4/11/2026 Route: Scouting the area Posted On: 4/13/2026, By: WillRobnett Info: Went up a short distance on the Crater Lake Trail, where snow coverage became continuous just before the Pyramid Amphitheater turnoff. Amphitheater approach looks like it's full of wet snow at the moment, melting quick! |
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12/24/2025 Route: West Face/NW Ridge Posted On: 12/25/2025, By: paulbarish Info: The day after completing the Bells Traverse, I felt greedy and was hoping to get closer to finishing this project by taking advantage of the great conditions. I left my camp under the bell cord and used my trench from the other day when I was looking for water in the creek (didn’t find any and just melted snow). I followed the creek south to the intersection with the west couloir and followed some moose tracks. The willows weren’t too bad but I’m sure someone has found a better way before. Once in the couloir, after a few hundred vert of trail breaking, I was able to ditch the snowshoes and start boot packing. When I could, I got up left out of the couloir and took dry scree up to around 12k and linked back in with the couloir. Again finding great snow in the couloir. It was dry above but windy and the summits were socked in which made me nervous but I continued and just tried to be chill, knowing it’d be worth it if I could pull it off. The rubble gully was mostly dry and aptly named. The crux coming out of the rubble gully was mostly dry but felt similar in difficulty but less secure than the second crux on the bells traverse. The rock in that section was more fractured and less trustworthy in my opinion but didn’t feel loose. Maybe I was just tired. The upper route was beautifully wandery with route finding being mostly obvious and dry with some helpful carins. In the upper bowl, instead of doing the exposed snow traverse, I continued mostly straight up on rock that was easier than the crux. It seems that should be the standard way? I passed a sling that people had been rappelling off of (same above the lower crux). The summit was stunningly beautiful amongst moody skies. I felt extremely grateful and thanked the mountain and bowed down and gave it a little kiss. Almost immediately the skies cleared and the wind lessened. Probably just a coincidence that sappy people like me overthink but I do feel like the mountains sometimes respond to gratitude. Once again, I didn’t bring any technical gear on this trip, so I downclimbed everything and it went quickly and smoothly. On the way down I bootpacked and glissaded the entire couloir instead of going out onto the dirt. It should be noted for future parties, depending on the time you go down this, there is some rockfall hazard as things heat up. There was a good amount of debris in the section I skipped on the way up. I continued back down to camp, ready to be off my feet but instead packed up camp and started hiking out. Camp to camp took 8 hours. Once back at the summer TH, I got ready to ride the bike down. I tried to tie my pack to the back of the bike but the road was slush and it immediately fell off and caused carnage, whipping me around and fishtailing in the slush. Eventually I gave up and just wore it on my back but eventually half of the road melted out and I was able to cruise! I got back to the TH 11 hours after starting that morning. So ready to be done, but so high on the climbs I just experienced! It’s 4am now and I am awake writing this because I am just so thrilled. This 3 day trip climbing the bells and pyramid was so dreamy and magical I just don’t even know what to do with myself! |
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11/9/2025 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 11/9/2025, By: JoseDeMoor Info: Beauty of a day today before the road closes tomorrow. |
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11/6/2025 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 11/8/2025, By: jamal Info: Very dangerous conditions on the green wall, has average of about 6 inches of snow mostly unconsilidated, mixed with some bare rock. The rest of the route is in favorable condition. Crampons and axe absolutely required. On most of the green wall, self-arrest would not be possible. I think some would say extremely dangerous. |
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10/25/2025 Route: East view of Pyramid and Thunder Pyramid Posted On: 10/26/2025, By: WillRobnett Info: East view of Pyramid and Thunder Pyramid. Landry line - one of The Fifty Classic Ski Descents of North America - is starting to hold snow. Thunder Pyramid has a bit more coverage at the moment. |
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10/19/2025 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 10/20/2025, By: Matteo Bly Info: Mostly snow covered past amphitheater micro spikes required crampons recomended. the couloir up to the ridge has 1-2 feet of loose powder, while the top is packed and iced over, |
