Mt. Silverheels

Route: North Spur from Hoosier Pass
Posted On: 6/24/2025, By: GSODJA
Info: Summer conditions. Any remaining snow easily avoidable. 

Route: North Spur from Hoosier Pass
Posted On: 6/14/2025, By: V1per41
Info: Early Summer conditions. Any snow still present is very easy to avoid. A couple of inches of hard packed snow cover about half of the summit area. No floatation or traction required. We took the main route straight up the ridge. The alternative of going up the ridge to the right wasn't really feasible due to show still packed in that area (photo) 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/14/2025, By: Kcmartinez22
Info: WHAT A BEAUTIFUL ROUTE! The winter closure opens tomorrow (my bad), but I still loved it even with the road walk. Full summer conditions with wildflowers poppin'. Only item of note is you can no longer park at or drive over the stream crossing. They have completely barricaded it to cars. It is easy to hop over the fence they placed to keep vehicles out. The closest parking is in a pullout to the south of the crossing. 

Route: North Spur from Hoosier Pass
Posted On: 6/13/2025, By: andlours
Info: Summer conditions with a few fun glissade opportunities. 

Route: Beaver Creek (south approach)
Posted On: 6/9/2025, By: rleclair
Info: Summer conditions from the trailhead to the summit. Any snow is easily avoidable. No microspikes or snowshoes required. Did see 2 herds of elk on the summit approach. Beautiful way to climb Mt. Silverheels! 

Route: North Spur from Hoosier Pass
Posted On: 5/31/2025, By: paigemoney
Info: No spikes or snowshoes needed today. There was one short section in the trees with deep snow. We ascended this morning without any postholing issues; on the descent, we came down through the willows instead. Between approximately 12,500 and 12,800 feet, on the hiker’s right during the ascent, there is blown snow along a small ridge. A cornice is present on most of this section and isn’t visible until you’re past it. We attempted to follow the standard route across the snow toward the trail that descends into the basin, but the snow was too soft with a significant posthole—crossing comfortably wasn’t possible. Instead, we summited the final grassy knoll and then made the right to traverse toward the power line. This added about a mile and 500 feet of gain round trip but allowed us to almost completely avoid snow. The ascent to the ridge is steep but mostly snow-free until the ridge walk. 

Route: North Spur from Hoosier Pass
Posted On: 4/9/2025, By: izabelaspivy
Info: Variable snow conditions throughout this route. Brought snowshoes but ditched them after the first mile. Rest of the hike has some post holing but not enough to warrant snowshoes in my opinion, most of the snow is inconsistent once above treeline and for the most part is hard packed enough for spikes. Don’t know if this is common on silverheels but the wind was apocalyptic, easily 60mph throughout most of the 9 miles. 

Route: North Spur from Hoosier Pass
Posted On: 3/30/2025, By: notidealbutfine
Info: Started from Hoosier Pass. Skinned from the highway to about .5 mile below the summit. Used running shoes for the last portion. Glorious skiing down the couloir skiers right of the north spur. 9.1 miles, 3,994' gain, 5 Hours 21 minutes round trip. 

Route: North Spur from Hoosier Pass
Posted On: 1/26/2025, By: emself
Info: Trenched to treeline. Forecasted wind showed up today! 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 12/18/2024, By: bigfoot1
Info: Wish I had brought my snowshoes for the bit below and near treeline, the snow is up to 2 ft deep. Wind drifts are extra deep, past my hip. The ridge itself is pretty bare though, which was nice. 

Route: North Spur from Hoosier Pass
Posted On: 12/15/2024, By: sfmarn06
Info: Arrived at the parking lot just before 7am - first car there. Encountered the deepest snow in the 0.75 miles below treeline. Chose not to use snowshoes as they werent necessary for the remainder of the hike. Majority of the trail is wind scoured with short patches of shallow snow. The trail up the rib had some snow. Never needed to pull out our microspikes. Consistent light wind throughout the morning that really picked up on the way back down about 1.5 miles from the TH. Super clear day with beautiful views of the nearby peaks. 

Route: North Spur from Hoosier Pass
Posted On: 12/7/2024, By: grofovad
Info: Parking is very easy, but you do have to cross the road to get to the TH.Trails starts out packed. There's more snow in the treeline than above. Snowshoes could be helpful in the beginning and then in some other areas, but are not really needed. Did not use spikes either. Started at 4 am, summited shortly before 7. It took about a couple of hours to get back. Views were amazing, but the wind is always brutal in this area. Enjoy! 

Route: North Spur from Hoosier Pass
Posted On: 11/24/2024, By: MidsizeAl
Info: Trenched and packed for the most part up to treeline. After that, mostly wind scoured to the summit. We brought snowshoes and spikes and did not need either. Probably the strongest winds Ive ever been out in, particularly between the summit and the powerlines on the descent. There were a couple of times that we were crouched on the ground to avoid getting knocked down, and others when forward progress became practically impossible. I brought my weather meter and clocked the gust in the attached picture, though it got stronger after this, and I didnt bother trying to get a reading while struggling to stay standing. 

Route: North Spur from Hoosier Pass
Posted On: 10/27/2024, By: joe138
Info: Beautiful day! Spotty shallow snow starting at Hoosier Pass and continuing all the way up. The only place it caused minor problems is the steep ascent to the summit ridge, where as in the previous report, the snow makes the social trail harder to follow - and some of the loose rock away from the social trail is not fun. We had microspikes but didn't end up using them. Speaking of microspikes, on our way down the steep part around 13000 ft, we found someone's microspikes (not a pair, just a single one) - size small. We put them in my pack and planned to leave them at Hoosier Pass, but then forgot. So PM me if you lost one of your microspikes on Silverheels and want to try to get it back! Not sure if there's a better "13ers lost and found" place to post. 

Route: North Spur from Hoosier Pass
Posted On: 9/27/2024, By: MaryinColorado
Info: Everything is dry until you get to the 1100 ft push to the summit ridge. From there, the snow is spotty but not an issue. It does cover up the social trail a fair bit, so on the way up I kind of gave up on trying to find the social trail. On the way down, it was a lot more obvious, and I was able to stay on it 100%. So I put tracks across the patches of snow that connect the different segments of the social trail. Also, sadly, there has been no magical leveling of the landscape. All the ups and downs of this route are still present and accounted for. Sorry.