Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2023-06-03, By: meg8709 Info: Theyre still having everyone park at the four way stop. Culebra is very much covered in snow and doesnt seem to have had much of a melt yet. Expect to spend quite a bit of time postholing - some in the early morning and a whole lot by late morning. Would highly recommend snow gaiters. |
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Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2023-05-28, By: Wigwam5 Info: Plenty of snow for touring up to the first saddle. Couloir made for an awesome ride down on the Splitboard. |
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Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2023-05-27, By: AndrewJCraigie Info: The ranch let folks drive up to the 4WD parking area, which thankfully saved us from road miles. From there we hiked the remaining 1 mile of the road, to the base of the mountain, where most folks popped on snowshoes to walk about a mile over some soft snow that wasn't doing a great job at holding weight, especially on the way down. Ridge did have snow, but it was packed so no such issues from there to the summit. Start 6:30am End: 11:45am |
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Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2023-05-26, By: Veory Info: Road was driveable to 4-way today. Summitted in 2 hrs, went over to Red as well. Some snow in the lower sections that was soft enoughby noon that snowshoes sank to the knees. Stashed mine not too far above treeline. Ridge is great for microspikes although I didn't use them on the way up, occasional sinking but not bad. Thunderstorm season is upon us, nearby cloud to cloud lightning visible by 1130-ish. |
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Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2023-05-13, By: jjasks Info: Big time mud at the ranch up to 2-mile camp site. It could be a few days before the ranch will allow cars past base camp. We managed to make the hike from base camp but it was a long day and snowshoes were necessary for us from 2-miles to the top. I believe you could make it to 4-way now without shoes, but beyond that it will be weeks before it is a dirt trail. Total climb was 14.5 miles, 5700 gain and 12 hours. It was a long day mainly because of the snow. |
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Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2023-05-13, By: jjasks Info: Big time mid at the ranch up to 2-mile camp site. It could be a few days before the ranch will allow cars past base camp. We managed to make the hike from base camp but it was a long day and snowshoes were necessary for us from 2-miles to the top. I believe you could make it to 4-way now without shoes, but beyond that it will be weeks before it is a first trail. Total climb was 14.5 miles, 5700 gain and 12 hours. It was a long day mainly because of the snow. |
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Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2023-05-08, By: Alpine Addict Info: Parked 2 miles and 1,000 ft below 4-way with frequent snow mounds on the way up. Consistently snow packed above 4-way and I would definitely recommend using snow shoes on the way back down to avoid post holing. I was sinking almost waist deep near tree line before I put on snowshoes on the way down after the snow softened up. There are large wind cornices built up on the ridge most of the way to the top, but it was cold enough that I wasnt post holing. I also climbed Red Mountain and the traverse between Culebra and Red is dry. |
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Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2023-04-30, By: buddapilot Info: Peak is mostly clear with expected blow off from the wind. I was able to reach the top without any spikes or crampons. Not much post holding before lunch however I imagine it was getting worse after lunch. I highly suggest snowshoes for travel down after the snow softens up. |
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Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2023-04-04, By: Briley Info: We were able to skin from the car at the ranch office to just below the ridge. Able to ski the entire way out from just below the ridge to the car. Did not summit due to high winds. Ranch staff said that two hikers had tried the day before us. Based on the trench they left I am guessing they did not have floatation. At this point you will still want skis or snowshoes to make it up to tree line while minimizing post-holing. |
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Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2023-03-11, By: Veory Info: Didn't end up summiting because I felt off, but my partner did in snowshoes and I did get to ski from 13k to the car. We ended up too far north on the face which made for horrible skiing and skinning because we couldn't see far enough to tell that the right side had more snow. Otherwise the road up makes for good skinning or snowshoeing. Went up a low angle east facing slope near four-way while waiting for my buddy and got to experience a pretty massive whoomf in the snow, hundreds of feet in all directions. |
