6/25/2022 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 6/27/2022, By: earthinspired7 Info: Getting to Rock of Ages TH was easy. Creek crossing was only about 6" of water. No downed trees. Getting up to Rock of Ages saddle was a mess = choose your own steep loose scree route and avoid snow. Going to need some trail work in there to prevent erosion. Started at 6:30 - got to the first saddle at 10:30 and top of second saddle by 11am (partner wasnt feeling too good). Then I finished the last 750' of gain. First you have some exposed moves (still keeping it class 3) but once you get to the false summit.... Good luck keeping it class 3!!! It spooked me quite a bit and this is my 50th 14er. Id call this last little section class 4. I got to summit at 11:30 and was back down by my hiking partner at 12:10... back down to TH by 2:30. I met an old guy and instantly knew he was a badass when I noticed him crack a can of sardines open so I gave him a thing of Patagonia mussels to try out. Anyone who eats sardines on the trail is a good person in my book (dont worry, we pack out the tins) Had a forcast of 40-60% chance of rain by 9AM.... didnt get a single drop of rain all day. |
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6/20/2022 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 6/20/2022, By: soundchaser2112 Info: Not full summer conditions yet. Still a few remaining small snowfields on the approach, spikes/poles/axe still highly recommended. Otherwise the route is largely dry except for a fresh 1" dusting of snow on the summit block that will melt soon |
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6/5/2022 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 6/7/2022, By: BillMiddlebrook Info: Status is pretty much the same as the report from 6/1. The last 1/2 mile of the road is blocked by downed trees but there are places to pull off the road below that point, as well as some camp spots down the road. I recommend micro spikes (at least) for the snowfield below Rock of Ages saddle. Beyond that, they are not needed. That snowfield was softening and greasy by 11:00am on our descent and we used ice axes. |
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6/1/2022 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 6/1/2022, By: NhRob Info: Summitted Wilson Peak from the rock of ages approach. As previous reports mentioned, there is an impassible section of downed trees about .4 miles from the trailhead. I spent the night before and started my hike at a signed campsite .6 from the true trailhead. The road to this point was great and any 4WD should make it. Complete summer conditions for first 2.0 miles or so (from the true trailhead). Then from there, as you turn into silver pick basin, on and off snow patches that you'll probably want at least spikes for - as these patches are melting they are very slippery and there is a chance of slipping for some distance if you did fall. The most snow comes as you as you're getting up to the first saddle on the steep slope. That whole steep part is basically snow covered with a few small patches of dirt . The snow isn't too deep, but poses the same risk of slipping for a distance if you did fall. **I lost a microspike on the way down in this section, keep an eye out for it and if you see a black XL Kahtoola micro spike let me know!** From there, the rest of the route to the saddle between Wilson peak/Gladstone peak and onto the summit is essentially summer conditions, with a patch of snow here and there that you can cross quickly. I took my spikes off after the first saddle and left them off till I was back on it on my descent. Spent 15 minutes up on the summit then headed back down. I've attached all the photos I took today as well for anyone interested. Great day! 10.6 miles, 5:20 round trip including the extra .6 on either side. Left my car at 5:15a, summitted at 8:20a, 15 minutes on top, and I was back at my car at 10:35a. Took a second pair of boots and crampons / axe but never even considered taking them out today. Ready for the summer! |
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5/29/2022 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 5/29/2022, By: jmg11 Info: Got Wilson Peak all to myself today 5/29! Great weather window and really fun final approach from the Wilson-Gladstone saddle. 10.6mi total. Started at 2:50am, finished at 11:40am. 5hrs to summit, 30min rest on summit, 3hrs back down. I got up the access road without issue in my stock AWD SUV. Unfortunately the TH is still inaccessible about 0.4mi back due to multiple downed trees. I parked in a established camping spot about 0.6mi back that can fit 2 parties comfortably. Rock of Ages Trail was in great shape. The old miners road helps with the longer approach. Very few downed trees throughout. Once you round the corner to Silver Pick Basin, snow crossings intermittently cover the trail. I got lucky with a freeze last night so I had no issues on the way up, but on the way down through those crossings (approx. 9-10:45am) I started post-holing and slipping due to the angle of the snow. It's possible that crampons would've alleviated that stress, but I packed the wrong boots so I didn't wear mine. Wore microspikes and used poles the whole day. As for the upper section of the trail, I thought it was well-cairned (found that out on my way down). Look for them- they exist! And as you can see in my pictures, it was very dry up there and all around the San Juans. West side of Wilson looked like terrible skiing conditions. Rocks popping out everywhere with huge sun cups filling every snowfield. End of ski season there IMO. Summer hiking is here in the SJs!! |
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5/15/2022 Route: NW Face Posted On: 5/16/2022, By: slawrence2011 Info: Road is dry until about .5 mile past the wooden sign right turn. Then some snow drifts that I didn't want to go past in my civic, and not long past that, tons of deadfall. Some of it required a lot of creativity to climb around. It will be a lot of work for someone to cut that out. There was one tree down low hanging above the road with about 7 feet of clearance on the right. I got my civic through, and I saw a truck barely get through. Also, mud is super bad on the road. I got my civic stuck deep turning around on the way out and had to get bailed out. Carrying full chains may be a good trick for mud down the road. Rock of ages trail has snow most of the way through the trees, which is very tricky without flotation, especially in the afternoon. First rocky switchback above the trees is dry, then more snow off and on, then full snow below Wilson. Snow was supportive for booter up from around 9-11 AM. That couloir Dawson describes is not visible from below, as it is on the far left side at the top and faces directly west. It still goes, but there are 3 distinct rock "cruxes" that frightened me downclimbing, though probably just scrambling on loose rock from a mixed perspective. The final scramble to the summit on loose was also a bit frightening, but that just might be Wilson all the time. Ski down was great, can ski back to a high switchback on the road right before it curves around. P.S., I also came up the same way and skied the NE (Coors) face on 5/6 based on a previous report. Dropped in at 10:20, way too late, but was too frightened to downclimb the couloir I described above. Little did I know the opening 200 feet was way harder to side step down in skis than the couloir would have been in boots. There was a moment I was hovering on rock balanced between tips seriously contemplating my survival. But I made it and the ski down was amazing. I tried to traverse far left, but didn't get nearly far enough, and ended up slogging/bushwacking and following intermittent snow on a drainage E of big bear creek. Finally, I found a trail, and followed it, and it took me all the way to the back gate of Rancho Deluxe way down low. I was graciously greeted by the kids and dogs of the owner, and they generously offered me a ride all the way back up to my car. I have to be careful about this to preserve access, but I am genuinely curious how you would approach that. Must just have to traverse way hard before you get too low. |
