7/9/2017 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 7/10/2017, By: kingshimmers Info: Completely dry from start to the summit. The trail is well defined the entire way to the summit, though it is over a yard wide at the beginning due to people walking off trail and eroding the slope. Please stay on trail to avoid further erosion! |
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6/25/2017 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 6/25/2017, By: HarkNeal Info: Mostly dry. One small snowfield on the northeast side of the false summit. Stay on the left (northwest) side of it and you'll be fine. The rest of the trail is clearly visible. |
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6/24/2017 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 6/24/2017, By: tracou96 Info: Still some snow up closer to the summit, didn't need microspikes. Pay attention when walking on snow. Some areas you walk straight across on top of the snow, but there was one area after some rock fields that you end up walking onto the snow for the first few feet, but the trail actual reappears to the left of the snow. Today was super windy and cold, forgot my gloves and they were needed at the top, otherwise a great day for a hike! |
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6/10/2017 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 6/13/2017, By: Tony1 Info: A little bit of snow to walk through along the route, otherwise dry. No traction needed. |
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5/29/2017 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 5/29/2017, By: schumi248 Info: Hiked Sniktau and Cupid today, was on snow the whole way, but, on the way up Sniktau, didn't use microspikes. As long as you stay in foot prints that are already there, you don't need them. Put on the spikes at the summit, for the traverse over to Cupid. Wore them almost all the way back to the car, could've gotten away without them, but they were helpful. Be careful of the cornices, on the saddle between the false summit, and real summit of Sniktau, there was a crack about an inch wide, and 18-24 inches deep. |
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5/11/2017 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 5/13/2017, By: thomkath Info: Packed snow all the way to the summit with parts of the dirt trail showing through intermittently. The only equipment we used was winter hiking boots w/ spikes. Beware of the cornices while nearing the summit. Amazing views, I think the mountains are most gorgeous this time of year with the melting snow along all the peaks. |
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5/5/2017 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 5/6/2017, By: dilfdog Info: Hiked the Southwest Ridge route from the parking lot using only boots and trekking poles (spikes and flotation were not needed). The route was ~75% snow covered, but the snow was hard-packed, there were many opportunities to skirt the snow to stay on dirt and rock, and the trail was easy to follow by the footsteps of previous hikers. There was a cornice on the south-east side of the final ridge to the summit which should be avoided by staying on the center of the ridge rather than going out onto the snow. It was a beautiful day with calm wind and near 50 degree weather. Only needed a light jacket on the descent. |
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3/4/2017 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 3/6/2017, By: ajlavigne Info: Route from Loveland Pass to Sniktau is almost entirely covered with firm snow, but not icy at all. We ended up ascending all the way from Loveland Pass, over Cupid, and to Grizzly without traction or flotation, but did put micros on for the descent and traverse to Sniktau - just left them on for a few scrambling moves along the Cupid-Grizzly ridge and where the route was dirt/rock. Even snow-covered, it's easy to follow the trails other than the rocky section south of Cupid and the last couple hundred feet of Grizzly; stay close to the ridge lines (but off cornices) and you can't go wrong. |
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1/18/2017 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 1/19/2017, By: Trotter Info: About 2-6 inches of snow on route, traction is very useful, don't need snowshoes |
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11/26/2016 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 11/28/2016, By: Marmot96 Info: Knee deep snow in a few areas but nothing that requires snowshoes or traction. Easy hike with visible trail for 90% of the time. |
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7/4/2016 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 7/4/2016, By: E_A_Marcus_949 Info: Loveland Pass parking fills up fast - started at 6am on the 4th of July and finished by 830/9 to the lot and overflow lot filling up fast. The 1000' elevation gain in the first mile is a steep climb, but the views are great the whole way on the wide path. Only passed people on my way down and had the summit to myself. Great climb! |
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6/25/2016 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 6/26/2016, By: rwf66 Info: Great day for a hike. Started at 6:30am, and finished at 9:00am. Trail is dry all the way. Not crowded at all for a sunny Saturday. |
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6/18/2016 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 6/18/2016, By: HarkNeal Info: Trail is dry from Loveland Pass to the connecting ridge. One small marshy area and a few easily avoidable snowfields between the top of the ridge and Point 13152. Trail should be completely clear and dry in another week or two. |
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6/12/2016 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 6/12/2016, By: JQDivide Info: Route is mostly dry from TH to Summit. You can walk around the few snowfields without much trouble, just a few extra steps to the left. |
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6/12/2016 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 6/12/2016, By: sdicenso Info: Lots of parking early in the morning, but a lot of tourists in the parking lot when you come back down. I think that there were probably 9 of us who summited. A lot of others probably not committed to the summit were heading up late, but not too crowded. The trail is really worn and steep in the beginning, from the ridge to summit, nice trail. Crossed a few snow fields, but only post holed twice. Most of the snow is avoidable by walking around the edge or the trail passes it anyway. Good return back to the TH. 4 hrs roundtrip (including a potty break, two snack breaks and lots of photo ops). |
