Mt. Bierstadt

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/13/2025, By: DVD1330
Info: Used microspikes for the hike, definitely helped a lot on the snowfields up closer to the top. Minimal postholes even on the descent in late morning, just stay on the more well tracked path. One thing to note - there is a creek crossing just a little bit after TH. If the water is too high or you don’t want to cross it continue on the trail directly left of the crossing all the way until you find a wooden plank to cross (picture of crossing and plank attached) 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/11/2025, By: CookaMan
Info: Muddy under 11,800ft; between 11,800ft and 12,800ft good, dry trail; above 12,800 still a lot of icy snow, micro spikes would be very helpful. 

Route: Bierstadt, Sawtooth, Blue Sky
Posted On: 6/10/2025, By: mountain_guy
Info: Left the parking lot at 4:15 today. Muddy down in the valley, then dry for most of the climb to Bierstadt. The trail gets very icy around 12,800, but you can pick up a snow field soon after and take that basically to the summit. Spikes helpful but not needed, poles recommended. The scramble up the first part of the Sawtooth was dry, but the traverse in the shade on the north side had some firm snow in narrow places. Totally passable but definitely caught my attention with the exposure below. The plateau between Sawtooth and Blue Sky is basically all snow. Firm at 8:00 when heading up to Blue Sky but started post holing by 9:00 on the way back. Gomer's Gully is even more heinous than advertised. Steep, muddy, slushy, overgrown, trail even just disappears into marshes sometimes. Saw two moose though. Better than a sketchy downclimb on Sawtooth with the snow in the traverse. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/9/2025, By: ny30mil
Info: Blue bird day. Temps at trailhead were in mid 30s. Started at 455am, sun was coming over the horizon, headlamp wasn't necessary. Wooden foot bridges were frosty, but nbd No spikes on the climb just trail sneakers and poles. Snow was crunchy. Its choose your own adventure above 13k. Snow was preferred over rocks. Winds were 20-25 mph on the ridge above 13.5k. Summited at 705am. Summit display was just a sad piece of cardboard. Put spikes on for the downhill, which was very helpful. Snowfield lasts until 13k, started postholing around 740am. Dusting of snow on trail in high 12ks. Some icy spots in 12ks, but nbd. Recommend starting before 5am to avoid postholing. Gloves, hat, layers, with warm long sleeve a must. Back at trailhead at 9am and temp was 50 degrees. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/8/2025, By: maria_rd
Info: Terrific day. Started at 6:45am, summit at 9am and back at the car by 10:30am. Parking lot was already full by the time I got there but there was plenty of parking on the side of the road. Creek crossing without the bridge is very manageable (and I was able to keep my feet dry) but even descending a little after 9am, I was punching through the snow a bit. Highly recommend using the glissade technique to avoid postholing :) 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/7/2025, By: Redelectric3
Info: Was a great day on the mountain. Got there and started @430am and was done by 930am. There creek bridge is gone, you will have to rock hop across. Very muddy on the way up before/after the creek until you get past the pine trees at about 2miles up. Dry from there until you hit the snow, then your hiking on snow. Only post-holed a few times, hard pack is still decent, however due to the amount of people I saw on the way up as I was heading down, I wouldn't be surprised if the trail is a mess of holes now. Also super clear day, so you'll have to factor the melt factor in for tomorrow. Super windy at the top, from the saddle to the peak, serious wind chill, I'm glad I had gloves and a hood on my coat. Overall a solid time, I did have micro spikes in the bag, but didn't put them on at the right time so I ended up not using them at all, so it is/was possible to make it to the top and back without spikes, however that being said, I wish I had put them on. Once you hit the saddle to the peak, spikes would be super helpful to minimize slippage. Thanks 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/6/2025, By: allisonallenau
Info: Started at 6am, summited 9:30am. Trail is muddy and then mostly dry for 50% of the hike up. When you hit the first slope, it’s completely covered in snow from there to the summit. Used microspikes and poles. Def recommend traction. Snowfall and wind this am made the pack hard on the ascent but did post-hole some on the descent. Tracks/cairns easy to follow in the snow. The snow bridge across the creek has melted, so you’ll do a water crossing on the stones. Nice day! 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/2/2025, By: psa954hiker
Info: Hiked to the summit today (June 2, 2025) starting at 4:30 AM. The first mile or so is a mix of mud and snow. There is a solid snow bridge over the creek crossing. I put on microspikes at a large cairn at 12,800 feet. Spikes plus poles are very useful from there to the summit with continuous snow; not entirely necessary before then. No postholing even on the descent before 9 AM. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/31/2025, By: imoe1
Info: Started at 2:00 am for a sunrise at the top. Ended up summiting at 4:40, so waited for the sun to rise. Very peaceful. Conditions are good early with the snow (no surprise there). Microspikes will be helpful for the last push to the top. I didnt use mine until descending, but I was slipping around on some icy spots. The trail is muddy and icy even at 2 am, so just anticipate that. Snow coverage is still significant, although it will start to melt fast I bet. I also saw 2 wolves directly on the trail when I was heading down. They howled and did all of their wolf things, and I heard more in the distance. Due to the high traffic on the mountain, I dont think this will be a big issue for most hikers, but on less busy days or at abnormal hours like the hike I did today, be careful and mindful that wolves may be a part of the Colorado mountain experience now. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/25/2025, By: Briere
Info: The trail is 95% snow covered with the other 5% being mud. I started at 7am - was on the summit by 9:30am and back to the TH by 11:30am. I brought spikes and snow shoes and only used spikes on the way down. Postholing happened a decent amount on the way down but not enough to warrant the snow shoes. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/24/2025, By: daway8
Info: Didn't bother with snowshoes and didn't regret it, though started at 3:55am and was back at Guanella Pass at 7:49am. There were frozen post holes from others who must have hiked in the heat of the day, but everything was pretty solid for me. Used microspikes on the way down for efficiency over icy spots. When the frozen mud near the trailhead unfreezes, that will be a lot of fun... 

