El Diente Peak

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 7/2/2020, By: jmcguire1969
Info: The North Slopes route is in great shape. This is a snow climb. You can remain on snow almost the entire climb, for 1500+ vertical. We climbed the lower apron with microspikes then switched to crampons for the upper couloir. We were on the snow at 5am and it was nice and hard, ice axe and crampons are a must! As we neared the top, the snow became softer and kick stepping became the norm. Route finding to the summit was pretty straight forward. There are a couple patches of snow to navigate on the final summit push but we were able to walk through them. This is a long and committing route but way better than hiking talus. Enjoy! 

Route: North Buttress
Posted On: 6/22/2020, By: yeshecanney
Info: Completely dry on Navajo Lake approach and entire north buttress. Need to cross short (30') snow section 200' beneath summit at the top of buttress where it meets couloir to the west. Axe is helpful here for security. Slab traverse at top of buttress is still snow covered, we took route up and right (photo 19 in route description). 

Route: Mt. Wilson + El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 6/16/2020, By: bmcqueen
Info: I did El Diente from Kilpacker Sunday, then traversed to Mt. Wilson. There is still quite a bit of snow on the southern aspect of El Diente - I was in my crampons from the turn-off to about 13,300', then worked my way on rock to the Organ pipes. From there, a little more snow to traverse before the gully that leads you back to the ridge. Crampons went back on for the snow on the north side of the ridge up to the summit.

The traverse to Mt. Wilson is mostly dry. There were a couple of minor snow crossings with low consequence where I didn't put crampons back on, but two spots where I stopped and put crampons back on, including the final north side traverse just before the last saddle - I would not have wanted to be on that without axe and crampons. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 5/26/2020, By: MichaelWG
Info: Not going to post a trailhead report but FYI, road is totally clear and in good condition up to the trailhead. A little bumpy but made it there in a Sprinter without any issues. Sedan would be tough but a small SUV would be fine.

Hike into kilpacker was free of major snow, but there were some patches to walk through in the woods. There was some more of this intermittently between the meadows at 10.8k where people camp through to the basin itself.

Once in the basin it's mostly all snow with dry patches here and there on the talus. We wore our crampons once we were in the basin and just stayed on snow.

The south slopes are still pretty much fully covered in snow, which makes for a good snow climb (crampons and ice ax definitely needed). There was a decent overnight freeze and it stayed cloudy all day so the snow was in perfect condition. We got to the top of the ridge where you flip over onto the north side for the last 50 feet to the summit, and it was so covered in snow that we opted to turn around. It's probably doable, but we've summited El Diente before so saw no reason to risk it.

The traverse looked fairly dry and doable looking at it from ED, but looking back at my pictures from Wilson it actually looks a lot snowier than I'd remembered. It'll probably be a bit spicy for the next few weeks. If anyone wants pics of a particular aspect, let me know and I can see what I have.

(Will post a separate report for Mt. Wilson in a sec) 

Route: Mt. Wilson + El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 2/22/2020, By: ScreeSurfer
Info: I took advantage of the perfect weather window and the "generally safe" avalanche status and climbed Mt Wilson with an out and back traverse to El Diente from the Cross Mountain trail head . I followed a very packed trench up towards Lizard Head peak before donning showshoes and making a traversing descent into the Slate Creek drainage. Snow was actually pretty firm with maybe 6" average punch through. In the drainage leading up to Gladstone Peak, pretty much followed some faint tracks which must have been laid the day before by Coloradokid. Left the snowshoes at the turn up towards the Eastface route of Mt Wilson. A mostly dry scree field allows you to gain ~500 feet before crampons are required for the rest of the route. Snow varied between firm to say 4" toe kicking steps with an occasional foot deep pocket. The overnight freeze must have helped firm up the snow as I felt safe topping out in the couloir. The traverse was in fine shape with a mix of snow and rock. Northside snow felt firm and southside was a bit wet and deep with slower going. I definitely felt most comfortable on the rocky ridge when feasible. On the return trip, bypassed the Wilson summit with nice snow filled couloir leading to the saddle. Stayed on snow the entire way down to stashed snowshoes rather than the scree slope. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 11/9/2019, By: Vincopotamus
Info: Some inconsequential or avoidable patches of shallow snow from TH to ridge, might as well be dry. On the shaded/north aspects of the ridge there is fresh, unconsolidated snow that made things a little spooky. Carried an axe and microspikes, but never used them - though the spikes would probably have been useful on the north side of the ridge 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 10/15/2019, By: CO_GPS_Guy
Info: South Slopes route (E2) is clear of snow (or easily avoided) from 12,600' trail turn off to the summit. Dry, firm climbing conditions the entire way. Snow fields below 12,600 turn-off firm and no traction needed. Camped in Kilpacker basin near the creek which is flowing strong. Two waterfalls south of the trail along the way to the turn off are frozen in the morning - some slight water in the afternoon. Estimating night time temps were in the teens - froze water bucket quite nicely. Bluebird day - just a touch of wind. 9 folks on the summit - 4 from the Navajo Basin Side. Only folks we saw all day. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 9/22/2019, By: ma1919
Info: There is a dusting of snow on the ridge between the saddle where the South and North routes meet and the notch just below the summit. Snow also still fills the gully immediately below the summit, but you can easily stick to the rock on climber's left to avoid the worst of it. There is only one low-angle snowfield remaining on the route below the ED-MW split - the snowfield mentioned in the last CR has melted off of the trail completely. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 9/3/2019, By: Phill the Thrill
Info: Camped in the Kilpacker basin, in a most beautiful campsite. PM me for location if you're interested. Carried spikes and put them on to cross one snowfield at 13,000 ft. Could have just as easily climbed around it. Lots of climbers out there on a holiday weekend, and the rocks were flying as a result, so wear a helmet and be careful. One fist-sized rock hit me directly in the back, thankfully my backpack took the full impact. 

