Ellingwood Point

Route: North Ridge via South Zapata Creek
Posted On: 5/10/2026, By: Connor1
Info: Just over 13 miles and almost 6k ft of elevation gain. I’m very happy I chose to do this from Zapata falls. Last time I was here I did little bear - Blanca from lake como rd. The zapata falls approach was much more enjoyable than hiking up lake como rd. It felt much more like I was in the middle of nowhere. I didn’t see anyone until I was halfway back to the parking lot. The trail was dry up until 10500ft where I encountered the first few unavoidable snow spots which will most likely melt in a week. They were small and didn’t make a difference. Then it was dry again all the way up until the C2 couloir. I got a late start so the snow climb was a little mushy. Ice axe required. Crampons required too if you get an appropriate early start and a cold night. Make sure to stay climbers right at the top of the C2. I stayed left going up and it made for some interesting mixed climbing with no good holds and it was very slick. After the couloir the ridge had spots of snow usually around 2 inches deep. It was mostly avoidable. The final summit ridge was also snowy. Just enough to add some extra spice making it slippery and covering good footholds. On the way down I was able to glissade down the C2 and then hike back on all dry trails. Would recommend waiting a little bit for the upper section to dry out on the summit ridge. 

Route: North Ridge via South Zapata Creek
Posted On: 4/26/2026, By: davisrice4
Info: Conditions on C2 as seen from the lake. There was no snow of significance getting to this point. The rest of the North ridge looks mostly dry, but the couloir is holding on with potential for a good snow climb. 

Route: Lake Como Approach
Posted On: 4/19/2026, By: wmagnuson7
Info: See Blanca Peak report posted April 19, 2026. 

Route: Lake Como Approach
Posted On: 4/6/2026, By: Splitboard14ers
Info: I made it 2.6 miles up the Blanca Peak road from the start. The hike to Lake Como was snow free except for 2 small patches near the old cabin ruins. These sections were firm and frozen. The last half mile or so to Lake Como some snow more snow patches were present, but inconsequential. All snow encountered was firm or frozen. This could change if conditions warm.

Be aware that this road is rocky and the approach is laborious, as steps occur on rock, not a nice trail. From Lake Como upward towards Blue Lakes there was consistent snow coverage. Once again the snow was firm and fully frozen, and I chose to continue in boots rather than skinning, as it changes from snow to rock too frequently.

I traveled easily across the frozen snow to the base of Ellingwood. There is a route to Blanca from here, or to the Southwest ridge of Ellingwood. I chose to climb the "Promenade Couloir" The first 150 feet or so was technical as I climbed up through the ice falls, a mix of ice, firm snow, and rock. I used crampons, an ice axe, and hands. Once in the gut of the couloir, I removed crampons and climbed in boots. The new snow amounted to 4 or so inches on top of mostly rock, and occasionally frozen snow pack. The couloir is mostly melted out of snow, but it was a mix of surface conditions to the top of the couloir.

At the top of the couloir significant rime had coated everything on all aspects. I navigated a route away from the ridge crest and over to the North facing aspect of the peak. There was about 150 vertical feet to reach the Summit, which I cris-crossed back to the West ridge to reach the Summit ridge. I walked across the ridge the remaining 50 feet to stand on the Summit.

The descent was done in the same route as the ascent. I did snowboard down a few sections of continuous snow, but they were meaninglessly short. Once descended I remained in boots for the entire duration of the exit. The snow remained firm, and I never post holed one single time.

The exit is as long as the approach, and the miles wind on. I started at 4:33am, I reached Summit at 1:25pm, and I finished at 6:45pm. My GPS got reset midday and numbers were not accurate, so my best guess is that my mileage total was between 15-17, vertical between 5700-6000, and total time was 14hours and 12 minutes. 

Route: North Ridge via South Zapata Creek
Posted On: 3/29/2026, By: shaines90
Info: 5:45am start yesterday, was the only person on seemingly the entire Blanca group all day. Trail before treeline is mostly dry, but snowfields of different size/stability/tracked-outness start occurring after the dry creek crossing, and get much more common after the second creek crossing. As usual for spring, they were stable in the morning, rotten and postholey in the afternoon. There are numerous downed trees at different parts along the trail, most requiring small detours around that are pretty obvious.

I opted to directly ascend the C2 couloir, which is well-filled in and has benefited from some great overnight freezes recently. The snow in the couloir was by and large bulletproof, so crampons and ice axe definitely needed for safety, but there are some rotten spots higher up where I punched through to my knees and had to hurriedly locate a safer path. Didn't notice any signs of instability both going up and coming back down later either.

Ridge is almost entirely summer conditions, minus one or two small patches of snow just before the summit that climbers can avoid easily enough. Trail on the ridge is pretty hard to follow, but there are some cairns interspersed throughout to help guide - generally, staying higher on the ridge is better and more stable.

Did not traverse to Blanca because I moved slower than I was expecting and saw some clouds building up, but I'll attach a picture of the connecting ridge - once again, looked to be pretty much summer conditions. 

Route: Lake Como Approach
Posted On: 3/18/2026, By: Chipmunk
Info: Zero snow on Lake Como Road to the switchback at 9,850', where we parked. You could drive another ~0.4 miles to where the road begins to descend, but I wouldn’t recommend going farther at this point. There are many bare patches on the road, and where snow remains it’s well packed. Snowshoes are not necessary to reach Lake Como, especially in the morning when conditions are firm. Beyond the lake, we appreciated having them due to punchy snow.

