM Animas River bridge at Wilderness border - 930 AM Twin Lakes - 1200 PM (15 minute lunch) Sunlight - 215 PM Windom - 400 PM Twin Lakes - 510 PM Eolus - 635 PM N Eolus - 705 PM Twin Lakes - 800 PM Animas River bridge at Wilderness border - 1045 PM Purgatory TH - 240 AM 41 mi, 11.1k vert, 19:30 TH to TH |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 9/9/2019, By: bludwig Info: This will be a copy/paste for all four of the Chicago Basin peaks: There is some snow by Twin Lakes on the route to Windom/Sunlight, it is hard and no traction required. The flies/mosquitoes are pretty bad and pretty aggressive. Although, the cold nights may start killing them off. Because of the very unpredictable weather in the Weminuche, I wanted to include my rough split times between the mountains so you can determine how to break them up. Doing all four in a day can be very difficult due to the temperamental weather. Order: Windom, Sunlight, Eolus, North Eolus. I recommend doing North last since it is very easy to bail out on if needed and recommend Windom first because route finding in the dark is straight forward. From campsite (11,000 feet) to Windom: 2.5 hours Windom to Sunlight: 1.5 hours Sunlight summit to Eolus turnoff: 1 hour Catwalk turnoff to Eolus: 40 minutes Eolus summit to catwalk turn: 40 minutes Catwalk to North Eolus summit: 7 minutes North Eolus summit to campsite: ~2 hours |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 8/20/2019, By: Flyingfish Info: The upper traverse between Sunlight and Windom has some snow but it is soft enough for easy grip even on north aspects. Leave the micro spikes and ice axes at home |
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Route: Chicago Basin Approach Posted On: 8/5/2019, By: pbergmaier Info: Completely free of snow from Needleton to 11,200'. The avy debris fields are easy to maneuver across. Plenty of hungry goats near the camping areas. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 8/5/2019, By: pbergmaier Info: We summited all four peaks on 8/2 and 8/3. Lots of water on trail from the junction at 11,200' to Twin Lakes. No snow until you reach Twin Lakes. From Twin Lakes to the basin between Sunlight and Windom, you will encounter several very large snow fields that probably will not completely melt out this summer (photo 1). Traction still highly recommended, especially for early mornings. I used crampons, my buddies used a mix of both crampons and microspikes. I'd bet that you'll probably want traction through the end of August at least. We saw a few folks manage without, but again I wouldn't recommend doing so. The route up to the Windom saddle is still pretty much all snow (photo 2). No snow from the saddle to the summit. If attempting Windom AFTER Sunlight (as we did), there is a bootpack that contours across the snowfield from the bottom of the Sunlight gully to the Windom saddle (photo 3). This path stays above 13,300'. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 7/29/2019, By: S-Parx Info: View my report under Eolus from Purg flats to all 4 in a day 7/28/19 |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 7/25/2019, By: daway8 Info: All 4 peaks by Chicago Basin can be done with microspikes and trekking poles, just be sure you know how to safely self-arrest with whatever you bring. Sunlight had worst conditions - snow hard in spots and sank past knees in others. Several rock outcroppings appearing - going up the rocks was easier when available. Microspikes tend to be more suited to that mixed terrain than crampons, just be aware it is steep so again, be prepared to self-arrest. Windom generally firmer with excellent glissade descent. Some were going up with no traction but only by following friends who had traction (wouldn't recommend that). Eolus and North Eolus had multiple snow fields leading up to them but hardly any snow above notch. Easily doable with microspikes. Catwalk totally dry. North Eolus was trivial, rock super grippy. Route finding going up Eolus face was some of most challenging encountered yet (at 55 14ers and counting). Rock not very grippy at all and covered with mud and damp plants, but abundant foot and handholds. Could still glissade patches going down but no longer a continuous slide along the standard route. Rain came every day between 1:30pm - 2pm and typically lasted a couple hours or so with plenty of thunder. Occasional overnight storm but mornings have been storm free. |