Route: NW Couloir
Posted On: 5/15/2025, By: jgallo
Info: Climbed and skied Bierstadt via the NW Couloir today, continuous from the summit but wow, that line is gnarly and barely a ski length wide in places. Lots of tight rocks, large old loose wet debris, and completely bulletproof. Traversing over I noticed a touch of potential wind slab but once in the couloir the old loose wet had really flushed out any instability. Careful jump turns and side slipping through cruxes were the techniques of the day. In it's current state, it's probably the most techy couloir I've skied. It's important to note that the summit ridge to the west slopes (standard route) should be continuous too, the previous recent updates still apply. The low angle apron was super fun zippy hardpack, and the shoulder skiing on the side of the road back to the gate closure is great but getting inconsistent quickly. Stoked to see Bierstadt with good coverage! 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/14/2025, By: Jcinco
Info: As the previous report says, this is in pretty good ski condition for now. I missed the part of the forecast about 100% cloud cover in the AM, which ended up being a blessing. Although the section off the summit was bulletproof, the lower parts were no worse than supportable, which was great considering it is thin cover. Could even ski most of the road shoulder down to the trailhead. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/10/2025, By: madmattd
Info: Started at 6am, done around 12:30pm. Road has been plowed (mostly, still some widening to do) but is still gated at the winter closure - generally a dry walk to the outhouse/pass with black ice/running water depending on the time of day. Very good snow coverage from trailhead to summit - punchy at times in the morning and of course softening rapidly by mid/late morning. Only thin spot was around the 12.1-12.3k stretch. Folks are going more or less directly up the slopes as opposed to swinging South on the summer route, but there's complete snow coverage over the whole slope. I put on snowshoes partway across the boardwalks (buried) and kept them on until returning to the pass, but most others were booting. Very few folks even carrying snowshoes... Even in the early-ish morning the section from 12.5k-13.5k was getting soft and I was grateful for snowshoes (which generally only sank 1-2") instead of sinking ~12" with every step, but to each their own. In 5 Winter/Spring trips to Bierstadt over the years, all with the road closed, this is the best coverage I've seen on the summit cone. It is 100% possible to ski off the summit, and only a couple rocks to thread through before hitting the main slopes. Looks like several skiers have done just that since the storms earlier in the week, though I only saw 2 today that were still heading up as I was getting off the main mountain. Skiers - go get it fast if it's on your list! 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/11/2025, By: Nashoba
Info: The road to the pass was closed at the winter trailhead still but was plowed. We started at 4:30am and the snow got soft fast after sunrise. In the dark we were able to mostly stay on top of the ice without snowshoes but the main face of the peak got too soft by the time we reached it and we had to turn around. A few people made it up without snowshoes but it was a huge energy expenditure the last few hundred feet. My cell phone fell out of my pocket, so if you see a Google Pixel 7 in a dark blue case please PM me.