North Maroon Peak

Route: Traverse from south
Posted On: 7/20/2020, By: Wild Bill
Info: We took the traverse. I wouldn't have had any idea the route had it not been for Andy and Susan. Andy has done this traverse many times and made it fun and safe. The traverse is no joke and demands some physical condition. However Andy knew the route. Once on top of N. Maroon you start for the long ridge pointing towards Crater Lake. Soon the trail will direct you slightly left to a long vertical shelf. We found a set rope and dropped off here. However looking back shows a better way further along the same said ridge. This next shelf takes you a good ways along a lower ridge. I want to press the fact that once in the “gulley” you absolutely need to go directly down it. This move looks wrong but it is not. There are cairns marking left and this is a mistake, Andy made this very clear. Once you drop off the gulley until there seems no hope you will notice a large trail breaking left, make your way to this trail. Once on this trail the remainder explains itself. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/2/2020, By: Moogie737
Info: We were able to avoid the few remaining small snowfields with 2 very minor exceptions. Snow at the chimney base was easy to kick steps into. My partner and I are “older” and decided to avoid time-consuming route finding by hiring a guide from Aspen Alpine Guides. It worked out well as Ted Mahon kept us on trail the entire way. When time is of the essence and you don't have a friend to show the way on a peak like this then you “find” a friend. 14er #54 now climbed and a new friend - a great two-fer. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/12/2020, By: Coloradokid_
Info: Boulder field still has a good amount of snow, can avoid 90% of snow in both gulleys. Once gaining the ridge snow was pretty consistent all the way to the summit. Class 4 chimney was still holding quite a bit of snow. Lots of ice in the early AM, snow was deteriorating by 8 AM on the decent.

Edit* sorry the pics are kinda out of order 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 10/7/2019, By: austinpavlas
Info: Completed the Bells Traverse on 10/6. The traverse was very fun but the difficulty is over hyped. The descent down North Maroon was by far the most difficult part of the day. The Northwest Ridge was icy, snowy, and extremely slick. Be cautious as this side of the mountain is the in the shade all day and the current snow/ice will likely remain. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 9/28/2019, By: noexit33
Info: Route was mostly dry and not as windy as I was expecting it to be. Starting around the chimney section there was a light dusting of snow but it was fairly warm and melting fast. Wet shoes made that part a bit more exciting but managed to get up and down OK. Got to the TH at 5 AM and it was mostly full with photographers who had their cameras lined up on tripods about 6 inches apart. Aspens are about 70% yellow and it was super pretty. 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 9/22/2019, By: MC.Ikema
Info: Northeast Ridge - small patches of mostly avoidable snow hiding in the shadows of North Maroon's north face. The fixed rope at the top of the chimney is gone.

Bells Traverse (Maroon to N. Maroon) - small patches of snow hiding in the shadows of Maroon's north face during the descent off the summit to the top of the Bell Cord. No snow encountered from the top of Bell Cord to the summit of North Maroon. 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 9/6/2019, By: CoHi591
Info: The Bells Traverse was absolutely incredible. Decently cairned. I found the second of the "three major difficulties" to be the most intense because of the exposure, but the climbing was better than I expected. As long as you're paying attention you can find solid rock. There were spots where we were making mid-class 5 moves but there were probably easier ways around those spots if you look for them.
It took us 1:45 between summits.
Getting down N. maroon was the most tedious part of the day. There is a pretty clear ramp between gullies that we used, and only one short area that took some poking around to get past a little cliff and relocate the trail. Having a GPS was helpful.

