10/25/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 10/25/2025, By: kpritch238 Info: The valley in got prolly about 5 inches of fresh powder. Most down low seems to have melted by the time we left, but not at all up at 13k+. Saw 4-5 other people all day, all but 1 party bailed on the summit even with crampons and ice tools (us included). Too much snow to see what was underneath, too little to keep from just scraping everything underneath which made the main headwall our bail point. Will try to get a photo on here, but don’t see an option on phone as I drive back home. I post these conditions updates with 20+ winter summits under me but acknowledge my dry tooling isn’t strong. I personally would wait until the main winter route fills in at this point, assuming avi risk can be negated at some point. |
|
10/25/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 10/27/2025, By: jace_reber Info: The trail has snow all the way from the start. Snow is soft and there is a good broken in trail all the way to ridge. I would recommend microspikes for basically the whole trail. I didn’t personally put on my microspikes until I reached the summit but that was probably to my detriment. The trail is relatively simple and easy until the ridge. On that day there were 9 people attempting the summit but I was the only summit on the day which is a testament to the conditions. I chose the ridge which looked easier and faster. Both routes looked scary, but because of the soft snow all of the footholds remained intact underneath the snow. I personally don’t think an axe or crampons is necessary for it. To me a mountaineering axe is just going to be extra weight because the snow isn’t consolidated enough to dig in at all. In summary I’d recommend just microspikes, some climbing skills and the knowledge that it looks harder than it really is. |
|
10/20/2025 Route: Northwest Gully Posted On: 10/20/2025, By: ajtrezco Info: Second the last conditions update, more snow today than there was then. Going to be snowed in the rest of the season. Bring axe and spikes for above the crux wall, several unavoidable no fall zones with the way the snow has filled in. Stay away from the gully. Snow below the meadow is now all completely iced over and very slick. |
|
10/17/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 10/18/2025, By: stealthiscamera Info: Below the saddle, trail has quite a bit of ice up to the meadow, which is easy to navigate with microspikes. Took the NW ridge which was pretty clear to the summit, at least on the south facing and west facing parts. Pretty icy around the crux wall. Decided to try to descend the gulley on the way down but things became very dangerous, very quickly. Unless you have crampons and an ice axe, I wouldn't recommend taking the gulley down - stay on the ridge. |
|
10/12/2025 Route: Northwest Gully Posted On: 10/14/2025, By: Hoote891 Info: The road to Lilly Lake is in good condition (easy drive for an AWD vehicle). The trails through lower-end forest are in good shape (though very steep and some mud). Once beyond the tree-line, extremely windy - so much so on Sunday, I chose not chase the ridge on the final section - rather took the gully. That side of the mountain doesn't see much sun, thus a 1/4" of ice is covering the entire rock-face (makes hands almost useless). But enough snow/ice has built up that the scree is pretty firm - with micro-spikes it is a do-able climb (just take time and patience). I had a very nice day. Once on summit, there was Little Bear & Blanca covered in a swarm of heavy clouds. I really appreciate all the work that went into opening this mountain back up to public access. Big thanks to all that helped make that happen. |
|
10/5/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 10/6/2025, By: Ryan1596 Info: Snowy and loose on the north side of the ridge. Stay on the ridge crest the entire time (not shown in route pictures) except for the headwall for a much better experience. |
|
9/26/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 9/27/2025, By: jesse Info: Ridge was dry and fun. Gully has a little bit of snow in the shadowed areas, another storm and I'll be way more filled in. |
|
9/25/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 9/26/2025, By: Da Legit Master Info: About 2" of fresh snow on the morning of 9/24/25. Crux was sketchy but doable. On the way back down there was already less snow. The whole route looked clear of snow when viewed from California Peak on 9/25/25. Tons of places to get water at the start of the route. The last water source is at 11,550'. |
|
9/22/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 9/23/2025, By: MMAfightingClimber Info: A dusting of snow in parts but doesn’t affect the route much, should hopefully melt by the weekend. Decent amount of deadfall heading up to 13,557 Went from 13,557-huerfano-the nip- Lindsey |
|
9/19/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 9/19/2025, By: Edrizzle Info: Great day on Lindsey. Went up the ridge and down the gully. The gully is very loose and annoying. Brought spikes but didn’t need them. A handful of icy/snow spots on both the ridge and gully but easily avoidable. |
|
9/1/2025 Route: Northwest Gully Posted On: 9/1/2025, By: R7777777 Info: I know most people prefer the Ridge, but I’m not a huge fan of exposure, so I went up the gully instead. If you stay to the right, parallel to the loose scree, you can avoid a lot of the worst of it. That said, you’ll probably still find yourself spinning your wheels a few times—it’s just part of the route. Route finding wasn’t too difficult as long as you reference the 14ers.com photos and description. The gully might actually be a little faster, but it’s definitely harder on the knees. Just be sure to maintain solid points of contact. |
|
