Cathedral Peak

Route: East-facing couloir
Posted On: 7/2/2023, By: watkinsfg
Info: The route described in Gerry Roach's book, the couloir north of the northernmost tower to the south of the summit that ascends the south ridge, was in perfect condition on 7/1/23. Snow was patchy around 12,000', but on the route became mostly continuous at about 12,700', when I put on the pointy things. At 8:45am the snow in the couloir was bomber, though it had been getting sun for awhile already. Very supportive but not too firm at all to kick into. With the runnels and snow cups, the snow has formed into really interesting shapes that actually making the climbing much easier. There is a patch in the middle that is melting faster than the rest and may be a sizable gap in a few days. There was almost no snow from the top of the couloir to the summit. Descending at around 10:45, the snow was softer but still fine. Great day. 

Route: Cathedral Lake TH
Posted On: 6/25/2023, By: Ssgustafson
Info: Conditions are very similar to the prior report, but probably wont stay that way for much longer. I was one of two groups on mountain and left the parking lot at 430AM. Trail was 99% dry until after the lake. I took the electric pass branch climbing up and the lake coming down, and both involved some moraines and slogging through willows before reaching solid snow. I reached the couloir at 700AM and it was already getting some sun and starting to soften. After reaching the saddle, the class 2+ scramble to the summit was 100% dry. There is a visible trail left of ridge proper that was fairly easy to follow. At 830AM, I was back at the couloir for the descent and it was slippery and turning to mush. I started off down climbing facing the snow, which was slow and somewhat scary, especially when my strap-on crampon slipped off my right foot. A mountaineering boot with automatics would have probably worked quite a bit better.....oh well. After re-securing it I reconsidered and decided on a controlled butt-scoot which was faster and felt a lot safer. 

Route: East Couloir/South Ridge
Posted On: 6/18/2023, By: calhack7
Info: We were one of 3 groups to summit today. It's dry to the lake, some patchy snowfields to the base of the couloir, then 1-2" of fresh snow from yesterday in the couloir and on the ridge. Got to the base of the couloir at 7 and it was already getting soft, and was slushy by time we were descending at 8:30 

Route: East Face Direct
Posted On: 6/12/2023, By: colin j
Info: For info on the standard route other recent condition reports are accurate. The E Face direct couloir's days are numbered for this season. The cliff band near 13400 currently goes at 4th class with plenty of Elk Range junk; test every hold like your life depends on it. Entered the couloir at 7:30 and snow was solidly frozen; above the cliff snow was soft, steep, and great for step kicking. Summited around 9:30. 

Route: Standard/East Gulley
Posted On: 6/11/2023, By: kyrawhitworth
Info: Started hiking at 4am from the TH. We should have started an hour earlier to better time the snow in the couloir. Trail is dry to the lake and then consistent snow to the couloir. Couloir was still in a great shape when we headed up at 7am but softened up quickly. By the time we were going down, it was getting slushy so our descent was a bit slow. Personally it would have been nice to have had two axes for the descent where we faced in. Brought snowshoes but didnt need them. Thankful for really great and patient partners on this one! 

Route: Standard
Posted On: 6/10/2023, By: gcook33
Info: Incredible day. 415am start with my friend. Saw 6 other people (two parties) up there too. Trail is 95% dry for 2.5mi until near creek crossing. Snow travel from above the lake to top of gully, then entire ridge is dry. We entered the gully at 8am and it was prime, descended at 1030am and it was melting but great for plunge steps, although a little slick. Crampons and ice axe a must. 8mi, 4000ft 

Route: East Couloir to South Ridge
Posted On: 5/30/2023, By: rhammond530
Info: Get it early! Similar conditions to Saturday 5/27 on Memorial Day. We started climbing the couloir at 5:35 and began our descent at 8:20. We carried snowshoes to camp at the lake but didnt need them, either. 