Left car at 4:20, took a leisurely pace on trail, ridge at 7 am, South summit 8:50-9:00, North summit at 10:45, and then a long 3 hours back to the car. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 8/25/2019, By: DevonK
Info: I summited the morning of 8/24. Follow the cairns. Halfway up the second gully you lose the cairns and have to pick your line. I went up the left side for the most part climbing up cracks that were never more difficult than class 4. Someone hung a rope in the chimney. I didn't use it climbing up but it gave me some peace of mind down climbing. The descent took me as long as the ascent so make sure to stay focused the whole way down. 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 8/14/2019, By: Shattuck311
Info: Summer conditions with only a few steps on snow while descending North Maroon after the traverse. Beautiful time to be up high as the valleys are lush and green. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 8/10/2019, By: hellmanm
Info: Pretty much summer conditions. The class 3 bypass is wet and involves traversing a small snowfield that requires an ice axe. Go in expecting to climb the chimney. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 8/2/2019, By: Tacocat Climbing
Info: Started from the trailhead at around 4:45am. Weather reports were good, but there was some clouds that gave me a bit of a scare. I ended up deciding that the clouds were ok, they didnt look too menacing, and decided to continue.

The snow that may have previously covered the trail after the chimney is melted enough that I never touched it. Brought my axe and micro spikes but never used either of them.

Summer conditions! Had the whole peak to myself which was pretty nice! Roundtrip time was 6hours 15minutes.

Video of the hike: https://youtu.be/2GOFkVXito0 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/30/2019, By: JDG7
Info: N. Maroon NE Ridge Route is summer conditions until the top of the 2nd gully. Before the chimney there is about 75 feet of soft snow. The snow stops 2 feet from the base of the chimney. Climbing the chimney was easy. Dry & simple. Then past the chimney the snow got worse. Approaching the prominent point and beyond it were two snow fields at a decent slope. If you go, at a minimum take microspikes and an alpine ax. I put my crampons on and used 1 alpine ax and 1 mountaineering ax. But i am old and cautious. Will add pictures soon. If you are decent at climbing, don't let this deter you. It is not hard, just requires a bit of caution.

PICTURE ADDITION:

1) (not pictured) the creek crossing is swollen. go upstream 100 feet and fine a perfect log crossing then reacquire the trail.
2) picture 1 - north slope. plenty of snow, but off route until the summit block
3) the rock glacier crossing. easy to skirt the remaining small snow fields
4) weather shots, and first look at 1st Gully. Summer conditions
5) 2nd Gully top and the notch w/ledge exit area - was concerning to me because from the ground it looked to have snow, and this area is a low-margin for error exit, but it had summer conditions.
6) 75 feet before the chimney, snow started on the top of the north slope/top of the north face. microspikes advised (i used pons& axes)
7) chimney itself is clean, snow goes up to within 18 inches of the start. Once on the chimney, it was the easiest part of the summit push in these conditions (the good and bad news)
8) shot looking down the chimney. dry rock. good stuff.
9) above the chimney the snow field increased as well as the steeps. you definitely need a light ax and microspikes at a minimum.
10) around the precipice, the cornice chokes the route down at the corner to 18", with exposure. Either skirt it carefully with your summer kit, or through the pons on and use your axes to mount the serac to skirt the corner (the serac is not overhanging). I carefully chose option A. the third to last picture is the closeup of the corner at the precipice upon my descent.
11) North East Face of Maroon Peak
12) West Face of Pyramid

Hope this helps those who plan to get a short summer window summit on N. Maroon.
Again, I am glad I took the crampons and my ice axes. It might be overkill for some, but on N. Maroon/Capital/Little Bear, etc, when you add ice and snow, it makes sense to an old fart like me to overkill it. I kindof like living.
I will do a trip report this week. If you have questions, happy to help in any way. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/24/2019, By: kiwiliam
Info: Bailed on North Maroon last night, as there looked to be too much snow on ridge above 2nd gully and I had a mid-afternoon appointment in Aspen. This morning I went up to entrance Pyramid Amphitheater. Here are some photos. Looked like the falls out of Minnehaha Gulch were still pumping. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/27/2019, By: sheriffa10
Info: Downclimbed northeast ridge after climbing Bell Chord Coulior and Maroon Peak earlier. There are still a few snow fields near the summit that were soft by the early afternoon descent. Photos show the extent of the snow on 7/21. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/8/2019, By: marksilas
Info: Photo taken from Pyramid Peak trail a little below the amphitheater.
Minnehaha Creek is really high; might be difficult to cross.