5/31/2019 Route: NW ridge up, North face ski Posted On: 5/31/2019, By: SnowAlien Info: Deep powder :) Sun was warming up the rocks at 6.30-7am, and icicles/small rocks started coming down on us, so we didn't want the exposure of the face and took the NW ridge (stellar route btw). Only 2 tricky sections on rock, the rest was snow. Summited by 9.30, were skiing by 10am (wouldn't want to be any later). Punk rock is completely buried. |
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9/29/2018 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 10/1/2018, By: denverfromdenver Info: Still clear on NW Ridge route. There was a dusting of snow lingering from about 13,500 on up. No traction was necessary for us, but could get slippery when more accumulates. We stuck to the left side of both gullies and had good success staying on trail. After the gullies, it's especially important to see where you came from, because everything will look different when descending. This route has plenty of well placed cairns to help with route finding issues. Pay attention to these. Absolutely perfect conditions for time of year. |
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9/27/2018 Route: Bells Traverse Posted On: 9/28/2018, By: Dave Mason Info: The north facing aspects of both South and North Maroon have 1" of snow which has some ice underneath. The down climb off South Maroon was passable and the snowice didn't cause any concerns. The traverse has so much sun exposure that it is still totally clear. The down climb off North Maroon was dicey. There is snowice on the shelves around the class 4 section and even walking further west to avoid the class 4 moves puts you in difficult conditions with snow and ice on the small ledges needed to down climb. Once through this section, no other snow or issues encountered. |
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9/22/2018 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 9/22/2018, By: johntmv Info: The last 500 feet to the summit has some snow and plenty of rocks are iced over. We did not have any traction devices with us, but everyone in our group wished we did. The snow/ice certainly slowed our descent and made a few moves a little more risky than desired. Below 13,600ft, the route is free of snow/ice and still in summer conditions. |
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9/8/2018 Route: Bells Traverse Posted On: 9/10/2018, By: thebeave7 Info: Ascended from the Gunsight, route is in fine shape, just loose rock. The traverse is mostly dry until you reach the final climb up to South Maroon, no problem navigating the crux sections, fully dry. Descended the standard NE ridge, route was mostly dry, some melting snow patches here and there, avoidable. |
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8/25/2018 Route: Bells Traverse Posted On: 8/26/2018, By: dwoodward13 Info: Descent to Bell Cord is well marked. Looks like there is a bypass of the Class 4 section descenders left, but it wasn't bad. The first difficulty none in our party had any issues. Route well marked around to the second difficulty. Second difficulty is the most exposed, but not too difficult for me. One shorter person in our group struggled a bit more here. 3rd difficulity was by far the hardest. 2 in our party went to the right chimney, other two went to the chimney on the left. Right chimney is harder but far shorter. I did the left chimney and would do the right one if I did it again. Left is much much longer, but take your time and it's easier. From here out we didn't have any issues. Summit to summit for our party of 4 took 1:40. Descent down S Maroon sucked and we overshot the turn down into to main grass gully. Luckily we realized quickly and we're able to correct without much issue. We were following cairns so at least several other people have done this! All in all an amazing day! |
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8/8/2018 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 8/9/2018, By: RockyMountainMustang Info: Dry and clear. The runout in the gullies is breathtaking, particularly the 2nd. If the first gully is too much for you, it only gets looser and harder the further you go on this mountain. Saw some goats in 1st gully. Nice sunny day on the summit. Trail/cairns are easier to follow and more stable than I thought it would be, but is fairly loose in spots. This is not a mountain to be taken lightly. The pics below show my hiking partner on some of the hairier spots on the trail. Pic 1 Looking down the 1st gully, Pic 2-3 Summit shots, Pic 4-8 heading down from summit and down 2nd gully, pic 9 Goats! |
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7/28/2018 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 7/29/2018, By: SpringsDuke Info: Great day on the mountain with very little wind on the summit and no haze or issues from the Basalt Fire. Only had to watch for one loose rock falling at us from a group above the first gully going up, and our group also accidently sent a loose rock down the 2nd gully going down both cantaloupe sized and both had high velocity so be careful. Other than that quite an enjoyable climb I would do again! A climber in my group dropped his poles somewhere in the middle of the 2nd gully and on the way back we could not find them. They were his grandfathers hiking poles so would be nice to get those back to him if possible. They are leki super maku gold and black. Feel free to leave a comment or shoot me a message if found, thanks! |
