4/27/2025 Route: South Slopes Posted On: 4/27/2025, By: 9patrickmurphy Info: Continuous snow from summit to about 10,700, but getting thin up high. I wouldn't be surprised if there's some billygoating required within the next week. Bowl just below Pettingell's upper South face has plenty of snow and is very very fun, and skiing out the gulch itself is a blast as always. Plenty of folks up in Herman Gulch today! |
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12/22/2024 Route: South Slopes Posted On: 12/22/2024, By: Istoodupthere Info: First 3 miles to treeline was a hard packed trail/trench. From there to the lake the trail eventually disappears. Snowshoes wouldnt be a bad idea in this section. Getting above the lake was tricky. Steep east facing snow which is supposed to be the worst for avy danger. Ended up going way north of the summer route in order to avoid most of the lower sketchy terrain. After that it was steep unsupportive snow with a few trapdoors up to my chest. I tried to stay on the rocks as much a possible. I did take a more direct route. Just below the summit was a short steep snow section where I wished I had my axe. On my descent I did stay closer to the summer route and descended some steep snow just above the lake without an issue. It was a postholing extravaganza from the lake back to treeline. |
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9/20/2024 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 9/20/2024, By: greenschist Info: East ridge and south slopes were both dry today, apart from a very small amount of snow in the basin north of the east ridge. Thatll change this weekend but any new snow is falling on dry ground. I took the Jones Pass trail (CDT) from Herman Gulch TH up to the divide, then left the trail and followed the ridge. East ridge is a fun and easy route. Very useful if you want to progress from Class 2 up to Class 3. Ridge direct goes at C3, but if any of the terrain gets too difficult you can easily drop climbers left and continue at C2. South slopes trail is mostly well defined and easy to follow. It is fairly steep though. I didnt see anyone else on the east ridge, but saw lots of people once I got to the lake. I only saw one other person on the south slopes above the lake. |
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7/12/2024 Route: South Slopes Posted On: 7/15/2024, By: durkan Info: Ascend via south slopes, descent via East ridge with some nice class 2+/3- route finding after a slog up. Went for Hassel after and went easy. All dry with the exception of the ridge atop the south slope. Just find a way around the snow either direct up some loose garbage or aim for the ridge left of all the snow and go ridge direct, looked dry from there. |
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6/23/2024 Route: South Slopes Posted On: 6/23/2024, By: Laxer04 Info: Nearly summer conditions. There are a few small sections of snow to cross just above the lake. We brought axes and spikes but didn't need them. |
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5/12/2024 Route: South Slopes Posted On: 5/12/2024, By: Danger_D Info: South slopes are definitely in. With the recent snow we could skin from car, but on the way down below 10,700 things were melted out. Easy touring up to the lake and there are several skin tracks in place. Snow in great shape above the lake but it got really sticky when we dropped in around 12:30. Only tiny cornices that didnt worry us. Flat terrain and sticky snow on the way out meant we had to really use our poles to get out. Ski it soon, its great. Proper trip report coming soon |
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4/13/2024 Route: ski south/ southeast face Posted On: 4/13/2024, By: rachel Info: Skinned from Herman Gulch with a group of 5 via the southeast slope to the saddle then booted the final ~150' of the west ridge to the summit. Overnight freeze. Started a little after 5 AM. Summited in 5 hrs. Skied down at 1045. Timed it really well. Very sunny, minimal wind. Snow softened nicely. |
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9/28/2023 Route: South Slopes Posted On: 10/12/2023, By: joannalee07 Info: Report from 9/28: https://www.coloradomountainpack.com/post/pettingell-peak Still in summer conditions with full fall foliage. Probably changing this week!! |
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8/27/2023 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 8/27/2023, By: madmattd Info: Fun ridge! We went up the CDT all the way to the pass between Pettingell and PT12805 before starting on the ridge. Easy initial going, though we found there is a small pond above the willows the hard way...(it is depicted on some maps) Other than the slightly damp feet, it's a steep mostly tundra ascent to the main ridge, a short drop to the ~12850' saddle, then the fun begins. On or just left/right of the ridge as needed went just fine, easy to keep it at C3 max. Solid rock, fun scrambling, some exposure. Came down the standard route which is the usual talus mess in the upper several hundred feet. Completely snow-free on and near both routes. Weather was building by late morning, glad we didn't go to Hassell first, but the Hassell-Pettingell loop is now on the to-do list... |
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7/13/2023 Route: South Slopes Posted On: 7/16/2023, By: DixieFlyer Info: The trail was in great shape to Herman Lake. There was a snowfield just past the lake that I went around on the way up. On the way back I walked across about 2 inches of snow for about 10 feet on flat ground near the lake; nothing special needed for this. Near the summit below the ridgeline there is a large snowfield that can be avoided. |
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7/8/2023 Route: South Slopes Posted On: 7/8/2023, By: Mtnman200 Info: You will have to cross a large level snowfield adjacent to Herman Lake to access the gully and ramp, but all snow above that is easily avoided, including on Pettingell's ridge if you choose to add Hassell Peak to your day. |
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5/21/2023 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 5/22/2023, By: Will_E Info: Summitted Pettingell from Herman's Gulch yesterday, I went up the south ridge just east of the lake, then across the east ridge. Descended the west side. There's a pretty good trench up towards the Citadel, I followed it most of the way, then broke trail for a short distance to the lake. Left snowshoes there, reached summit without needing crampons or axe. I expected it'd be a little messy getting down the west side without snowshoes, not as bad as expected. Nice day, not many people out. |
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11/25/2022 Route: South Slopes Posted On: 11/25/2022, By: HikerGuy Info: Herman Gulch Trail is snow packed from parking lot to lake with a few areas of ice flows and dirt. I used spikes to minimize slipping, but you can get by without them. Carried snowshoes and was glad to have them to navigate around and up above the lake. Stashed the shoes once I reached the windblown south slopes. Wore gaiters from the lake to summit and back to lake. |
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11/13/2022 Route: South Slopes Posted On: 11/14/2022, By: sarahmariekirk Info: From Herman Gulch approach - snow in some areas but mostly just icy / packed snow up until the lake. Microspikes would be helpful but weren't entirely necessary if you hit the trail early enough. Deep snow (waist-high) surrounding the lake, this is where we donned our snowshoes & evaluated the snow conditions on the upper slopes. Deep snow heading up south slopes of Pettingell; snow conditions were variable with some slab activity. Snowshoes helped but still enough snow to sink in, and not much traction. About 1 mile from the summit the snow was very patchy, and could have forgone the snowshoes but at that point we were committed. Great day out there! |
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10/10/2022 Route: South Slopes Posted On: 10/11/2022, By: angry Info: Dry to summit. |
