Challenger Point

Route: Kirk Couloir
Posted On: 2023-05-29, By: AndyFromDenver
Info: I summited both Kit Carson and Challenger via the Kirk Couloir. Trail conditions past the lake are excellent--no need for snowshoes with just a few small spots of snow above the headwall that don't even need traction. The Kirk Couloir was in excellent condition. From the saddle to the summit, it was solid snow the whole way on Kit Carson. The entire avenue was filled with about 45-degree angle snow and crampons and an ice axe are an absolute must if you dare attempt it right now (pictures coming). If I would've been on it any later, it probably would've been too late as the snow was softening by mid-morning since much of the avenue is south-facing. Rather than go up the standard route on KC, I chose the couloir to the climber's left of the standard route and it was in good condition, but also starting to soften as I headed down (I assume this is the route people take from Spanish Creek since this couloir continues down--don't know the name though). Heading back over to the saddle was even a bit spicer as the snow was warming but I made it with no scares. From the saddle to Challenger, just follow the knee-deep postholes up to the summit. It's a slog, but it's short. The descent down the standard route of Challenger was pretty simple, although I took one variation. Rather than go down the standard route, I took the couloir to the skier's right and did a mix of speed walking down the soft snow and glissading (wasn't wearing the best pants for that or I'd have glissaded the majority of it except for the steep part near the top). By noon or so, all this snow was mashed potatoes and I imagine it would be anywhere on the mountain since this is north-facing. Left the trailhead at about 1:30 a.m. and summited KC around 9:50 and Challenger around 11:40. 

Route: Kirk Couloir
Posted On: 2023-05-19, By: notidealbutfine
Info: Summitted Challenger via the Kirk Couloir today (05/19/23). No snow on trail until the first creek crossing about 3.5 miles in. Nice to have snow shoes after that. Snowshoed pretty consistently from the Headwall (11,000') up the the base of the Kirk Couloir (12,900'); snow was quite good on the way up and absolute shit on the way down as it had been raining below tree line all morning. High winds and blowing snow picked up heavily around 10:30AM when I started the climb. Visibility was awful. Snow in the Kirk Couloir was fantastic however. Some of the best snow I've climbed. The Cole Couloir (south couloir on KC), is absolutely loaded with snow and pristine (see my pics; someone go ski it!). Summitted Challenger at 11:58AM. Could barely even see KC from the summit. Challenger's ridge has a pretty massive cornice on it still, stay away from that edge. Spent a couple minutes on the summit, but severe blowing snow had me moving fast. Enjoyed the best and longest glissade of my life on the descent just as you get off the summit ridge. I glissaded from ~13,900' to ~12,500' in a matter of minutes on truly god-like snow. An absolutely unforgettable experience. Snowshoeing on wet snow down to 11,000' was remarkably bad. 10 hours car to car. I'll post a trip report soon! 

Route: Willow Creek Approach
Posted On: 2023-05-19, By: MattSepu
Info: Camped just below Willow Lake on Wednesday, 5/17. First snow on trail began after crossing Willow Creek at about 10,900'. After making the ridge at around 11,200' there was significant snow on the ground for the final 1.1 miles to the campground. This section was much slower than this time of year in the past two years, due to the snow being present and so soft. Above Willow Lake, the main approach to Challenger looked pretty snow free until probably around 13,000'. There was debris from a loose wet avalanche that ran several hundred vertical feet, including over exposed rock. The final 1,000' feet would be a snow ascent, the ridgeline all the way to the avenue was full of snow, which it hasn't been at this time in previous years. Avenue looked very full of snow still. See photos. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 2023-04-24, By: AndyFromDenver
Info: This will mostly be irrelevant immediately after tomorrow's storm, but I imagine that snow will settle after a few warm days and the conditions will return to the way they were this weekend in the next week or so... The road is still closed 1.2 miles below the trailhead. From there, it was mostly dry with a few packed-snow spots until right around the Willow Creek crossing at 10,900. This is where the snow really starts. On the way up, it was good footing since everything was still frozen. Flotation is needed the last mile to the lake after the big ascent of the headwall. I went back to just boots when I reached the lake and added crampons at the trail junction and they were needed, as well as an ice axe after this. The standard route of Challenger is one of the steepest class 2 routes and in the winter is essentially a couloir. I stayed a bit left of the actual route to make it truly a couloir climb and it was great. Snow was solid through late morning. I ended up turning around 3/4 of the way up the route around noon because I realized I still had probably five hours before I'd begin the descent and I had two friends who were expecting to hear from me by mid-afternoon. Additionally, who knows if the snow would've remained steady late into the day. Looking over towards Kirk Couloir, there were some wet slides there. I'm hoping the snowpack returns to this state soon because I can't wait to go back there. It would've been a 17-hour day had I been successful so expect a slog, but a really fun day of alpine climbing. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 2023-02-06, By: highheeledhiker
Info: Tracks most of the way up to Willow Lake. We were able to wear just boots for this then put on snowshoes and postholed the final mile or so to the lake. We stuck to the rock rib to the left of the standard gully. Quite a bit of snow up there, which made for some spicy mixed climbing especially on the descent. Overall a beautiful day, with some strong winds rolling in later on. I'll try to post pictures. If not shoot me a message on Instagram (erin_ton7) and I can send them easier. 