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10/19/2025 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 10/20/2025, By: Matteo Bly Info: Mostly snow covered past amphitheater micro spikes required crampons recomended. the couloir up to the ridge has 1-2 feet of loose powder, while the top of the couloir is packed and iced over. |
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10/18/2025 Route: View from North Maroon Posted On: 10/19/2025, By: WillRobnett Info: Snow above the amphitheater |
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10/4/2025 Route: area Posted On: 10/5/2025, By: WillRobnett Info: Got some snow, a little. |
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10/1/2025 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 10/2/2025, By: Ryan1596 Info: Upper route was wet and muddy the whole way but otherwise clear conditions and peak colors |
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9/20/2025 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 9/20/2025, By: shaines90 Info: Climbed the standard route from a campsite at Crater Lake this morning, about 4 hours up and 3 hours down. No snow of any consequence at any point on the route today, and I don't think the showers that rolled in mid-afternoon will change that with the still-warm temps during the day; certainly, any snow that drops today or tomorrow will melt by next weekend if the current forecast holds. First hit varying patches of either a pure dusting, or at most 1-2 inches of snow shortly after gaining the saddle, then didn't really see any more except in shaded aspects that were technically slightly off-route. Green wall was totally clear and dry all the way up to the summit, not even a dusting along the ledges beforehand either. Never had to put on microspikes at any point, don't anticipate them being necessary any time soon unless a big storm forms up. Pyramid is definitely still open for business. |
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9/7/2025 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 9/7/2025, By: Alyxx Info: Route was totally dry with a couple patches of snow that haven't quite melted. There has been some rain recently and the soil is wet. This caused exiting the Amphitheater in the dark on the ascent to be challenging and I did a poor job routefinding, never having seen it before. My shoes were slipping and it was true type 2 fun. I was not stoked to be there. I decided to press on and made it to the first ledges, missing the saddle. I highly reccomend staying on the ridge proper if you want to mitigate rockfall between the first two saddles. The downclimbing is no more technical than you'll see on the descent, and the rock gets way less chossy after you gain the NE ridge. To continue the route, you can pick and choose the direction you take to lessen your exposure, or simply climb up the ridge directly for the longest sustained pitch of scrambling that is as close to class 4 as you'll find on Pyramid. I was easily able to downclimb this section as well. Once you break off to the traverse left the route is pretty obvious due to limited options and large cairns. This section was a little exposed, but there are an abundance of positive hand holds to ensure a comfortable time. I was rather underwhelmed at the leap of faith. It was certainly fun, but it is by no means the crux of the route. Once you pass it though, the cliff traverse may have you leaning out into space! Find your way to the green wall by following the gigantic cairns and begin to climb for around 200 vertical feet. The vein is much harder rock than anything you've held so far, so enjoy the bomber holds and once you think it's time to traverse left, maybe climb a little higher. The altimeter on my watch was at about 13 |
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8/30/2025 Route: view from North Maroon Posted On: 9/1/2025, By: WillRobnett Info: Snow at 14k!! Full monsoons in the last two weeks refreshed water flows throughout Maroon Creek basin. Rock fall during the rains was significant. Sunny days ahead this week! |
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8/23/2025 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 8/24/2025, By: AurumSun13 Info: Virtually no snow in the ampitheatre, so you'll need to have an eagle-eye for the cairns that mark the route. In fact that goes for the whole hike. The cairns are small, but they're everywhere! I was actually suprised how good the rock was on the class 3-4 sections because the description makes it sound much worse. Regardless, the rock is definitely far from solid. Don't forget to test every hold and maintain x3 points of contact. |
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8/16/2025 Route: West Maroon Creek Basin Posted On: 8/18/2025, By: WillRobnett Info: First signs of Fall! A few Aspens at higher elevations starting early!! |
