6/18/2024 Route: Southeast Ridge Posted On: 6/20/2024, By: grompice Info: Camped at the high parking the night before. Road up to the high parking is definitely high-clearance only, some really sketchy rocks there. Started the hike at 4:47 AM, on the way up there were several snowfields, didnt really need spikes until the ridge, snow was solid enough to support my weight without post-holing (I am 160 lbs). The weather was nice for the whole morning, some wind gusts made the ascent a bit chilly, but no precipitation of any kind. Starting at the climbing section, there was almost no snow and the hardest climbing pitches were all rock. Following the route there was a solid pile of very slick ice/snow in the crack you have to climb through. There was also a massive snow drift right before the final pitch to the summit. Summit is entirely snow-free, and the route should only get better from here. |
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6/15/2024 Route: Southeast Ridge Posted On: 6/16/2024, By: NOJ Info: Climbed standard route 7/15. Route is certain early summer conditions. Many 100-200 feet length snowfields that can be easy to porthole in as temperatures rise. Otherwise lots of wet snowmelt rolling down mountain. No special gear needed other than gators to keep socks dry. Beautiful conditions out there! |
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6/15/2024 Route: Southeast Ridge Posted On: 6/15/2024, By: FlipFlap55 Info: The standard route up Wetterhorn has a handful of small snow crossings, probably 100 steps total. There was some snow around the class 3 sections, but nothing that made me go off route or feel uncomfortable. After summiting the traverse over to Uncompahgre had numerous snow crossings ranging from supportive to slushy depending on the aspect. Id recommend waiting a week or two for the valley to melt out more for a better experience with less wet shoes, but it can be done. It was smooth sailing from the Uncompahgre saddle to the summit with two small snow crossings. I had spikes, but didn't put them on all day. |
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6/2/2024 Route: Southeast Ridge Posted On: 6/2/2024, By: Rg15 Info: Started at 4:40 AM from the Matterhorn Creek junction. There is intermittent snow starting with occasional drifts just above the upper TH, gradually becoming more continuous up to the saddle. I postholed quite a bit until I hit the refreeze around 12000. Past the saddle, the ridge is initially dry, though the gullies below the prow are holding a lot of snow and crampons/ice axe are still mandatory. Aside from a couple small patches of ice that are entirely avoidable, the summit pitch is completely dry. Summited around 7:30. Tempted by the nearly dry south ridge of Matterhorn, I cut across the basin around 12500 to head up that way. Once on the ridge, I only had to cross one patch of snow at the base of the summit block. Summited Matterhorn at 9:50. Postholed below 12000 as expected but nothing too heinous. Got back to my car at 11:35. Still gonna be quite a while until full summer conditions, but with an early start and the right gear, Wetterhorn is totally doable at the moment. For all you skiers, it looks like the East Face still has great coverage. |
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5/26/2024 Route: East Face Posted On: 5/29/2024, By: slawrence2011 Info: Didn't summit. Made it to within 1/4 mile of the Matterhorn creek junction the night before in my civic, and got shut down by a 6 inch creek crossing. I turned around at that point in a 10 point turn, but it was very narrow, and one side of the road dropped off, so I backed into a rock and broke my muffler off. I was then able to get most of my vehicle out of the road and parked there for a couple days. Started at 4:30 AM, and looks like a better vehicle could make it to the junction. There are a couple of snow crossings before the TH, but they now have tire tracks through them. That Matterhorn creek road, though some guides say high clearance 4WD is fine when dry, not sure I want to take my civic up there. Built out the posthole highway since snow was very inconsistent until the first trail junction where the guides describe making a rising traverse up the West side of the drainage from 11 to 11,5. I stupidly missed the key switchback where it starts going toward the basin instead of away, and wasted a ton of time making huge postholes in the forest, and eventually realizing I must have lost the trail, and switchbacking on steep grass way higher than I would have had to go. Then had to drop back down and eventually got to the start of the basin, but wasted at least 30-60 minutes. Basin was very supportive for booting around 7-8, was able to follow low angle snow all the way to the base of E face, went up in decent but often punchy crampon conditions, especially up high, as the sun started getting more continuous, and I probably should have bailed because there were moments I was sinking down to the waist. But I moved quickly and traversed to other snow and managed to make it to the Keyhole at 11. Sadly couldn't summit because I was already on borrowed time. But I did see that the summit scramble was totally dry. Skied down on amazing conditions that were probably about an hour too prime, thank God I didn't start anything. Then skied all the way out to the forest, and found the road I should have taken, which was dry up to 11,5. Hiked all the way out. |