8/14/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 8/14/2025, By: Paterclimber Info: This is a challenging hike. However, I found that the Class 3 and 4 segments along the ridge and on the pitch with the crack made it all worth it. Just looking up at the crack in the mountain's northwest face for much of the approach, wondering how I was going to get up there, and then actually climbing through it was an awesome feeling! I won't restate what's already in the route description on this site - it's all still applicable. However, a small part of the trail just after the Mt Lindsey / Lily Lake fork (see picture #1), in an area filled with dense underbrush and numerous water crossings (see picture #2), is overgrown and obstructed in a number of places by fallen trees, some big and some small (see picture #3). But what complicates navigation the most in this area is the bewildering number of trail off-shoots, undoubtedly created by people losing the trail and trying to find their way back, or trying to circumvent a fallen tree, especially in the dark. I was fortunate to come upon this area with enough daylight to see clearly. I can't imagine trying to navigate this area in the dark with only a headlamp. Ultimately, you want to end up on the main trail on the edge of the boulder field (see picture #4). From here, all the way up to treeline, across the valley, and up to the saddle, the trail is clear and easy to follow. Just as you gain the saddle, there's a sign with a QR code for the waiver, if you haven't filled it out already (see picture #5). As many people recently posting here have recommended, the Northwest Ridge is the way to go. The rock is more solid here than in the Gully, and the climbing is fun. To get atop the spine of the ridge most efficiently, follow the main trail above the saddle a short distance, and turn right onto a trail that branches off sharply and leads straight up toward the ridge crest. My climbing partner and I descended the same way as well. ***Also, another climber reported seeing a large black bear snooping around the trailhead area a couple hours after sunrise. Bear scat was also visible on the trail itself.*** |
|
8/6/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 8/13/2025, By: dogsandguitars12 Info: Full summer conditions and no issues. The drive in is long and definitely need at least a little bit of clearance. There’s some great camping spots near the end of the road. The route is steep but relatively easy to follow. I took ridge up and down cause that fully looks pretty terrible. Choose your own adventure for the crux, I stayed ridge left on the way up and took the same line down. 7 hours TH to TH after driving 24 hours from Alabama. Pretty remote in general, didn’t see many people at all and it’s a good 1.5 hours off of i25. |
|
8/1/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge & Gully Posted On: 8/3/2025, By: two lunches Info: cloudy and misty in the morning, followed by a cold windy summit and a hot walk back to the 4runner; friday had the worst weather forecast for the peak this weekend, which i think is why there were only about a dozen other folks out, spread across 3-4 waves. || due to the abundance of reports this season advising to wait until sunup to tackle the confusing route near the boulder field, i hung out at the trailhead for about 30 minutes before beginning my hike. the trail gets braided shortly after the split to the Lily Lake Trail, between 1.25-1.5 miles in. considering my approach and descent lines don’t overlap, it seems plausible that with a general S/SE heading, all roads lead to Rome. || i don’t have much to report between treeline, and the saddle, other than a robust marmot population and a beautiful, easy to follow trail with expansive views. || if you haven’t done so before starting your hike, there is clear signage to complete the waiver at the Lindsey-Iron Nipple saddle before proceeding across a talus field to the summit. i heard from one person that he was there for a while waiting for enough cell service to sign it. from there, time passed very quickly to ascend via the Northwest Ridge. i made my way along, staying slightly below the ridge on the left side (obviously) and before i knew it, i had arrived at the the hard-to-miss dark crack on the crux wall. i climbed over the chockstones inside before ultimately cutting left to the ledge system. i was actually surprised how airy the trip from the saddle to the crux was..? sure, lots of reports mention it, but i was not expecting as many exposed moves. the rock is generally good— but it’s critical to test holds before committing to them: someone behind me dislodged a microwave-sized rock and more than a few wiggled in the 13,400-13,500 zone. || two important factors to note about my descent: 1- the party behind me slowed down substantially between the crux and the summit of Northwest Lindsey and 2- i had met the party ahead of me at the saddle, who had already descended and was heading toward Iron Nipple & Huerfano. therefore, i had the luxury of descending alone, and opted to go down the gully. || the trail is very clear for a while before the route disappears up/down the mountainside. i’ll use up/down interchangeably here because the trail quality really was kind of symmetrical- good at the beginning and end, half-garbage in the middle, half-decent/controllable scree surf. cairns are sporadic, but it was incredibly easy to tell when i was getting off-route: either the climbing exceeded class 2+, or the slope was **dangerously** unstable— a distinctive notch up from being just annoyingly mobile. by bouncing back and forth across the gully and sticking to the perimeter, i was able to avoid most of loose crap in the middle. || verdict: i doubt being in the gully without it snow makes any sense if there is some risk of other climbers being in it at the same time. but given the fortuitous circumstances, i was happy with a quick 40 minute descent from summit to saddle that would have taken me much longer to backtrack if i had to down-climb the ridge. there were a few choke points that seemed like they could have provided some small protection from more-distant parties if multiple people were in there together, but given the accidents that have already happened this year that might not be the case. |
|
7/27/2025 Route: Northwest Gully Posted On: 7/28/2025, By: doeeth Info: Incredibly beautiful route and peak, my new favorite in the Sangres. It was fun to ascend the ridge and descend the gully, which didn’t feel that terrible. The gully was fun to go down, but going up would probably have a lot more rockfall hazard. People are correct that you don’t need to stick to the ridge immediately before the headwalk unless you want to traverse a wonky knife edge. I ended up descending 75’ and traversing lower which was still exposed. Very fun and solid scramble. Definitely not recommended but my friend was able to make it up and down the gully with a very fit dog, although he said the way up was tougher for him. So glad they opened this route to the public with waivers |
