Route: Via Fourth of July trailhead Posted On: 10/4/2023, By: climbingyogi Info: Trail is in great shape! There's some snow on the ascent up to the summit after reaching the saddle with Old Baldy but it didn't really make the final ascent any more difficult. I carried spikes but never pulled them out. Had the peak to myself today and there were only about 6 cars at the TH. It was eerily quiet, even for a weekday. |
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Route: Via Fourth of July trailhead Posted On: 8/13/2023, By: zootloopz Info: Road to 4th of July has plenty of potholes to slow you down but very few rocks, a solid 2 on the 14ers scale. You can find a clean privy at the TH. The approach to the saddle is well graded and goes quickly. Flowers all the way. Smells amazing. Views are excellent. Highly enjoyable. |
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Route: Skywalker Couloir Posted On: 6/10/2023, By: glove Info: Got lucky with a hard freeze the night before, zero post-holing on the way in. Started up the apron with crampons on at 7:44 with things still very firm, topped out ~50 minutes later in very soft snow. Several old wet slides on the apron and in the main chute. Descent via the path of least resistance down the Arapaho Glacier trail and a game trail through the willows. Still a lot of snow on the standard trail. |
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Route: Skywalker Couloir Posted On: 5/26/2023, By: stomblin7 Info: Trail has deep snow starting from Trailhead - I'd give a rough estimate of 90% snow covered? We did not use snowshoes today, but were punching through frequently. The sections of trail that are exposed with steep drop offs have significant snow loading (traction would be advised (extremely hard snow), tho we kicked our steps enough for an edge). Allow yourselves more time for the approach than expected. The snow near treeline this morning was very firm/hard. Started up the couloir around 6-6:30 am from where we put on crampons near the lower rocks. Snow was very firm in couloir until sun began hitting it (~8:15 am). We topped out just as the light started touching the top of the couloir. Swam through treeline back to the cars and were too lazy to deal with snowshoes. |
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Route: Skywalker Couloir Posted On: 5/27/2023, By: 123tqb Info: The Arapaho Pass Trail has intermittent snow that requires some post-holing. Kind of a slow approach. |
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Route: Old Baldy and S. Arapaho Peak Combo Posted On: 10/25/2022, By: Jan van Tilburg Info: Road to trailhead was mostly snowfree. The trail up had snow most of the way (came to 12,179ft). There were multiple extremely slippery icy patches on the trail. Microspikes highly recommended. Returned because of high cold wind and very limited visibility. |
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Route: Via Fourth of July trailhead Posted On: 10/21/2022, By: Piotr Info: Nice and dry, few iced over sections past 4th of July mine, very windy. Found sunglasses on the summit, if you lost a pair message me. |
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Route: Via Fourth of July trailhead Posted On: 8/6/2022, By: csf-lhiver Info: Started at 4:13 AM to get ahead of forecasted rains. Passed some deer in the dark, could tell by the shiny eyes in the distance lit up by our headlamps. Had an ominous moose hiding in the trees around 11,570', was only able to see its antlers and a dark body and one shiny eye also lit up by our headlamps. Summit had some cool views. A little scramble if you wish to get to the false summit. |
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Route: Via Fourth of July trailhead Posted On: 7/17/2022, By: k_fergie Info: No CR since 07/04. As predicted in that report (likely the last climb of the season), Skywalker is completely done with just patches of snow in the middle. Standard route (and traverse to North) is 100% dry. Summit register is a complete mess, looked like it had been placed in a thin walled fake-wooden box which promptly broke into pieces. Its literally a pile of fake wood and paper, completely unprotected from the elements. In retrospect, I should've packed out the trash |
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Route: Skywalker Couloir Posted On: 7/3/2022, By: nleatham Info: Route is melting out fast. Rock band has formed about halfway up that's east to climb over. Bergshund has formed between the snowpack and the steep exit. Standard exit is fine. Snow conditions were good and firm for the most part, patches of ice crust have formed in some spots. |
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Route: Skywalker Couloir Posted On: 6/9/2022, By: Wimyers Info: Small freeze last night gave perfect neve conditions all the way up, except for a short bit of snow cone ice 2/3 up. 6:30 am summit, 5.25 hours car to car. Leia finish is in great shape. The small crevasse is hardly noticeable now, though there is a very small cornice that threatens the lip which could be a problem with warmer weather on the forecast, I will add a photo. Warmer weather on the forecast could be detrimental, but the snow was so good it might hold up over the weekend. Arapaho trail almost entirely snow-free. |