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3/10/2024 Route: Southeast Ridge Posted On: 3/10/2024, By: artemavovk Info: Road has a couple of bare spots a couple of miles in. Otherwise snowmobile packed snow all the way to second 4WD sign. Snow was very icy and solid in the morning all the way to the ridge, heard a few thumps on steeper slopes. By the time I got to the ridge, the snow started baking. Used crampons, ice axe is helpful sometimes, but snow got way too soft quickly. All gullies have a good amount of snow, but you can get to the rock beneath, maybe knee deep. Gully just before the prow had good ice under the snow on the way up. Slab is snow covered and so is the last gully ascent. Had to take it really slow and trust the crampons a lot. Descent ski around 1pm was fantastic all the way down to first 4WD sign. I took safe routes, the face looked too melty. It got really hot above and below treeline so everything above the ridge might melt out by the end of season. |
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10/13/2023 Route: Southeast Ridge Posted On: 10/14/2023, By: Strugglr Info: Summited Wetterhorn and Matterhorn in the fresh snow. Some challenging trail finding on the lower boulder fields due to the snow. The summit block of Wetterhorn was slippery but not too bad. Got to the Wetterhorn summit in two hours and 20 mins at a fast but comfortable pace. Stunning views all day. Matterhorn is a boring steep grass climb but probably the best mountain for views that I have ever been on. |
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10/7/2023 Route: Uncompahgre Wetterhorn Combo Posted On: 10/7/2023, By: Joey_parm Info: Started with Uncompahgre from Matterhorn Creek TH. Uncompahgre: Intermittent patches of snow starting a few miles from the start to the summit which are small, melting fast, and of no major concern. Wetterhorn: Similar non-issue snow patches ascending the rocks of the east slopes with some deeper snow as you get closer to the ridge. After that, no snow all the way to the summit. 16.5 miles, 7,747' vert per my InReach. Did not use spikes at any time. Go get'em before next snowfall. |
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10/6/2023 Route: Southeast Ridge Posted On: 10/7/2023, By: Kimberlyann00 Info: The only reason I won't say it is basically summer conditions are the colors of the aspens. . . There was some snow below the saddle, that seemed to be melting quickly assuming weather conditions hold. We didn't even bother with spikes or gators. The route above the saddle was clear and dry and everything below ~12,500 was dry. We honestly couldn't have had a better day for it - the fall colors were stunning against the other snowcapped peaks in the valley, virtually no wind, and hardly a cloud in the sky. |
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9/22/2023 Route: Southeast Ridge Posted On: 9/24/2023, By: mindfolded Info: Very windy, but no snow on the path to the summit. I didn't use any, but the water flowing around 12,500' on the crossover to the Uncompagre trail looks much cleaner than everything else. The rest of the streams that you pass look like they've been used to dye eggs. |
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9/17/2023 Route: Southeast Ridge Posted On: 9/18/2023, By: bdloftin77 Info: Dry!! Most peaks south of Henson Creek appeared to have a decent amount of snow, notably Redcloud and Sunshine. |
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9/17/2023 Route: Southeast Ridge Posted On: 9/19/2023, By: Piotr Info: Dry on 9/17, might have changed with incoming weather. |
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7/28/2023 Route: Southeast Ridge Posted On: 7/28/2023, By: Logan5280 Info: Route is totally in summer condition. The rock quality is excellent the whole time |
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7/28/2023 Route: Southeast Ridge Posted On: 7/28/2023, By: kritifer15 Info: Was nervous about this one (rock not being solid etc.) but all the info I was hearing from other hikers was totally correct. Definitely solid rock on the exposed ladder section and final pitch to the summit. I definitely concur with the takes on the flies. They were worst on the summit and 1 mile from the trailhead on return. |
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7/26/2023 Route: Southeast Ridge Posted On: 7/27/2023, By: tlgold1990 Info: One snow patch that can be avoided. Otherwise summer conditions. Flies are still an issue. Wildflowers are amazing! |