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Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2023-01-08, By: yaymountain Info: 3 ppl attempted on Sat, 0 summited. Attempted to poach @stilldavid's trench but more snow or wind covered a good chunk of it. Took a right at the second Y junction while in dark (last pic) instead of a left which added a mile to Four Way. My group of two then caught up to @CommanderDawn at 11,650ish where the summer TH starts. No trench exists after this point. We were beat so all turned around. Culebra's second summit for the year is still up for grabs! We came back the way we came totaling 12 miles roundtrip so the trench is a beautiful highway now! Weather looks pretty good next few days so anyone attempting should have a manageable 6 miles to summer TH then you've got another 2-2.5 miles and 2500-3k elevation gain remaining on your own. If you go left at the second Y junction, you'll save a mile but snow might be deeper and there's prob remnants of @stilldavid's tracks from last week. I made a snow angel at 11k feet as a consolation lol Btw, the staff has a bad rap but I found them very professional and nice. Had a great chat with them after and they even called a local restaurant for us to see if they were open. Accessing Culebra legally felt like being allowed into a club with ID checks and all. It is a cool experience and great for solitude. |
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Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2022-06-25, By: MichiganBrian Info: Full summer conditions on the whole route - no snow to avoid anywhere |
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Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2022-06-04, By: TheHikingDoctor Info: Similar to last report. Route is essentially summer conditions. Road is bone dry all the way up. |
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Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2022-05-29, By: Rfox88 Info: Trailhead at north gate clear of any snow. Porta potty and camping area available. The road to HQ is clear, and thr road to the 4wd trailhead is clear. There is little snow on the mountain and no traction was needed. Poles were helpful as the tundra is very soft and uneven. There is no defined trail so avoiding the tundra is impossible. I tried to stay on the rocks when able. On this trip the wind was very harsh. It was not fun! On another note the guys who rin the operation are really nice and helpful. They even drove 6 hikers to the upper trailhead and picked them up after completing the hike. IT is worth the $. They are taking good care of the land and that mountain. |
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Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2022-05-27, By: soundchaser2112 Info: The road is dry and open all the way up to the 4WD trailhead. There was more snow than I'd expected on Culebra, but still nothing too crazy. About ankle+deep snow throughout and knee-deep trap-door postholing along the ridge. Gaiters would still be appropriate, and microspikes were handy for the slushy descent but no need for snowshoes or ax. Also Red Mountain is virtually dry or has avoidable snow. |
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Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2022-05-22, By: jmg11 Info: Decent day out there. Road to 4WD upper parking lot is void of snow and I was able to drive my AWD QX60 up there with no issues. About 3” of snow on the mountain from this weekend's storm. Ground was completely saturated with Fri/Sat rain too, so while I would normally recommend microspikes on a day like this, my footsteps chewed the crap out of the alpine :/ Can't do anything about it without an established trail though…Winds 50mph sustained from saddle to summit (forecast called for 30), with last 300' of elevation socked in all morning with cloud cover. Happy to check it off the list, not happy the weather was too blustery to tag Red Mountain. |
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Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2022-05-22, By: TheSpaceForce Info: We hiked this when most of CO was experiencing a spring snow storm (12+ inches reported in many towns across the state). A GMC Denali and a jeep made it up to the (open) 4WD TH, no problem. Lots of exposed grass on the way up, mostly tops poking through on the way down. My guess is that it will melt off fairly quickly, since all of the surrounding valleys had minimal snow coverage. High winds: it was hard to walk/stand-up for sustained periods, but not because of ice/snow. Sadly, I can't comment on the view, other than the lumbering bear we saw on the way out. The ranch staff were professional and very helpful. |
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Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2022-05-20, By: dfeezell Info: Summer conditions for now (depending on what the storm brings this weekend). The wind was brutal today - hard to stand up at times. If anyone finds a black beanie, please let me know. It's most likely on the ridge somewhere. |
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Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2022-05-15, By: rayers1001 Info: The road is clear all the way to 4WD parking lot. Can confirm. All snow is easily avoidable. I didn't pack traction and I didn't need it. The Sangres are melting out quickly. |
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Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 2022-05-09, By: denverfromdenver Info: Road is open all the way to 4x4 lot. The west winds can be fierce and you are exposed the whole time.99% dry. No traction or floatation necessary. Cue summer conditions. |