Route: Willow Creek Approach
Posted On: 2022-10-17, By: seoulman
Info: A few inches of snow on the trail from the rib to the saddle/summit crest, avoidable snow on ridge to summit. Clouds rolled in as I reached the summit so I didn't do kc but other hikers told me the traverse was full of snow. Traction or boots recommended for the section from the rib. None needed after that. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 2022-09-25, By: mightycuine
Info: Did Challenger and Kit Carson car to car via the standard route. KC is free of water/ice from the rain last week, but Challenger has avoidable slick spots in the shade in the gulley and on slabs around it. We carried spikes but didn't use them. The descent from Challenger is as loose and hellish as advertised. Otherwise, it's a fantastic pair of peaks! In my amateur opinion, the aspens will peak next weekend. Some yellow, but still lots of green. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 2022-08-16, By: Istoodupthere
Info: One of my least favorite 14ers. Going up the north slope, I thought it was arduous but not really dangerous. However, going down it with tired legs after summiting Kit and Challenger twice, I could see how it could be labeled dangerous. Almost impossible to not send some loose rocks down the slope in a few spots. Debatable which is less fun. This, the standard slope on sneffels, or the Couloir from zapata to Ellingwood. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 2022-07-10, By: E_A_Marcus_949
Info: Came over via Kit Carson North Ridge. Avenue was fairly straight-forward to find going down KC and not having been on the avenue yet that day - there are cairns, and it seems fairly obvious which way to go. No snow on the avenue or route. Loose scree down North Face as stated. Plenty of rock fall hazards. Great trail lower down though. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 2022-07-04, By: swesleyc7
Info: Summer conditions, dependent upon current weather. No snow what-so-ever on the ascent or summit. Traverse between Challenger / Kit Carson is perfect. Weather this day is foggy in the morning and intermittent rain in the afternoon. Temperatures range from 40 to low 60's, often cold. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 2022-06-18, By: sthoward2009
Info: The trail is open all the way. I had to cross snow at only a few places but its easy lose track of the trail once you get above the lake around 12400. As long as you stay on the side of the ridge and keep working your way up you will find the trail again or hit the top of the ridge and work your way over. Kirks couloir still has snow in it. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 2022-06-13, By: Jirwindisc
Info: Challenger was a fairly easy climb for us on 6/9. While there was a ton of snow in the Couloir, and the actual trail had some snowfields to cross, we simply scrambled up the left side of the couloir with no snow and it was really quite easy. We didn't cross any snow at all on the way to Challenger, even though we did have Ice Axe and Crampons, we didn't use them until Kit Carson. I feel that Challenger is a go from now on and the snowfields are easily avoidable. 