We climbed the Promenade Couloir, a south-facing line that leads nearly to the summit. The name comes from a Reddit post (https://www.reddit.com/r/14ers/comments/1jyn2fn/climbed_an_unkown_couloir_up_ellingwood_point/) - feel free to remove if needed, but it’s a useful reference for seeing the route in a better snow year than what we currently have.

We cached snowshoes near the standard Blanca/Ellingwood trail before branching off toward the couloir. The initial choke involved a short stretch of ice climbing, followed by roughly 1,000 feet of sun-cupped but generally supportive snow. The couloir joins the SW Ridge route just below the summit. From there, a bit of Class 3 scrambling on dry rock and a short ridge walk brought us to the top.

We descended the standard route on Ellingwood, which is abysmally dry for mid-March and mostly a talus hop. Any sun-exposed snow had already turned to mush. Snowshoes were helpful exiting the basin, though we still experienced some postholing. Based on existing tracks, others have recently completed this route without snowshoes by linking dry patches and tolerating the occasional posthole. 

Route: Blanca and Ellingwood
Posted On: 11/10/2025, By: notidealbutfine
Info: Traversed from Blanca. Both the ridge from Blanca as well as the South Face are totally dry and in full summer conditions still. See my LB and Blanca condition updates for more info. Amazing views of Blanca, Little Bear and the Spanish Peaks. 19.22 miles / 8,307' gain / 12 hours, 45 minutes 

Route: Lake Como Approach
Posted On: 11/10/2025, By: gillacrusha
Info: Same report I put under Blanca. Only saw one other soul all day, and it must be the guy who posted the other trip report!
Parked just below Jaws 1. We have a lifted 2-door wrangler but chickened out. That road is brutal. Summited Blanca first, used spikes the last 200 ft or so but hardly needed them. Didn't need my ax at all - just poles. The traverse to Ellingwood is fun and well marked once you are off Blanca, but I got mixed up and first headed down Blanca in the wrong direction. Pretty windy and shady up Blanca, but the sun was shining on Ellingwood and it was beautiful. I did wish I had my helmet, but at least there were no other climbers around to kick rocks. Lots of loose rocks on both peaks. 

Route: Lake Como Approach
Posted On: 9/27/2025, By: seoulman
Info: Summer conditions. Dittos for the neighboring peaks. 

Route: North Ridge via South Zapata Creek
Posted On: 9/26/2025, By: mdecola
Info: Beautiful approach. The C2 couloir had some snow from the night before, and it made the final few hundred feet borderline treacherous - unstable, obscured footing that was slick. Up on the ridge the route is an easy follow, we held far left on the ridge for more Class 4 exposure. Again, couple inches of snow on the final Class 3 section, leading to a couple Class 4 moves and dangerous footing. Overall beautiful, not another soul on this trail. Very low winds, which was a gift, but the mountain is fast-approaching winter conditions. Our watches clocked 13.25 miles RT. 

Route: Blanca and Ellingwood
Posted On: 9/20/2025, By: AndrewJCraigie
Info: Ellingwood / Blanca traverse - dry 

Route: Lake Como Approach
Posted On: 7/6/2025, By: Ariella6
Info: Dry and summer conditions!

Dispersed camping options all the way up to 8800 feet elevation gain. We made it in ford expedition with 8.7 inches clearance. road is definitely ROUGH even early on. Only gets worse from there.

We backpacked the road up to lake como. Stayed the night and hiked the rest on 7/6/2025

Even on a holiday weekend there were not a lot of folks out. Saw handful of off road vehicles. and 10 hikers on 7/6/2025 (other than our group of 3). Was a quiet and beautiful weekend.

Lots of flowers popping right now. The lakes are stunning.

We went the route up to the ridge that was closer to blanca, which seemed to be different than what is on the 14ers.com route for standard for traverse route. We also opted to come down this as well after completing the traverse. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/30/2025, By: 5meodimte
Info: Completely dry and summer conditions. If used as a descent, the final exit gully can be difficult to locate. 

Route: Lake Como Approach
Posted On: 6/2/2025, By: dude4mountains
Info: Road and trail are dry to above Lake Como. Fast melting snowpack with frozen then later wet and muddy conditions to above the waterfall. Mixed snowpack from rotten corn to solid in the upper basin. No flotation just frustration. Some good climbable snow on Ellingwood proper. Spikes are fine, lightweight crampons work well. Ridge line to Summit was dry. 

Route: North Ridge via South Zapata Creek
Posted On: 5/27/2025, By: s_brummer
Info: I ventured to South Zapata Lake to check out C2 and C3 on 5/25. I unfortunately did not go past the lake as I did not feel good about snow conditions in the couloirs (more on that later)

The route up to South Zapata Lake is nearly entirely melted, albeit about the last mile-ish (patchy snow starts at the last stream crossing area in the trees). And there was a surprising amount of people venturing up to the lake (I seen at least 10 to 15 other people on Sunday) so I'm sure that the additional foot traffic has made the few snowy sections even more negligible. I wore trail runners and felt comfortable, I was tempted to change into my boots but it never felt necessary, and the thought of cleaning all the mud off them pushed the thought out of my head further.

Unfortunately, there was a large avalanche down one of the couloirs between C2 and C3. I decided to play it safe (since all the couloirs are essentially the same slope aspect) and just stay at the lake for a few hours. A few more weeks of freeze/thaw definitely seem best for a safer climb IMO. The upper ridge appeared to be very wintery still too!

I'm attaching photos of the avy-path (and a few others) The plants and flowers along the way are starting to really bloom too.

They are also doing a TON of new trail work, which I really just want to give a shout out and thank you to all the people doing this awesome work for the community. They are building a beautiful new bridge over the first large stream crossing, along with a ton of other trail-retention/anti-erosion improvements.