1/1/2024 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 1/1/2024, By: sunbleached Info: Went back up Sniktau today to grab a winter ascent. The popularity of this peak (or at least the viewing area) means for some firmly bootpacked and overall fairly slippery snow until you get up that unnamed peak ~900 feet up from Loveland Pass. Once you actually turn toward Sniktau, the snow becomes a bit less firm though there's still an extremely obvious trench to the summit. No issues at all, and *tons* of hoarfrost everywhere. Beautiful day, even with the approaching bad clouds. |
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12/15/2023 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 12/15/2023, By: Briere Info: Started around 8am. Not a ton of snow throughout the entire route and never post holed. Didnt use/need flotation and used crampons and poles. Definitely could have used micro spikes but I wanted to get reacquainted with the crampons for the season. The back side to Torrey looks low on snow too. |
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11/21/2023 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 11/21/2023, By: sarahmariekirk Info: Sniktau was surprisingly drier on the lower aspect of the ridge than I had expected - but from the saddle onto the summit had a good amount of fresh snow from the storm yesterday, with some trenching and postholing involved. I imagine this will either get blown off, frozen, or packed down in the coming days. Always a good jaunt up Snik! |
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11/12/2023 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 11/12/2023, By: sunbleached Info: Easy conditions, owing to the preponderance of hikers on this trail and the relative lack of snow the last few weeks. The use trail is almost completely bare from parking lot to summit. Some wind-hardened snow exists in the saddle, but nothing bad in the slightest. |
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10/21/2023 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 10/22/2023, By: EMan Info: Hiked Standard route to Sniktau & Cupid without taking a step in snow! |
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10/15/2023 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 10/15/2023, By: Trotter Info: Both Sniktau and cupid are in good shape, maybe 4 inches of snow in deepest spot, rest blown away. Didn't need spikes. Cornices starting to form for the winter, be careful. |
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7/14/2023 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 7/14/2023, By: Jeff McGuire Info: No snow on the trail, summer conditions. |
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6/19/2023 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 6/24/2023, By: EMan Info: Minimal slushy snow on route above 13,000ft. No spikes necessary. For practical purposes, assume summer conditions. |
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5/21/2023 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 5/21/2023, By: zzcarp Info: It was a beautiful day. Started at 7:15 am when it was still below freezing. Certainly bootable all the way-didn't even use spikes. It's bare trail entirely for a bit from the pass on up. The consistent snow didn't start until the first high point, and between there and the last false summit had the most snow. Very little post-holing, and other than the beginning of the ridge, most snow can be avoided. Heading down had some mud but nothing terrible. I saw a couple skiers attempting to connect the snow patches near the parking lot while skinning up. I hope they found the place to use their skis because I didn't see a lot of good skiing places. |
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5/12/2023 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 5/13/2023, By: colingoodman Info: Plenty of post-holing up on the ridge which made for a slow hike. I expect that it will take quite some time for this all to melt. |
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4/23/2023 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 4/23/2023, By: hamnwizz Info: Thin layer of fresh snow, microspikes a must and poles very helpful in the deeper snow in short steep sections. Very manageable - would recommend face covering as wind was pretty strong! We combined with Cupid for a great morning - took 3.5 hrs round trip. |
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4/18/2023 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 4/18/2023, By: TheBuff66 Info: Traction wasn't needed today but light snow showers are in the forecast for the next few days. It's a paved road to the Grizzly Peak TH and the trail itself is easy to follow. The trail is dirt/rock 99% of the time with a few patches of hardpack here and there, but you can easily walk on top of it. It's a fun, quick hike. My Garmin logged 3.64mi RT and 1,600' of elevation gain. |
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4/10/2023 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 4/10/2023, By: Danger_D Info: Most of the ridge is wind scoured and an easy climb. I used microspikes on the way down to the TH for convenience, but traction not strictly needed |
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1/23/2023 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 1/23/2023, By: mmagann17 Info: Ridge was well scoured by wind - rocks were visible ascending the west ridge, and across the ridgeline heading north to the summit. I happily wore microspikes for the entire route. Occasional boot tracks were visible, but largely snowed over or blown away; still, the wind has compacted things enough that at no point did I consider switching to snowshoes. Avalanche-wise, the route is predominantly safe as of today, with mainly shallow, compacted snow along ridgelines. The ridges do feature some big (though easily avoidable) cornices. The corniced sections aren't always obvious on the ground, but are clearly visible from other sections of the route. When in doubt, stay away from the edge! |
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1/22/2023 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 1/22/2023, By: madmattd Info: Last-minute hike of the Loveland Pass 13ers trio due to the forecast changing to be so nice. See reports for Cupid and Grizzly D for info on those peaks. Added Snikatu at the tail end of the day. Nothing dramatic to report here, microspikes are best as there is generally a couple inches of snow (wind-packed and powder) with intermittent bare ground all the way from PT12,915 to the Snikatu summit. The usual cornices are forming to the East, the foot traffic was sticking to near the summer route with some deviations further West as needed to avoid potential hazards. |
