8/11/2011 Route: Southeast Ridge Posted On: 8/11/2011, By: stlhngntuf Info: No snow what so ever - dry through the forest along the lower ridge - this is a long, long, up, up route but worth it. there are no climb times for this route but took me 7 hrs. 40 minutes which includes 20 minutes at top. Read the information on staying low to eliminate elevation gain/loss but be careful and don‘t drop to low, especially on way back. |
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7/19/2011 Route: Harvard to Columbia Ridge Posted On: 7/20/2011, By: mrschaible Info: The Harvard to Columbia ridge route still has a great deal of snow. You will cross several snow fields on this route, but post holing was not a problem. Traction devices were not required as the snow was soft enough to get traction and the snow fields were not very steep so there is little exposure. I would expect the snow to be there for a very long time. Route finding is very difficult when you drop down into the back side of the ridge so really pay attention. There were very few cairns and only two sets of people tracks in the snow that were very old. |
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7/19/2011 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 7/20/2011, By: mrschaible Info: Route is snow free except for one small patch at the base of the slope that can easily be crossed (or circumvented)with no postholing or traction devices required. The slope has a great deal of loose rock and dirt so the climb can be a challenge and the descent is really exciting! |
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6/11/2011 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 6/12/2011, By: gprandall Info: I climbed Mount Columbia on Saturday, June 11. Aside from the low-angle lower portion of the gully on the west face, the west face itself is snow-free. You could avoid the really ugly scree/gravel portion of the gully by climbing the snow-field to the left (north) but you would probably want crampons and an ice ax if you were there early in the morning. There are several small snowfields along the summit ridge, but there‘s no need for crampons and an ice ax up there. The bottom line is that there is no necessity for crampons or an ice ax at this point to do the standard route on Columbia. |
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5/29/2011 Route: East Ridge from Three Elk Creek TH Posted On: 5/31/2011, By: Gene913 Info: Trail is clear but not entirely snow-free from TH to junction with Colorado Trail at 10,270. Continuous snow starts at 10,500 with very little possibility of locating established trail by sight. GPS was helpful but did not have snowshoes so it was posthole purgatory! The meadow at treeline was snow-free and a welcome relief from the post-holing in the trees. The ascent from the meadow to the headwall at 11,500 was mushy snow and more post-holing. The bench at the top of the headwall at 11,500 is snow-free but most everything above that is snow-covered. Downloaded some free open source pano stitching software to create the attached pano of the basin as viewed from 11,500. Saw no evidence of slide activity in the basin but maybe better trained eyes than mine may spot something in the pano. The wind was overwhelming at this point. Could not see a decent non-snow ascent route and knew that the winds only would get stronger on the ridge so I made the decision to turnaround since I had only a dog partner and no human partners. Did not see anyone else on the route that day and no evidence of anyone being there before me. Hope this is helpful for others considering this route in the near future. Image 2 shows snow-free top of the headwall at 11,500. Image 3 was taken from above the top of the headwall and looks down onto it. |
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3/19/2011 Route: Southwest Couloir Posted On: 3/22/2011, By: BillMiddlebrook Info: Continuous snow from below the trailhead all the way to 13,600' near the summit ridge. The summit ridge was mostly snow-covered except for the large, flat area just before the final pitch. The southwest couloir is full of snow and we exited the left (west) side of it near 12,300' and climbed the west side. The snow was wind-crusted and there were areas of deeper, blown-in snow along the edge of the couloir - due to the recent winds. We skied the entire couloir and found variable conditions and some areas of trap-crust over 6-12" of fresh, blown-in snow. |
