Culebra Peak

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. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/18/2024, By: lakingme39
Info: Road open to Four way. Some snow remains on road up to the summer trailhead. I can't imagine the ranch opens the road to the summer trailhead for a few more weeks. Skiable line as the previous post mentioned. Similarly, it should last through Memorial Day, but can't imagine much longer. Encountered postholing on the way down - did not have snowshoes and didn't need them, but they certainly could've helped as the snow was very soft on the way down. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/19/2024, By: Balcao2546+
Info: Conditions were alright but definitely bring snowshoes for sure and be prepared for some trekking before reaching the 4 way trailhead 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/6/2024, By: willcubswin
Info: Snow on the route is melting pretty quickly. There was still a skiable line from about 13,100' - 11,500' in the "bowl" the previous poster mentions. After the ridge at 13,100,' the snow was super spotty on the ridge to the summit. We used microspikes the whole way and didn't have any issues. We left the summit at 10:30am and while we encountered some postholing on the way down, it wasn't complete hell and never warranted putting on snowshoes. We were able to drive up about 2 miles past headquarters, which made our round trip about 11 miles with 4k' of gain. In a week or two (depending on new snow), it seems like you'll be able to drive up to four way depending on what the ranch allows. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 4/22/2024, By: climb2ski
Info: Skied from the summit on Sunday We had to park at the headquarters. Continuous snow after 1.5 miles from the HQ. We skinned the next 3 miles to tree line. The skin up to the ridge from there went well. The ridge involved some skins and skins off time. The ski down the ridge was very rocky - lots of side stepping. I stayed low and found some snow and avoided the false summit. I had to take the skis off a few times to find some snow. The ski from the ridge to the road was great. The road went ok. The snow was getting soft for sure. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 2/17/2024, By: Justin9
Info: Snowmobile track to 4 way. Good trench from there to tree line. Pick your way thru the rocks from the saddle to the summit. If youre headed over to Red like we did, no flotation needed.our group was all on skis and skinned up/ skied down from ranch hq to the saddle. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 2/13/2024, By: MIAndrewB
Info: Text from Carlos at Cielo Vista Ranch this morning: "Yes, you can reserve a spot for either of the days there are climbers scheduled (if going solo as long as others are climbing they do not necessarily need to be in your party I learned). The mountain has fresh snow and we've had issues getting the road to the headquarters cleared meaning that we still haven't packed the trail so it may be a long day starting from the headquarters in fresh snow. We still have a couple days to get the road open and the trail packed." Hope this is helpful for those making plans soon. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 1/29/2024, By: shapovalovm
Info: Ankle to thigh deep snow from TH to the summit. Snowshoes/skis were a must. Took standard route. The only concerning area was the slope traverse at ~ 12200-12600 before going up the ridge. Caltopo says the angle is too low to be concerning and CAIC said W-facing slopes were safe. That said both me and a couple other people heard some minor whumping, so we separated and watched each other on the way back, just in case. The ridge also holds some snow and has some cornices, so be careful. Luckily to me, a couple of skiers trenched the entire trail, including navigating around snow on the ridge (if you are reading this, thank you!), but even then it was a long hard day. Beautiful weather, though! Overall, 5 people summited this day (3 skiers/splitboarders + 2 on foot) and 1 turned around. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 1/20/2024, By: shapovalovm
Info: They did not let me in because I was solo. They were trying to convince me that was in the website, but it was not (hopefully they will update the website). Apparently, as long as there are other people on the trail that day (do not have to be in the same party with you) you are fine. Refunded the fee, but 24h of my time, hotel and gas are still wasted. And sadly I cannot go tomorrow because of work. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 7/26/2023, By: yaymountain
Info: Posting this for the last 60 folks summiting this year as we approach the final weekend. Hope it's a finisher for at least one of you! For the purists going for the 3K rule, you'll need to park at about 11K which is one mile below Four Way (and 1.9 miles to 4WD lot). I parked here and clocked 10.3 miles and 4,200' for both Culebra and Red. Conditions are fantastic. From the 4WD lot, the two options laid out in the route description are spot on. If you walk up the road (option 1), you'll want to start heading towards climber's right (S/SE). Overall, there is no clearly defined trail, so just go SE and head up towards the ridge. You'll soon(ish) see a very erect cairn resembling a certain male organ. From there, just follow the beautiful ridgeline with some ups and downs, go up the couple false summits, and celebrate your glory atop Culebra some 2700' later. Look south and start descending if you plan on tagging centennial peak Red Mountain too. And for the ultra ambitious, there are a couple bicentennials in spitting distance beyond Red! I think 5 or so ppl out of 20 ended up going on to Red throughout the day. Red took me 45 minutes with a fair amount of descent and ascent. I took a shortcut by cutting across the high point of the ridge (above a snowpatch going there and below it coming back) rather than staying ridge proper. Once you start ascending the final climb, there's a pretty good trail that is a little loose and gravely but really nice overall. Coming back, I debated resummiting Culebra or not. I ended up boulder hopping around the Culebra summit and headed towards a big strip of red boulders/rocks to intersect with the Culebra ridge. This was probably a wash on amount of time but def. better in terms of effort. Took me 50 mins to do this from Red. Then from there, just follow the ridge. I started descending before reaching the erect cairn and the parking lot is almost immediately visible. Enjoy! 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 7/10/2023, By: sehessler92
Info: All snow patches are avoidable. Beautiful hike, it was a little windy at the summit of both Culebra and Red. Culebra has a few false summits. Took about 40-45 minutes to get from Culebra to Red. Red has loose scree to the summit but was manageable without poles. Going down was a bit easier than going up but overall not terrible scree and a little faint trail to follow up it. Took about 5 hours RT including breaks and about 8.5 miles total 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 7/2/2023, By: Mitsugi
Info: Summer Conditions. You can do the whole hike without touching snow at all. Man what a great ridgeline. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 7/1/2023, By: Mtnman200
Info: Summer conditions! The entire route was snow-free, although small snowfields are near the ridge. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/28/2023, By: mtgoatmike
Info: Route is completely dry/snow free to the summit. There are snow patches, but they are completely avoidable. The first ridge you climb up, to the large cairn, has a large snow field that is glissadable! 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/25/2023, By: samcarbj
Info: Context: I'm 61, in good shape, and have climbed 3 other 14ers. Ground at start of climb was a mushy for ~ 20-30 yrds, but fine after that. I'd downloaded the route map from AllTrails and printed 14ers.com route directions and pictures, and even with all that determining which route (angle) to take to the top of the ridge line wasn't obvious. On the ridge line we tried walking on the snow where we could but discovered it was about as strenuous as navigating the rock fields due to frequent post-holing. On 6/23 evening NOAA forecast was for 20-25 mph winds with gusts up to 40. Wind was already gusting strong by the time we reached summit at 11:15. We started down at 11:45. The descent was brutal; navigating the rock fields with the constant wind was by far the hardest hiking I've ever done. At 140 lbs, the wind was shoving me all-over, which made stepping from rock-to-rock treacherous. Without my poles I'm sure I would've fallen many times, and no doubt broken something(s).