Route: North Buttress
Posted On: 8/26/2019, By: tomas_kazokas
Info: Did Wilsons group by staring and ascending the North Buttress of El Diente, traversing to Mt Wilson and descending North slopes of Mt Wilson, then proceeded to Wilson Peak. The Buttress is in excellent condition and the route is free of snow. The traverse was enjoyable and pretty stable. The North Slopes of Mt Wilson still has snow but it is easily avoidable. The rocks on Mt Wilson slopes are supper loose and dangerous. Also, I would avoid standing beneath or climbing the snow-filled colours anywhere between the Mt Wilson or Eldiente. I have heard some rocks tumbling past 9 am once the sun hit the mountain. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 8/24/2019, By: litote312
Info: Summer conditions from Kilpacker, no snow travel required to summit except for one or two manageable snowfields. One snowy slope remains near the summit, but class 3 bypass above it was straightforward. 

Route: North Buttress
Posted On: 8/15/2019, By: johntmv
Info: Route is *almost* entirely snow free and running at summer conditions. Directly after the tower, found at the top of the V snow field, there is some snow which blocks easy passage to the slabs. Given the steepness of the slope, microspikes and an axe would be nice here even though it's just a short stretch. Alternatively, like our group did, one can climb onto some snow at the base of the tower, traverse over it about 15 ft, and find a small bypass to the right which avoids the snow.

Photo #1 is of the snow line we took directly after the tower. Photo #2 is of the the snow which blocks easy passage onto the slabs of the summit pitch. Photo #3 is of the bypass we climbed over to avoid the snow before the slabs. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 8/14/2019, By: High_On_Thin_Air
Info: Was there yesterday and traversed from El D to Wilson from kilpacker side. I wore TX3s but my partner wore some sticky rubber adidas that looked like soccer shoes and we both had no problem with sore feet from loose rock. Take an ice axe as well as take crampons or sharp microspikes if you plan to ascend mt Wilson first because you will cross over a half mile of snow and even at one pm it was still pretty hard. Only a minor amount of snow to cross on way to El D route but none actually on it. Traverse is dry. Weather forecast said 0% chance of precip and we still got rained/graupelled on hiking down through the basin at 1 pm. Be ready for all conditions as it will likely not be full summer conditions at all this year.
North side aka Navajo Basin has a lot of snow on all north slopes would for sure be a partial snow climb on either peak. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 8/15/2019, By: tjf242424
Info: The gully is still full of snow and will likely remain so. We used crampons and ice axe, which are definitely required. The slope is fairly consistent at 40-45 degrees and the snow was firm throughout our ascent. We reached the ridge at around 8am. After tagging El Diente, we traversed to Wilson and descended the Wilson North Slopes route with no further need for snow equipment. 

Route: North Buttress
Posted On: 8/12/2019, By: LivingOnTheEdge
Info: Our intention was to climb the assess the North Buttress to see if it would go with minimal snow and then descend the N slopes of Mt. Wilson. We did not end up climbing it but it appears that the "V" snowfield is completely filled, so you would have to get creative if the ledge is covered there. Second, it appears that the snow goes right up to the grey slabs just before the summit pitch and some of them may be covered. Finally, the small snowfield above the chimneys near the summit looked like it may interfere with some of the 4th class work near the summit.