5/15/2021 Route: Dragon’s Egg Posted On: 5/18/2021, By: Nathan Hoobler Info: Crusty layer on top of 18 or so inches of unconsolidated sugar made the couloir a rough climb. Too steep for skis with skins, but postholing with crampons. We turned around at 12,500. Great and quiet camp at Sandbeach Lake |
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4/30/2021 Route: Loft Posted On: 5/1/2021, By: SnowAlien Info: Approached Mt Meeker from Loft, used a fixed line (?) didn't know it was there for the alternative Loft finish, deep snow at the top of the Loft. Ice fall in the middle and the standard ramp looked still snowed in. Skied down Dragons Egg couloir, kicked off 2 wet slides with a ski cut and later saw one natural. Took Hunters creek exit to Sandbeach trail, continuous snow to about 1.5 mile from the Wild basin TH. Great tour but way too warm for skiing, skied slush (snow warmed up in a big hurry). |
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3/27/2021 Route: Iron Gates from Longs TH Posted On: 3/27/2021, By: Will_E Info: Summitted Meeker today via Iron Gates route. Trench was in pretty good shape until near treeline in the morning, I put snowshoes on around treeline. By the end of the day the trench was fully in, several others went to Chasm Lake today. I kept snowshoes on until maybe 3/4 mile past Chasm Lake, from there all the way up to Meeker Ridge its pretty windblown, I didn't use any traction. I used crampons from Meeker Ridge to Meeker's summit, there were some tough parts. |
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9/27/2020 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 9/28/2020, By: Laxer04 Info: Ideal conditions, dry all the way to summit. Knife edge is dry as well |
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9/27/2020 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 9/27/2020, By: graberz Info: We started at 4:45 am and summited around 9:15 am. As the reports state route finding after the hunters creek turn off is a little difficult especially in the dark. We timed it so it was getting light when we were in this area. there is broken trail segments kind of everywhere. If there is considerable deadfall back track and there was likely another trail and you chose poorly. We went up to mt meeker first which I thought never got too difficult unless you wanted it to. We crossed the knifes “ledge†Which was solid and fun. We stuck ridge proper over to meeker ridge at 9:45 am and down the ridge proper. It took about 3.5 hrs down. We went further southeast into the trees which wasn't great and would just cut down much sooner. The weather was much better than expected. It never got too cold or too gusty. We saw a handful of people on Longs. No snow on our trail. It was still trail runner shoe season. Notably really cool inversion coming up over the east face and cloud cover over the front range. |
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9/3/2020 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 9/3/2020, By: Jay521 Info: Summer conditions. Followed the route description for the most part. This is NOT an easy 13er! Long day. Not going to post my trip time cuz it would certainly be the worst.. But I got the damned thing! |
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8/22/2020 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 8/24/2020, By: bangerth Info: Perfect conditions. Took the SW ridge up -- apart from the stretch along the creek that's off-trail, there are no substantial route-finding difficulties if you've memorized the route description. For the off-trail part through the forest, use the rule that close to the stream is where you want to be. If you lose the trail (which happened to us at least half a dozen times), it's likely to your left along the stream. We took the SE ridge down to the saddle between Meeker and Lookout Mountain, and from there the (very good, but often still steep) trail back out to the road. Walked the road back to the Sandbeach Lake Trailhead. Be prepared for a very very long way back: It's 5,500 ft of elevation to lose, and must have taken us ~6 hours with stops. |
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6/7/2020 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 6/13/2020, By: nmedica Info: Trail was clear up the bowls. There is still a pretty large snowfield that needs to be navigated around, but it can be avoided on talus, etc... |
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5/31/2020 Route: Dark Star Posted On: 5/31/2020, By: jscully205 Info: Coulior is not in condition. No ice and lots of hiking on the way up. Climbs like a 5.7 off-width with some dry tooling. Normally an M5- WI3. Still a fun day out. Snow climbs around Chasm Cirque are not good to climb right now in my opinion. No overnight freezing has rendered the snow into a posthole fest. |
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10/26/2019 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 10/27/2019, By: Dose Info: Solid trench from trailhead to Chasm Lake. Worked my way up the loft couloir on the exposed rock. As the couloir narrows near the exit to the ramp, snow is waist to chest deep. Ended up going to far climbers left and climbed solid Class 3 rock and traversed over to the ramp. Route from ramp to loft has some snow but was able to follow the route. Ice axe and crampons are needed. Route was clear loft to summit. |
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9/14/2019 Route: Loft Posted On: 9/15/2019, By: durkan Info: Summited via the Loft. Wind was pretty notorious, but low storm risk made up for it. Clear switchbacks go up scree on the south side of the couloir, but found it easier to go up the north side on larger boulders and talus and descend the south scree. Only concerning ice was on the ramp after the couloir, but it's avoidable if you're cautious. |
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9/12/2019 Route: Loft Posted On: 9/13/2019, By: jeffmpls Info: In spite of the snow from Wednesday, the route to Meeker was mostly ice free in the coulior leading up to the Loft. There was some frozen areas, but for the most part they were easily avoidable. The summit did have some crystallized frozen snow on the rocks which necessitated watching your footing, but again it wasn't anything to keep you off the peak. Temperatures were cold in the morning 25-30 degrees and the wind was blowing 30-40 mph. |
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7/21/2019 Route: Iron Gates Posted On: 7/21/2019, By: Sbenfield Info: No snow |
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7/20/2019 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 7/22/2019, By: bludwig Info: Peak was dry minus two really packed-down snow fields by Chasm Lake. A lot of rock on the Iron Gates gully is still loose but on the push before Meeker Ridge and the knife edge are solid. One thing we did not know is to drop LOW initially from Meeker Ridge to the knife edge, we stayed high and and the moves are a bit sketchier. Take your time for route finding because there are many safe alternatives along the route. Plan for about 45 minutes to an hour each way across the the knife and a really annoying descent into the Iron Gates gully. Photo 1 is of the Iron Gates just beyond Chasm Lake. Photo 2 is the top of the Iron Gates gully Photo 3 is Meeker from the saddle of the knife edge with Longs in the background. |
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7/7/2019 Route: Loft Route Posted On: 7/7/2019, By: Imcp Info: Snowy in the loft couloir, especially at the top. I did not summit due to lack of sleep causing me to burn out midway up the couloir but 2 of my group did with just poles and microspikes. (Edit: they exited straight out the top of the couloir, did not follow the loft route, staying on route is snowy but probably pretty doable without crampons) That said, an ice axe is highly recommended, especially for the descent for glissading the steep stuff. Actual snow conditions are not significantly different from those pictured in the previous Meeker conditions report. |