Route: Willow Creek Approach
Posted On: 2022-06-11, By: Jason Hammonds
Info: Started trailhead at 6:00. Was able to get up to 13,300' by 12, without equipment. Above 12,000' there were parts of the trail covered in snow and some running with melt water, making it difficult to stay on course. Followed a friendly marmot as it appeared it know the way. Attempted the couloir at 13,300' with ice axe, gaiters and micro spikes to gain another 300' and at 13,600' decided to play it safe a come back down. It was wonderful to be with nature in full bloom and spend time with other enthusiasts met along the way. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 2022-05-28, By: funsizetiff
Info: Did not climb this, but posting with permission from a friend not on the forum who did today. He reported the north slopes are one steep snowfield, ice axe and crampons required. Turned around at the avenue, still filled with snow and will not be melted out for several weeks. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 2021-12-21, By: supranihilest
Info: Perfect conditions on Challenger today. You have two days before more snow arrives, get it while it's hot. Trail to Willow Lake is broken now. Make sure to take the left branch at the split in the upper flats near the campsites, we went the wrong way in the morning. Rounding the lake is dry. We then took the standard route up, following the trail until about 12,700 feet before it ended in solid snow. At this point we just went straight up alongside the large wall along climber's right, most of which was on snow. The snow felt bomber and safe. Crampons were very useful, axes somewhat. Once we reached the upper cliffs we began scrambling up and left through whatever weaknesses looked easiest. Most of this was Class 2+ with maybe a little bit of Class 3, and all of it snowy. Eventually we were funneled next to the Pencil couloir and back on a climber's trail to the notch, where a short scramble took us to the summit ridge. I took my crampons off here since I could stick mostly to rock. We descended the standard route as well. The winter variation on the left side of the Pencil couloir is significantly more difficult, so get this one while it's easy if you can. Flotation not needed. Traction very helpful (I preferred crampons since there was plenty of pure snow climbing). Ice axe somewhat useful, depends on comfort on steep, sometimes hard snow. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 2021-10-25, By: c13mueller
Info: Pretty rough conditions: There was very light snow by the trailhead when we started, but it melted during the day. There was more snow as you approached the lake, but an occasional drift was the only annoying part. There was no need for traction or floatation, but gaiters might have helped. I just slogged through in barefoot shoes knowing I had dry socks, gaiters, and boots in my pack. I put those on at the lake. Wrapping around the lake was also mostly dry. Snow got bad once you entered the shade of the north face. It is actually still mostly dry. There is insufficient snow to climb the couloir routes (Kit Carson too). However, the rocks were extremely icy and large sections of the standard route were buried in drifts. It is too powdery for crampons and too steep for snowshoes/skis. We descended the standard route without issue, but mostly ascended on neighboring rocks. While avoiding a large, steep drift section, we forced ourselves to continue full climber's right to access the western-most aspect of the summit ridge. It worked, but required pretty icy class 3+ scrambling. We managed in microspikes, but you need mountaineering boots with real crampons to really be safe. Also, for the easiest route, you'll want higher than class 2 mixed climbing experience, so you have flexibility to go off course. Obviously, you'll need extremely good route finding skills. Many cairns are buried and route finding only gets worse when you start choosing your own adventure. Remember days are getting shorter: we started and ended in the dark. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 2021-08-10, By: Brycer18
Info: Had a nice day out with my dad, kept it light (or so we thought) doing standard routes up Challenger, then to KC via avenue, and then back and down. But I'm here to talk about the shit show that is the north ridge up Challenger. Like many, I've been seeing a lot of commentary on it, but would like to emphasize the current state of conditions for the sake of public servitude. After all, we live in a society. I found this stretch on the North Ridge (for clarity, right as you leave the lake and begin the altitude schlepping), to be my least enjoyable 14er experience in recent memory. From a choss, slippery, and danger perspective (missile city), I honestly found the last ~600 feet to gain the ridge sketchier at times than ridge-gains like Broken Hand Pass and Little Bear up to ridge from Lake Como. Feel free to debate me and I'm not trying to be a 14er hardo here, but the point I'm making is don't look at this and think "oh Class 2, right on, I'll rip right up that with my 60 year old dad". Wrong. I'm really not trying to be dramatic, but what inspired me to write this post was a large missile came down from above on us with some SERIOUS speed, thankfully it was about ~25 yards to our climbers left, but if this thing caught someone it'd be instant bye bye. Again, I'm not trying to be dramatic, but as a disclaimer I've been smoked by couloir rock fall before and landed in the ER, so maybe I have a PTSD-driven bias that's an outlier to a statistically relevant reality. But whatever, take my commentary and decide what you wish. Also, it seems like a lot more people these days are going north ridge up Kit and then down this shit on Challenger. That's awesome, super sick climb, but please pay attention to these posts b/c it's even worse going down. Point of this whole post is just keep your wits about you out there b/c it's a narsty, unpleasant climb in its current state. Late summer monsoons will only make it worse. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 2021-08-09, By: cvbuffs