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Route: Skywalker Couloir Posted On: 6/6/2022, By: dmgilmour Info: Got a bit of a freeze the night before so all of the snow on the approach had turned to ice, then as the sun rose the snow and ice started to loosen a bit. On the approach just before the couloir we broke through a few times but for the most part stayed on top. When we got into the couloir around 8:30 it was still pretty solid, mostly making contact with points without carving steps. Once the sun hit it the conditions were snow cone, beads of ice cohering well, allowed for easy and solid steps. In the middle there's a few hundred feet of the couloir that stays in the shade much longer (maybe until 11am) so that remained solid. Snow continued getting looser throughout the day, steps were easier to kick and had more risk of breaking through to the step below. In the Leia finish there is a strip of basically horizontal crevasse about 2 feet tall that requires some maneuvering around. There's a pretty large cornice on the left side of the Leia finish but it doesn't block the exit. We finished at 1:30pm which is much later than we intended, we didn't feel like there was any real risk of a wet slide but the warmer snow made steps more tenuous. |
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Route: Skywalker Couloir Posted On: 4/3/2022, By: Grisel Info: Road is closed at Hessie TH unless you have a suped up car for snow, add 4 miles one way. Road was packed/dry in the morning but much softer in the return. Once to the actual TH, trenching to the base of the couloir. There were about 4 steep snow slopes you cross in the trees that are holding enough snow to slide so be mindful of that, early in the morning everything was solid but on the return started to see some rollerballs. Once at the actual couloir, snow was supportive and only got better as you got up higher. Exited via Princess Leia which is currently just steep snow no ice. |
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Route: Via Fourth of July trailhead Posted On: 7/12/2021, By: dmgilmour Info: Just a bit muddy around the treeline and Fourth of July Mine, was able to rock hop to avoid it |
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Route: Via Fourth of July trailhead Posted On: 6/22/2021, By: Piotr Info: Summer conditions, little muddy around 4th of July mine. |
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Route: Via Fourth of July trailhead Posted On: 6/13/2021, By: Mustang97 Info: Some snow patches along the trail up where microspikes may be useful but not necessary.. be prepared to posthole as it warms up. The scrambly bits towards the peak of south arapaho are mostly dry. After summiting traversed along the ridge line towards north arapaho for about a quarter mile before turning back due to some snow and ice. Would recommend having something metal and pointy on your feet or in your hands if attempting north arapaho. |
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Route: Skywalker Couloir Posted On: 6/6/2021, By: jbealer Info: Started up couloir just before 6am, took Princess Leia route, the snow felt great till the end where it was collapsing underneath of us and it was very hard to put in kick steps or the axes till we cleared the rotten spot. Such a fun route. Solo guy Travis was above us and skiers below us. We tried the traverse, but turned around at the class 4 spot, some teammates did not want to go up it so we traversed down and hit a snow drift that was soft and tall so we turned around. Travis made it and said there was a crux area just below the summit but otherwise the route was in pretty good shape but still snow filled. Route off south is fine with some patches of snow. Used crampons and 2 axes in couloir, no snowshoes. Saw a small slide in skywalker on the way out, 11:30ish with skiers in it still....great day, go get it! More photos on mon |
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Route: Skywalker Couloir Posted On: 5/30/2021, By: nmek19 Info: Snow was in good condition. rather brittle, easy to kick steps. Started coulior at 7 am, summit at 9:40. Was postholing a lot on the trail on the way there. |
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Route: Skywalker Couloir Posted On: 7/6/2020, By: lacabra Info: Skywalker still in and climbing well; but there are two small sections that are opening up, one on the lower half, and the other on the Princess Leia exit. Today was very hot, and the forecast is very warm weather for the rest of the week. I believe these two section will become rocky in a matter of days. Han Solo is no longer viable, but the third exit seems still solid. |
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Route: Skywalker Couloir Posted On: 7/3/2020, By: jimmtman Info: Skywalker still in and climbing well. Full snow all the way though a section in the middle is getting thin. Overnight low shown as 41 but still very solid down low. On the Leia finish the sun had come out and it softened up to kick great steps in it. Overall excellent snow conditions. I would guess it would still be good for 1-2 more weeks. |
