Mt. Silverheels

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. 

Route: North Spur from Hoosier Pass
Posted On: 6/30/2024, By: climbingyogi
Info: Beautiful day out! Got a late start at 9am, but made it to the summit at 11:45am. Back to the car a little after 2. While there isn't any snow on the actual trail, there is still some snow lingering around for the doggos to roll around in (if your dog is anything like mine). Also - found something on the summit. PM me what it is and I'll try to get it back to you! 

Route: North Spur from Hoosier Pass
Posted On: 6/18/2024, By: vertical_volume
Info: Clear of snow! 

Route: North Spur from Hoosier Pass
Posted On: 6/15/2024, By: drewbeedoo
Info: Conditions are basically the same as what rgsaxman posted, other than the snow drifts being gone in the trees. One other notable thing, the gully just west of the spine on the way to the final ridge is 100 percent glissadeable. I glissaded it, and my knees certainly appreciated it lol. 

Route: North Spur from Hoosier Pass
Posted On: 6/16/2024, By: bangerth
Info: I did not actually go up Mt Silverheels (instead went north to get to Hoosier Ridge and Red Peak), but had a great view of Silverheels. The upper mountain is pretty much in summer conditions. Snow is only left in steep couloirs, but seems to be off from where the route goes. (Picture 1.) The only place of note is that on the ascent, starting at ~12,900', where you want to turn right towards Silverheels, there is a half-mile long very large remnant of a cornice. I accidentally ended up on its right side on the way up, and found it rather awkward to get on top. If you want to go to Silverheels, you should probably plan on staying on its left until you reach the point where the ridge forks, and turns there. It requires slightly more up and then down again, but avoids finding yourself trapped by snowfields along the ridges. (Picture 2 taking from ~12,700; the snow field here is uninterrupted and goes all the way to where the ridge forks.) 

Route: North Spur from Hoosier Pass
Posted On: 6/11/2024, By: rgsaxman
Info: Summer conditions aside from a few snow drifts in the trees. Snow avoidable on the turn to Silverheels after gaining the initial ridge. The other 13ers are clear except some snow on Red Mountain but it was soft and bootable. Beautiful but windy today! 

Route: North Spur from Hoosier Pass
Posted On: 5/18/2024, By: truekyle
Info: Went back for redemption. Did not make it. My mom and I had a very scary thing happen to us at 12000. On the first hill we heard a sudden pop and the snow shifted. If you have ever been ice fishing and heard the ice Crack under your feet, sounded exactly like that. We turned around right away. Be safe everyone.