Info: Summited Challenger Point on Saturday, August 7. Left the Willow Creek Trailhead at 4am and made it to the waterfall above the lake by 6:30am. This is probably the best water source to refill from for the remainder of the route under normal conditions, but given the recent rain there was a few small flows in the upper gully on Challenger which could have been used in a pinch (my assumption is these will dry up quickly if there is no recent rain so I would not count on them.) Trail from TH to the rock rib is well defined. Once you hit the rock rib following the trail becomes quite difficult and we found ourselves losing the trail in multiple places. Trail conditions become super loose and the elevation gains very quickly. IMO, this is the most difficult portion of the hike and could be considered class 3 in some areas given the steepness and rockfall potential (wear a helmet and be very aware of the people climbing near you) as once you gain the ridge its pretty smooth sailing to the summit. It took us 1 hr to go from Challenger to KC and found that the optional route listed on the 14ers.com description was the best bet for 2 reasons - 1. more direct and 2. super solid rock vs. the standard route and nothing exceeded an easy class 3; we summited KC at 11am which shows how long it takes to go up Challenger. A couple of groups we met at the summit of KC followed us back down this route after mentioning the looser conditions coming up the standard path. One note, you will get to the avenue very quickly (within 15 minutes of leaving the summit) so keep your eyes pealed for the trail. We had to call out to the group behind us to turn right onto the avenue after they initially overshot the trail and were continuing down. Back to the water — on the summit on KC there were a number of people who were running very low on water. One group had come up the north ridge and arrived shortly before us after leaving the upper waterfall at roughly the same time were all running pretty low, as was my climbing partner. Even with 3.5 liters leaving the waterfall, I was down to about 1.25 liters by this point and knew that we had a good 3+ hours before getting back to the waterfall to resupply. Thankfully we were able to scrounge up a bit a water to share it around and everyone got down without incident, but if you are someone that consumes water faster than others you should consider bringing extra. Coming back, going up the avenue is a bit of a slog with some tired legs but not too bad. once back to the start of the avenue we followed a couple of other groups heading back up towards the Challenger summit. While we didn't resummit, we were only about 100ft below the summit and skirted around on the class 2 talus to regain the ridge heading down. Once you reach the gully and start the decent the slog really begins. What we thought was bad coming up was worse going down. Tough route finding and loose conditions made for a pretty tiring decent before finally reaching the established trail. We managed to not kick down any rocks, but the group following us sent down a decent sized boulder at one point, serving as a good reminder to bring/wear your helmet in this section. Hopefully there are some future trail projects in the plans because I think a good rain could really wash out a lot of the looser terrain. After discussing with the other groups that had summited KC via the ridge, both parties were in agreement that the section from the ridge of Challenger down to the trail at the start of the rock rib is some of the worst extended conditions on a peak across our collective experiences. Refilled water at the waterfall and made the final 4.5 mile trek back to the TH on tired legs. Final time was 13hrs total with some breaks on top of Challenger and KC, and again at the waterfall coming down. Last note — I've been reading other reports on the smoke conditions impacting breathing, and both my climbing partner and I will confirm that it felt more difficult to breath than normal and we needed more frequent breaks. If you're someone with any type of breathing issue, it might be worth waiting on this one (or any peaks right now) until the conditions improved. Overall, a gorgeous place. It's a shame the smog/smoke was so bad that it impacted the visibility, especially with the beautiful Crestones right there. TH was easy to access, although we did need to help a fellow hiker who got a flat in her 2WD sedan on the way up (also good reminder to have a spare!) 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 2021-07-10, By: JROSKA
Info: Grass and rocks very wet in the part of the climb that starts near the rock rib (between about 12,500 and 13k). With good route finding it's possible to limit to one minor 5 foot snow crossing around 13,200. Other than that it's summer conditions. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 2021-06-29, By: Camden7
Info: We backpacked into willow lake and climbed Mt. Adams and Columbia Point, the two centennials that I missed on my blind 14 hunt, as I passed through this valley years ago... weather was challenging, with fog and clouds constantly blocking sunshine, and highs in the low 30s. Conditions were brutal. Several inches of fresh snow clogged everything above 13,300 feet. The 3rd class couloir up Columbia's tiny northwest face was coated in verglas, and choked with snow in many places. The Kit Carson Avenue was full of snow, and full on treacherous while frozen. Challenger's standard route is pretty good but has some unavoidable snow crossings. Mt. Adams was pretty bad, with a frustrating 8 inches of powder on its upper slopes. All in all, successful trip, but only because of lucky weather windows, and comfort/competence on serious terrain with snow and verglas.