Culebra Peak

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 2/3/2025, By: jacolc
Info: My 2 cents about making reservations. If you successfully went through reservation process and pay, you DO NOT have either email or massage confirmation. I make mistake and start process again. This was probably the reason, Carlos computer show him: order failed. Even I have massage from my bank about recent payment. Fortunately I call Carlos before my drive to ranch and he allowed me to enter the ranch next morning. Without this phone agreement, I probably will be not allowed to enter the ranch. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 2/3/2025, By: sean23
Info: Mason and I climbed Culebra from the HQ yesterday morning. Carlos had packed down the road from the HQ to fourway. We booted up it without issue. From Fourway to the base of the ridge, we found up to thigh-deep unconsolidated snow and put in a decent trench. The recent storm seems to have destroyed any existing trench. We encountered horrific winds on the ridge but managed to tag the summit and get down. There was a third climber on the mountain who skied from the ridge base to HQ. There was continuous snow coverage to make it feasible, but the bottom of the trail is melting and likely will be mud in another day or two 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 7/26/2024, By: marcusmartin
Info: Perfect day on Culebra. The 14ers.com directions are spot on. Use them. The camp site at the main gate is outstanding. It's flat, a nice fire pit and portapotty. At exactly 5:57 am, two ranch vehicles show up at the gate. Be ready. One goes up to HQ. The other will check your ID at the gate. The HQ briefing takes less than 5 minutes, and then you can drive to the upper TH. Road in great condition - 2WD ok. Make sure to bring a GPS to find a route to the summit since there is no trail. We used ours a lot. The marmots are sneaky. One grabbed my pole on the summit and tried to run away with it when I wasn't looking. Overall, an amazing mountain very special to experience it. Tomorrow (Sunday July 28) is the last day this year it's open for hikers. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/23/2024, By: dwoodward13
Info: Summer conditions 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/10/2024, By: Dan Kearney
Info: On the way up I chose to head for Punta Serpiente to gain the ridge, and this route was 100% snow free. Once on the ridge there is no mandatory snow to the summit. Coming down I took the standard route, which still has some snow fields that can be avoided with a little creativity. I chose to plunge step/skate through it and the conditions were perfect for it. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/14/2024, By: asorbera
Info: There were a few snow fields that can be easily avoided as you gain the ridge. On the descent be sure to use those snow patches for a nice glissade down. Summer conditions. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/1/2024, By: emself
Info: Darn near summer conditions. First/last quarter of a mile still has snow, but it's not worth carrying floatation for. Firm/icy in morning, some postholing in afternoon. Some patches of snow on the remaining route that are mostly avoidable. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/1/2024, By: megandahlstrom1
Info: The 4WD trailhead is open! Yay! We brought microspikes and snowshoes. We used the microspikes in the hard snow for just a few minutes when we first started out, but most people did not have them and were fine. The snow was soft at the bottom coming back down and I did posthole a little, but it wasnt worth bringing the snowshoes. We debated not doing this hike today based on previous condition reports, but it was a great experience. 

Route: Northwest Ridge to N Face Ski
Posted On: 6/2/2024, By: slawrence2011
Info: No update to previous comments on standard route. I had a fun adventure on the N face ski route with a little cliff downclimbing. I looked through all the trip reports, and I saw two accounts of this being skied, Jared Luttrell and group, and SnowAlien. In both cases, the cliffs had to be downclimbed. Posting this to make sure if you do this you are well prepared for that, and the long skin out, tough to finish by 6 with the challenging egress drainage. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/31/2024, By: Dayute
Info: Everyone still parking at 4-way, road is clear but trailhead parking area had a lot of snow still. Only one unavoidable snowfield right past summer trailhead and it is short. Supportive at 7am and calf deep postholed a few times on the way back. Most remaining snow avoidable. Never put spikes on, snowshoes would be pointless. Trail runners and gaiters and my socks stayed dry. No portojohn at gate anymore and sparse coverage nearby. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/30/2024, By: Bikefan123
Info: Road from ranch house to 4-way parking is ROUGH with tons of ruts so be prepared with high clearance vehicle. Carlos still has 4WD parking area closed; est. 2-3 weeks before that opens up. It is 7 miles R/T from 4-way. Had to use crampons up & down & post-holed a ton toward the bottom. Snow shoes would have helped. Winds at the top were 40-50 MPH. Took 3, 60+ yr olds 7 hours. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/30/2024, By: Bikefan123
Info: Road from ranch house to 4-way parking is ROUGH with tons of ruts so be prepared with high clearance vehicle. Carlos still has 4WD parking area closed; est. 2-3 weeks before that opens up. It is 7 miles R/T from 4-way. Had to use crampons up & down & post-holed a ton toward the bottom. Snow shoes would have helped. Winds at the top were 40-50 MPH. Took 3, 60+ yr olds 7 hours. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/24/2024, By: MMAfightingClimber
Info: Parking is allowed at 4way, trail is basically dry till the 4WD parking lot. Mostly continuous snow after (some dry sections on the ridge). I postholed maybe 3-4 times. Didnt bring snowshoes and I think snowshoes are not needed at all anymore for culebra. The small section youd use them on is not long enough to warrant bringing them with you. You can also bypass most of snow completely anyway 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/19/2024, By: kpowers89
Info: Parking allowed at the four way, upper trailhead will be melted out soon. Snow most of the way. It softened quite early so flotation is recommended. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/18/2024, By: bryanroberts
Info: Parked at the 4 way today. Sunny conditions, snow from the trailhead to the top. Was hard pack all the way up. Only required microspikes. Went over to Red Mountain while we were there. By the time we returned, the snow was softening near the bottom, so some post hole action for a bit. Overall a great day. 8 miles, 3950 vertical in 7 hours.