6/22/2018 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 6/22/2018, By: desertdog Info: All snow patches avoidable. The approach through the forest is wet from the remaining snow melt so waterproof boots are good. Plenty of game trails to get you through the willows. Rain and light snow on my descent. |
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6/6/2018 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 6/6/2018, By: Ptglhs Info: Route is in good shape, a few patches of snow below treeline and a couple small snowfields between 11.6 and 12.2. Not much of a trail to speak of, the crux section is dicey because there's still consolidated snow and ice there. I wish I had brought traction. I'd turn off to the "non-trail" right where the dark rock meets the old train tracks. There are definitely sections that are better defined than a game trail, from 11.3-11.6 or so. |
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3/18/2018 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 3/19/2018, By: koeffling Info: Went up the north ridge on Sunday. We took a fairly wide route to the ridge which probably added a little distance in order to avoid deep post holing (followed snow mobile tracks to the northwest). From the base below the ridge we stashed snowshoes. We used an axe and spikes on the ridge, my partner had crampons. For the most part it was corniced on one side and fairly windblown on the other. Getting around the crux was a choose your own adventure. We took a low route there and a higher path on the return. There was probably 3 inches of snow on the car after our return last night, so unless it's windy I'm not sure how applicable this report will be. |
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2/4/2018 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 2/4/2018, By: Buddyboy27 Info: Skin from parking lot to few hundred feet above tree line. Patches of snow up to knee deep with skis on, I would guess snowshoes wouldn't cut it and would miserable. After tree line, the route up the west face to the ridge is avalanche risk free with minimal snow coverage. Ridge line is mostly hard packed crust that is cornicing on the eastern edge. Just a few spots where the snow is soft above tree line. I climbed in ski boots and poles but no crampons necessary. |
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12/16/2017 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 12/18/2017, By: AStavinoha Info: Although Copper mountain and the surrounding areas look dry, I was surprised to find the mountains and basin around Arkansas to be covered in snow! Trailhead has snow in the parking area, and snow up the road on the start to the approach. The first portion of the road is hardpacked where skiers have been coming off the mountain, but as we made our way up the road and then into the trees, we encountered many places with waste deep snow. We made the mistake of not taking our snow shoes - as the surrounding area looked dry, but that was a huge error. We were postholing in many area where ski pack didnt exist. I recommend snow shoes up past tree line, and then even slightly on the slope up to the ridge. The ridge already has some prominent cornices that look like they could get dicey if tested too much. It's easy enough to follow snow covered rocks up the ridge for a safe accent. We got lucky as there was not much wind - and running the ridge was a pleasure! Enough crusty snow to move quickly up the mountain. Seems like a perfect time to summit Arkansas if you're looking for snow! Aaron |
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3/4/2017 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 3/6/2017, By: Marmot72 Info: Good trench from parking to below the beginning of the broad climb up to the ridge. My trench from there was augmented by two skiers but not sure if it will survive the winds. The slog to the conjunction of NW and NE ridges was a mix of compacted snow and breakable crust. Ridge from there wind scoured, so patchy snow and rock and the snow mostly breakable crust. I bypassed the two upper towers, due to the high winds and distrust of the snow between the rocks. |
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9/6/2016 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 9/6/2016, By: Trotter Info: The climax mines has a LOT of signs up at the trailhead that say private property, no camping. That being said, if you pull off the dirt road south, theres a nice flat parking area that is screened from the road and mine by trees. No snow at all on peak yet. Willows are starting to turn colors. Not a lot of aspens on this route. Followed Bagginpeaks suggestion, and cut in early to avoid willows and marshy stuff, which is right along the standard route. Was able to keep it at class 2+, by following the cairns. There is quite a few of them once you get onto the rough ridgeline. Note that a lot of the route on the ridge is talus and boulder hopping. |
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7/3/2016 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 7/3/2016, By: bmasiak Info: North Ridge route is in great shape. 100% snow free. Took the direct line through the trees to get to the ridge per BagginPeaks suggestion below. It worked great. Did most of the upper ridge in clouds, so not many views today. Even though it was a Sunday on a holiday weekend we did not see a single person all day. Appreciated the solitude and awesome route a 13er like Mt. Arkansas can offer. |
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5/30/2016 Route: NE couloir Posted On: 5/30/2016, By: SnowAlien Info: Skinned to the bottom of couloir and booted up the couloir. Cornice is huge, and has at least 3 distinct layers. We felt that the top layer was the most precarious. We exited the couloir well before 9am with good overnight freeze. Started skiing at 9.04 am and were down in 30 min with multiple stops for rest and photo ops. The positives: - Very straightforward access - Aesthetic, steep line (consistent pitch of upper 40ties to low 50s) - Ability to preview the conditions The negatives : More difficult snow conditions than on any peak we skied this spring. - lots of avy debris in the couloir that we had to work our way around - sizeable runnel in upper 2/3 of the couloir - heavy tracked up powder on skiers right - apron is entirely avy debris (we exited to the right to find cleaner real estate to ski ) Overall, we feel the conditions are past its prime, even the coverage is still very good, and continuous from the summit. Entrance is a bit tricky, but very doable, at least on skis. |
