Mt. Bierstadt

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 3/25/2012, By: Justin9
Info: Guanella Pass closed at winter closure. Road is snowy but very little postholing until afternoon. Trail is well packed - again, minimal postholing. I did not use snowshoes but did find microspikes helpful in a few spots. Snow melting fast and turning trail into mud. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 2/25/2012, By: Gueza
Info: Guanella Pass road closed at 8.2 miles and 11,000 ft. Took us 6.5 hours RT. The wind was ridiculous, I got blown down countless times and could barely stand up on the summit ridge. Bierstadt is totally skiable if you are NOT looking for good skiing. Skied from the summit ridge about 15 ft (I could have skied more but the 70+ MPH winds instilled a pucker factor ski on that ridge; I almost got blown off the edge of it which would have meant a very unpleasant ride into a different drainage) Then hiked down 300ft to a snowfield and connected snowfields all the way back down to the willows. The willows are a nightmare. High winds filled in our trench in the willows, but it should still be there on the road for a little while longer. Snowshoes or skis are a MUST unless you like wallowing. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 1/29/2012, By: SurfNTurf
Info: Road was plowed from the Georgetown side to the winter closure, with a few slick sections. I have a low-clearance 2WD and made it without breaking a sweat. There‘s a "shortcut" that leaves the road at a switchback around 11,450‘ to make a beeline through some willows to intersect the trail. I‘d strongly advise against taking it. The 20 minutes we spent postholing to our knees/waists in snowshoes was probably the most difficult part of the day. The road may meander a bit, but it‘s less of a hassle and likely just as quick. If you skip the willows shortcut, snowshoes are NOT currently necessary. We pointlessly wore ours up the road and stashed them once we reached the boardwalks. The trail is bootpacked and easy to follow. Higher on the route the path becomes a bit more elusive, but huge cairns are everywhere. A few others on the route didn‘t have microspikes, but I found them indispensable, especially on the descent. My GPS clocked the route from the Georgetown winter closure at 10.5 miles and 3,700‘. We made it from car-to-car, goofing off and with lots of unnecessary breaks, in 8 hours. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 1/8/2012, By: eaumann
Info: Not much snow cover - most of the trail was well-packed and visible during the morning ascent. Snowed between 4 - 6 inches in the afternoon. I did the hike in sturdy mountaineering boots, but it is a little slick in spots - should probably carry microspikes or snowshoes. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 12/31/2011, By: bsakdol
Info: Parking area is about 1.8 miles below TH. The road hike to the TH is a mixture of pavement, shallow snow and crusted snow over the top of deeper snow. We used microspikes, but carried snowshoes, which could have been helpful over some sections, but too much of a hassle to put on. We turned around at the TH due to 65+mph winds with gusts easily over 80mph. The blowing snow decreased visibility to approx 10ft and dropped the temp to well below 0. It snowed a good couple inches below timberline before the sun came out. We took a gamble on the weather and lost this time. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 12/30/2011, By: fetyko
Info: The Guenella Pass road from Georgetown was closed about 2.5-3 miles from the top of Guenella Pass Summit parking lot. Very wind blown and windy conditions, not too cold though. Snow shoes were preferable to hike to the Summit of the Pass but not necessary. 

Route: Guenella pass
Posted On: 12/28/2011, By: 54coldones
Info: The trail from Guenella pass is in great condition. Easily followable to the first ridge then the trail peters out. Made the assent in a pair of pacs with no problem. Headed over the Sawtooth. Heading down from Bierstadt, the pacs left something to be desired. The route over Sawrooth is easily identifiable. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 12/17/2011, By: MountainHiker
Info: Snowshoes not needed. Microspikes and a pole are good. Road from Naylor Lake TH to pass has a few inches of snow. Well packed trail through willows. Above willows a few inches of snow. Above 13,000‘ a lot of people have lost the trail and taken a straighter route where the trail does the big swing to the right. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 12/10/2011, By: jeremy27
Info: I climbed Square Top today and from what I could see of Bierstadt it is easily passable. There appears to be a slight dusting of snow but nothing major. Most of the route up Square Top was blown clean and melted (no traction or flotation required) and Bierstadt is probably similar. Good luck. The weather today was amazing. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 12/11/2011, By: gprandall
Info: Yesterday (12/10/2011) I hiked up Mt. Bierstadt from snow closure on the west side of Guanella Pass. The road is gated at the turnoff to Duck Lake. Although I brought snowshoes, the snowpack is still very shallow and snowshoes were completely unnecessary. The road from snow closure to the pass is almost dry, which allows for fast hiking. The trail is well packed and obvious until about 13,000 feet. From there to the summit ridge people have taken a variety of lines, all of them easy. With full camera gear (about 20 pounds) it took me 4 1/2 hours to the summit, 2 hours 45 minutes to hike down by moonlight after shooting sunset from the top. I‘ll include a hasty edit of my current favorite image from the trip. Glenn Randall www.glennrandall.com/sunrisefromthesummit.html 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 11/17/2011, By: Andymcp1
Info: Solid boot pack to the summit, no need for snow shoes. Trail became hard to spot at times, due to carins being snowed over, just a few moments of route finding and you can take the summer trail to the summit. Microspikes will be helpfull as ice was starting to form, but as of today were unnessicary. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 11/15/2011, By: dannyg23
Info: Still not much snow, snowshoes weren‘t necessary. 

Route: Bierstadt, Sawtooth, Blue Sky
Posted On: 10/1/2011, By: The_Godfather
Info: If anyone wants to see the patch of snow/ice on the Sawtooth this is it. I used crampons as I personally felt the risk/reward of not using them was too great given the location. Others did without, but I personally felt it was in my best interest to use them. Besides, why carry them otherwise :-) 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 9/23/2011, By: [jon]
Info: Was a beautiful day on Mt. Bierstadt. Around 30 degrees at the guanella pass trailhead at 6am. Windy and colder higher up. Snow and ice starts on the trail at around 13,000‘ and continuous to the summit. The snow was fine to walk on on the ascent, still in the shadow of the mountain. But on the descent after the sun started warming everything up it melted a bit and the trail became very slick. Was easier to hike down on the dry rocks than to chance the icy trail. Microspikes would be very useful but it‘s still possible without them. The sawtooth looked dry on the east side, a bit of snow on the west side. 

Route: Bierstadt, Sawtooth, Blue Sky
Posted On: 9/14/2011, By: ossie322
Info: For those of you wondering if the sawtooth is covered in snow, we climbed it yesterday and it is quite clear. There was a small amount of snow on the descent from Bierstadt, but it wasn‘t more than a minor inconvenience. The rest is dry until the next snowfall. The little trail back from Evans to Guanella through the willows is very muddy and wet.