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5/2/2022 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 5/3/2022, By: One Sierra Charlie Info: Went up the NW Face and skied the NE Face (Coors Face). If you do this route you want to follow Dawson's advice and take the narrow couloir from the climber's left corner at the top of the NW Face snowfield. This leads to the summit ridge, very close to where the Coors line begins. It is also an easy 100 ft. stroll to the summit without any need for rock moves. The Coors line is not very well filled in this season, which limits the entry to the central gully to a single path that is barely a ski width wide in most places. Several rocks will be exposed as you descend, making anything that looks like skiing impossible, really. You can carefully sidestep into the central gully, which is much better filled in and you can start jump turns there. There are thinly-covered sharks in the upper section of the gully, however, so fast skiing would be a bad idea. The coverage gets much better as you descend the gully, but unfortunately it contains a cliffy dry section midway down. This section could possibly be downclimbed, but we did not ski down to check it out more closely. The obvious option is to traverse left, passing several other inviting gullies that also don't appear to go this season. If you want to ski the peak this season, I would recommend downclimbing the couloir and ski the well-covered NW face. Leave the Coors line for a season with better snowpack. |
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4/24/2022 Route: Coors Face Posted On: 4/25/2022, By: coopereitel Info: Climbed the NW face of Wilson Peak and skied the Coors Face (NE) with David (Climberskierdave64). We started at 3:10 (at about 9,700'), summited at 9:20, and returned to the car at 12:15. The NW face is pretty straightforward. The crux wall was the primary challenge on this route with the mixed snow and rock, especially with ski boots and crampons. We spent a short time on the summit before hitting the descent. The Coors Face lives up to the hype. The section before you reach the central is crazy steep and has plenty of rocks poking through. We slowly worked our way in kicking off plenty of sluffs and chunks of wind slab (nothing propagated, or showed signs of propagation). Once in the couloir, it was still steep, but you could take a breath. We were still kicking off a bunch of sluff and made turns where the snow wasn't rocky. We had to cut right around a little cliff band that wasn't filled in and then took a sharp left and traversed away from the cliffs and gullies below (these gullies did not look in). From there, we were home free. The traverse back around to the car was simple and untrivial. Some of the photos are David's. |
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2/19/2022 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 2/20/2022, By: paulbarish Info: It's in good shape for climbing and even better shape for skiing! Solid base with some pow on top. Trail from Cross Mtn Th to Lizard Head Pass is hard packed, after that there wasn't any tracks. I only skied from about 12600 give or take a bit but it was good type one fun! The summit scramble has some snow on it but isn't bad. |
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1/23/2022 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 1/24/2022, By: moon stalker Info: Trail was packed about 2 miles from the trailhead. Broke from there. Snow appeared stable. We separated on the slopes we did have to cross. The east face was fairly dry compared to many pics I've seen in January in other years. The notch had fresh loose snow on it that made it tedious and time consuming. With patience the holds can be revealed under the snow. Started out at -4 in the morning and almost went down to a t shirt in the middle of the day. No wind. Awesome day. |
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12/3/2021 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 12/3/2021, By: 14ercooper Info: There's pretty consistent snowcover from around two miles before the Rock of Ages trailhead running pretty continuously up to the summit with just a few breaks mostly below treeline (though all the class 3 sections along the ridge had paths through them that didn't involve too much snow, even if it was still definitely there). Was super glad to have gotten an early enough start to be back down to treeline by sunrise when all the snow started to turn to slush, and my crampons and axe were very much appreciated up near the saddle and along the ridge. |
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10/4/2021 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 10/5/2021, By: jfm3 Info: Consistent snow on from 12,400 feet in Silver Pick Basin up to the Wilson-Gladstone saddle. Somewhat dry on the rising traverse to the summit ridge. Serious, high-consequence snow on all aspects of the crux wall between the false & true summits. Crampons and ice axe are mandatory to reach the top. I saw footprints up to the Gladstone saddle. I was the only one on the mountain all day. |
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9/26/2021 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 9/26/2021, By: LetsGoMets Info: 99.9% summer conditions on Wilson Peak, a tiny bit of snow in the gully you down climb into before the crux move. #58/58 #85/100 |
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9/25/2021 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 9/27/2021, By: mtgoatmike Info: Such a fun mountain! The Rock of Ages trail should be called "Rock FOR Ages". This route is a great introduction to class 3 terrain, exposure is minimal, if at all; you get great practice route finding along the "ledges", and picture 20 is a lot more intimidating than in person. |
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9/25/2021 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 9/27/2021, By: BrookStout Info: I gave a ride to someone from ROA trailhead back to their car on 9/25. I was driving a white Mazda and something accidentally got left in my car. Message me a description of the item and I'll happily mail it to you! Not sure if there is private messaging on here, otherwise you can find me on fb: Brook Stout, Colorado Springs |