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7/16/2018 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 7/16/2018, By: supranihilest Info: Route finding up to the rock glacier is easy peasy. The rock glacier itself has no trail but is easy enough to navigate in the light (don't arrive too early if you can avoid it, it's a pain in the dark). Once you reach the bottom of the first gully, the entire route beyond it becomes a no fall zone. The results of a fall would be catastrophic. Route finding through both gullies is pretty straight forward, just follow the trail or trail segments. Suddenly faced with something much more difficult? Go back and try another way. The route up the second gully essentially follows a gully-within-a-gully on the lefthand side. Both gullies are steep and loose but quite easy relative to what I was expecting. I was worried they'd be quite difficult and they felt scarier going up than down. Nonetheless, be very careful in the gullies. The ledges near the notch and ridge crest are the crux of the route in my opinion. Everything is cairned to the point of uselessness, it's very easy to get into difficult and/or incredibly loose and sketchy climbing, and the exposure is high. It's all mental and if you really take the time to find the easiest path instead of taking what's right in front of you you can keep it to class 3. The technical crux - the chimney - is fortunately very solid and isn't terribly exposed. The class 3 variation to the right was soaked. The remainder of the route is somewhat straightforward and can be kept at class 2+ or lower, most of it just steep and loose class 2. Of note: in the route description the photo (photo 41) of the final ledges show going directly over the face of the ledges. I was able to keep it to basically hiking by navigating around the left side of the last set of ledges. On the way down keenly follow the same route; if you get lost in the more open spaces above the crux chimney you can backtrack but you'll basically be funneled into the chimney anyway. Go very slowly if you have to; again, a fall on this route is probably not survivable. |
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7/14/2018 Route: Bells Traverse Posted On: 7/15/2018, By: Thevirtualsherpa Info: Finally rang the Bells yesterday, couple of notes. 1. Route is full blown summer, but route finding is key, especially on traverse after down climb from Maroon and after chimney on down climb of North. 2. Be comfortable with exposure if you plan on tackling the route full on (not avoiding obstacles), this was without a doubt more challenging in every way than Crestone Traverse IMO (more route finding, exposure and more technical moves). 3. Save energy and mental stamina for descending North Maroon, it's a beast in its own right with very little actual trail once you hit the ledges. Overall, I enjoyed about 33% of the hike but makes for a long slog of a day. |
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7/5/2018 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 7/7/2018, By: jonandmalia Info: No problems all the way up. Snow at chimney is a non-issue. Excellent views! |
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6/23/2018 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 6/23/2018, By: yaktoleft13 Info: Route is nearly in summer condition. Three snowfields above 13.3k, including one that leads to the base of the crux chimney. I didn't use traction or an ice axe. Otherwise, route is in great shape |
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5/26/2018 Route: Bells Traverse Posted On: 5/29/2018, By: Randy1983 Info: Leaving the saddle, continuing the route from South Maroon the rock is for the most part completely dry. Some shadowy areas have some snow but it is avoidable. Route is fairly easy to follow and nicely marked by cairns. There was one snow patch that we couldn't avoid right before heading up the head wall to the summit. Took our time here and made sure every step was solid before making the next moves. Snow here was very rotten and warm. Final ascent to the summit was easy to avoid the snow up the standard route. We descended the northeast ridge down the two gullies. The upper portion of the ridge is still heavily snow covered and we kept crampons on even down to roughly 11,000'. The snow on the ridge was stable enough to kick into in a few areas but many areas were very rotten. We were able to glissade a few sections of the gullies. Lots of melt and mud though all the way to treeline. Post-holing nightmare the lower we got until we reached the forest around 10,700' and started bushwhacking our way to camp 8. |
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5/26/2018 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 5/28/2018, By: Zach Eiten Info: Bell Cord Couloir is in pretty good condition. Large sunups and the runnels are about 4-5 ft. deep in areas. There are also some bergschrunds to be aware of that are large enough for you to be swallowed up by if you aren't careful. Now the traverse on the other hand.... the three difficulties are all dry which is nice, but a few parts of the ruminating ridge are covered by absolutely garbage sugar snow. Caution should be taken crossing any snow covered areas. The snow is deep enough to conceal the loose rocks beneath, but not consolidated at all which leads to it sloughing off completely iff you look at it wrong. This includes the descent down the North Ridge Route of North Maroon. The snow proved for extremely slow moving due to the dangerous runout in the case you fall/ slip. Know the North West Ridge Route to a tee before descending! Many areas were deceiving due to random cairns, goat paths, and snow fields obscuring the route. |
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5/25/2018 Route: Bells Traverse Posted On: 5/26/2018, By: ScreeSurfer Info: Climbed the Northwest ridge route by way of the Trigger Finger couloir followed by the traverse to South Maroon and descent of the Bell Ringer couloir. Approach is pretty much dry until the Minnehaha Creek crossing and then you will be on snow until the ridge. The snow conditions were perfect with crampons on the snowfield below the North Face and up the Couloir. The traverse was dry except for one ten foot section of snow which did not require traction. The summit of South Maroon is covered with snow and there is some snow with cornicing as you descend to the South. The snow on the descent couloir was softening up at 10am but was very supportive the entire way down using crampons and and downclimbing facing into the mountain. Went directly through the short canyon midway down as it contained firm snow through out. In my opinion, the Bells are in great condition for Memorial day weekend. Photo 1: Evening view from Maroon Lake Photo 2: Looking up near creek crossing Photo 3: Trigger Finger and Gunsight Couloirs Photo 4: Looking down from top of Couloir on ridge Photo 5: Traverse towards South Maroon Photo 6: Traverse looking back towards North Maroon Photo 7: Looking at South Maroon descent from Pyramid West Gully |