1/8/2021 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 1/9/2021, By: Sarah14 Info: Per prior winter ascent trips, Carlos and crew have a snow mobile track set to 4Way from the main headquarters. We were thankful to the large group last weekend that set a trench past 4Way. Snowshoes helpful in some areas after the 4wd TH. |
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7/17/2020 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 7/19/2020, By: jryor121 Info: Managed to get one of the last spots on Culebra for the summer. I emailed CVR 6/24 inquiring about spots still available, and there were still a handful of spots left for 7/17, so I decided it was time to get it out of the way. The hike is quite beautiful considering there is no trail, making it quite fun to hike straight up the face up to the ridgeline. Summit was covered in clouds, and managed to bag Red Mountain as well. Fun day that included gashing my shin open as well as taking a quite hilarious spill running down the face https://www.strava.com/activities/3776455556 |
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7/3/2020 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 7/4/2020, By: E_A_Marcus_949 Info: Clear all the way to the summit. Marshy after creek crossing, but that is to be expected. No snow on route. Helps to zig-zag some up the first major hill then just follow the ridge. |
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6/28/2020 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 6/28/2020, By: emily_m Info: Summer conditions. Area right after stream crossing was wet and a bit marshy, but after that everything was totally dry. Red mountain is also totally dry on the trail. There are some lingering snowpacks, but they are all over the ridge and not close to the route. If the photos uploaded in the correct order, the second is Culebra from the saddle with Red, and the third is of Red. The road up to the trailhead is bumpy and requires just a little bit of clearance, but I never felt like I needed 4wd. |
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6/27/2020 Route: Alamosito Creek Posted On: 6/27/2020, By: angry Info: Purgatoire> Alamosito>Vermejo>Red>Culebra Summer conditions. |
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6/21/2020 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 6/21/2020, By: Unknown Info: Basically summer |
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6/20/2020 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 6/23/2020, By: lyrichildner Info: Great clear day for a hike. Winds picked up around 11, but weren't bad at all. No snow. |
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6/12/2020 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 6/12/2020, By: bethyhewes Info: Summer summer summertime... leave your traction home! |
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5/23/2020 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 5/26/2020, By: HikerBox Info: You can hike basically without touching snow - just take the closed 4wd road and stay left of the snowfield. You can also drive up to the 4x4 TH, worst part is the parking lot entrance. Otherwise was a nice, albeit expensive, climb. Good camping at the ranch but exposed to the wind. |
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5/17/2020 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 5/17/2020, By: ClimberSkierDave64 Info: We skinned the first 1,000 feet from the upper trailhead before icy suncups made us bootpack to 13,200 feet. We left the skis there and went to the summit which was almost completely clear of snow. By noon the skiing back down the bowl was nice corn snow. |
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5/9/2020 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 5/12/2020, By: bully7 Info: The staff allowed us to drive about 2 miles up the road from the Ranch HQ to commence the hike. There is some snow to cross in the lower basin just above the upper TH. It was firm going up. It was soft on the return. No snowshoes/spikes needed for the entire route. Distance RT 11 miles - Time 6 hours (Red Mountain route is also clear). |
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3/14/2020 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 3/15/2020, By: Cthulhu 2008 Info: Recent snow had good coverage up to treeline. If skinning, consider gaining the ridge to lookers left. Regardless, we dropped our skis at 13,250' and 13,500' and booted to the summit. We dropped the aforementioned gully which had some good turns. Great day. Carlos and the boys are awesome! |
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1/25/2020 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 1/25/2020, By: Corey17 Info: Long and excellent day on Culebra today! As usual, the snowmobile track from Carlos was excellent up to Four Way. There was an old trench we were able to use up to the summer TH, between there and the ridge though, any old trench had been erased by the wind and we set a new one. From the ridge to the top was a lot of exposed boulders with snow in the gaps, perfect for micro spikes. Winds were mild in most places, low clouds in the AM hours that burned off on the descent. Start: 6:40 AM Summit: 1:10 PM Finish: 5:15 PM Pic 1: View from the road Pic 2: looking up from the Summer TH Pic 3: Looking down from the ridge Pic 4: Summit ridge from the big Cairn Pic 5: Heading up the ridge Pic 6: Near the summit |
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1/4/2020 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 1/5/2020, By: wintersage Info: Trail is mostly packed from the ranch HQ to Four Way, from there on snowshoes would come in handy until you get to the big cairn on the ridge. After that point, we stashed our snowshoes and booted it up to the summit. Postholing still happens but the outcropping rock ribs would make snowshoes/microspikes unfeasible. Trapdoor snow had to be carefully negotiated with on the way up and down the mountain. Windy on the way down, but manageable with proper gear. |
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7/26/2019 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 7/30/2019, By: 4NARNIA Info: The peak and the overall route are in great shape. Pretty wet and mushy along much of the hillside starting out. Lots of loose boulders if you try to go around the mountain instead of along the entire ridge. There are a few false summits which I didn't expect, and more exposure on this near the top than I thought there would be. I would rate this as a "difficult class 2" if it were me (due to a little exposure, no real trail, and some loose rock). |