Route: Standard
Posted On: 5/27/2023, By: jrb6907
Info: Conditions were superb today, entered couloir ~0600, solid supportive snow every step of the way. Descended same ~0815, softer snow but still no issues. Made it back to dry trail below the lake without ever using my snowshoes. 

Route: E Couloir/ E Face
Posted On: 5/20/2023, By: Belchfire
Info: Snow in the elks is awful right now. Bad crust on the surface with a dust layer .5-2" deep but sparse on all but North aspects where it was more prevalent. Wet wet unsupportive inconsistent snow today especially above 12k. Wet loose/slab activity all over, stay safe if you venture to Aspen area. 

Route: ridge from EPP
Posted On: 7/19/2022, By: zootloopz
Info: I should have climbed this via the standard back in May. I do not recommend this ridge. Most of your time is spent on scree and talus with limited opportunities to actually scramble. Big cliffed out gullies are not fun to navigate. Definitely don't try this with a group. Rockfall is immense. Descent via Standard route SW Gully is almost snow free except for a band near the top about 50 feet in length. Was easy to kick into to cross over. I didn't bring traction, don't think it would be worth it at this point. Also cheers to the folks letting their dogs run wild at the TH and not picking up their shit. And the dog puke I accidentally put my hand in near Cathedral Lake. 

Route: Couloir
Posted On: 6/24/2022, By: illusion7il
Info: Couloir was firm and about half full this morning. Everything else is dry. 

Route: East Couloir to South Ridge
Posted On: 6/18/2023, By: calhack7
Info: We were one of 3 groups to summit today. It's dry to the lake, then an inch or two or fresh snow from yesterday in the couloir and on the ridge. Started up the couloir at 7, and started descending it by 8:30. It was a bit soft on the ascent and getting slushy fast on the descent. 

Route: Standard
Posted On: 6/19/2022, By: Fisching
Info: Crampons and ice axe are an absolute must. No, not microspikes. That's not good enough. While snow in the basin can be avoided for some good old talus hopping, the ascent to the South Col is snow-filled. While the snow doesn't extend all the way to the basin, it's significant, especially through the choke and steep upper portion. The mushy quality now that we're beyond the freeze-thaw cycles of May required me to face in and kick step the entire way on the descent, which was about 400' of vert. It was not possible to downclimb any other way. And it would not have been possible without crampons. 

Route: Standard Col.
Posted On: 6/4/2022, By: goingup
Info: I would like to add a few things to Dan's report (we climbed Cathedral's standard couli the same day but we started at 4:10 a.m. and they started I believe around 3 a.m.) We did not need snowshoes but we carried them and stashed them under rocks at the lake. Picked them up on the way out. There is a continuous strip of snow from the Lake to the Saddle as of 6/4 and overall it should be there for another week or two (maybe melt out down lower in spots). We chose this over the loose rock/intermittent snow. The snow strip added mileage and a little bit of vert but it was cruiser. We did end up bushwhacking through some heinous willows to get there but that was 1) unnecessary and 2) short lived. We hate ourselves so much we actually went through them again on the way out. For those who prefer snow over rock, the strip can be found as far south as you can go around the north end of the lake, you will see it and it goes (it is also really pretty). We summited the mountain at 7:45 a.m. so we were in the col. around 6:30-6:45 a.m. Did not think it was bullet proof and was able to get good purchase around that time. We did have a few rock/ice showers rain down upon us on the way up. We were out of the col. by 8:45-9 a.m. ish and it was starting to get slick, mush on top of frozen. We only heard rockfall on the way down. As Dan said the ridge is dry. In my humble opinion, just stay on the ridge instead of trying to side skirt much of anything. It goes at 2+ This is a really really really really really fun mountain. 

Route: Standard
Posted On: 6/4/2022, By: Dan_Suitor
Info: Snow free until the upper switchbacks below the lake. The basin was combination of snow fields and rock fields. Couloir was bulletproof on the way up (6 am) then soft over frozen on the way down. (7:45 am). Dry from the saddle to the summit.