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9/13/2015 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 9/13/2015, By: screeman57 Info: It‘s a good time to climb this, as the willow bogs on the approach are mostly dried up. Don‘t let all the game trails confuse you - just keep heading S/SW till treeline. When you have the summit to yourself, gaze at the throngs on democrat. The traverse to Tweto is nasty. A very time-consuming talus hop. |
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8/25/2015 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 8/25/2015, By: BagginPeaks Info: This one was a bit of an adventure. There are no established trails (other than many wandering zig-zagging game trails) and keen sense of direction and routefinding skills will come into play. I followed Bill's route description on 13ers.com to reach treeline, but I ascended the slope to gain the North ridge much earlier, and on the way out I found a better more direct line through the forest to the parking lot. The problem with the route on 13ers is that it takes you on a longer route through the forest and I found myself in several marshy areas with thick willows having to cross a creek several times. It also takes you a lot farther out in the tundra before you ascend the ridge. Once I was on the ridge I scouted a much shorter and more direct line through the forest and took it on the way back. Coming down the ridge I could see my truck at the 'trailhead' and took a mental bearing and followed it straight through the forest to my truck. I cairned the entrance of the route from the trailhead to the forest. From the parking area, start walking up the road going into the forest (not the one that switchbacks and goes back towards 91), very shortly take a right onto the dark colored rock railroad bed. Walk down this for maybe 50 yards and look for 2 cairns on the left. Follow those straight up into the forest where you might find a pipe surrounded by rocks, a short distance up you will come to another set of actual railroad tracks. Depending on how much you deviated in the forest until you met the tracks, the next cairn could be to your left or right but very close by. Leave the railroad tracks into the forest from the cairn and beeline it through the forest to treeline. There are game trails that are quite helpful but they don't go in a straight line so remember your mental compass bearing. Once you reach treeline you may walk by an old cabin, this is the shortest and most direct line, start up the grassy slope on the right side of the talus and gain the ridge. Once on the ridge it is pretty long and when you get your first view of the summit it will look pretty far away. There are some gendarmes that the route bypasses on the right side of the ridge. Upper ridge is pretty straightforward, narrow and exposed in sections. I would call this 'easy class 3' rather than 'class 2' because there is definitely scrambling to be had on the ridge. |
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7/12/2015 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 7/13/2015, By: Jay521 Info: Route is in great shape. No snow to avoid, no issues at all. Except for the mosquitoes in the trees. Wildflowers are IN. |
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4/12/2015 Route: North Ridge to Moonshine Couloir Posted On: 4/15/2015, By: adrenalated Info: Continuous snow at trailhead. Used climbing skins (ski crampons helpful) all the way to top of north bowl at 13,400‘. From there, booted (some of our group used crampons, but not necessary) a mix of snow and rock to summit. North Couloir/Moonshine Couloir is thinner than usual at the top, with rocks in the center for 200‘. However, the cornice is smaller than usual at only about 5-10‘ high. Snow conditions in couloir were highly variable. |
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10/5/2014 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 10/5/2014, By: Double Oh Seven Info: attempted arkansas north ridge on sunday. about an inch of snow in some place below tree line not an issue. The slope to gain the north ridge held 1-2 inches of snow from top to bottom just enough to make it slippery. Once on the ridge snow cover averaged ankle deep with postholing in windblown areas up to my waist in some spots. Not enough to justify snowshoes. The traverse around the towers is a mix of a moderate/easy snow traverse. Carried spikes didnt use them but could have gone either way on that decision I did not use an axe but bringing an axe for a few spots on that traverse wouldnt be the worst decision you could make. In the end this outing just proved too much for 11 year old husky and we had to turn around a few hundred feet below the summit. Cool and windy on the ridge. This peak has a lot of character well worth the effort. One other note this new snow its all faceted junk and will cause issues if it doesnt melt. In some areas i was able to break off a few small windslabs. Not big enough or steep enough to cause any concern today but add the leftover snow that didnt melt from last year and its something to keep in the front of your mind even though its only october. |
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6/8/2014 Route: Northeast Couloir Posted On: 6/9/2014, By: Col_Forbin Info: Snow conditions were less than ideal in the northeast couloir on Sunday 6/9, with postholing taking place even high in the couloir. Get off this one by 8:30/9:00 am. Massive cornice above the choke. (notice my size in comparison to the cornice in picture 3.) Overall a great climb, and I highly recommend someone getting use out of my booter. Sorry no pics the of surrounding peaks from the summit, I didn't have the camera on me. Snowshoes were unnecessary. |
