Jones Mountain

Route: American/Jones/Niagara combo via American Basin
Posted On: 7/6/2024, By: wintersage
Info: Went up the Patriot Couloir to grab American, then traversed the ridge over to Jones. There was just one snowfield at the top of the couloir entrance but its avoidable. From Jones to Niagara, the route is completely dry. After re summiting Jones I descended right from the low point of American Ridge. This section had a huge snowfield that could be avoided by staying on the loose rock but I just down climbed it. 

Route: American Pie from Cuba 4WD
Posted On: 6/24/2024, By: pshugrue
Info: Beautiful conditions. Snow mostly avoidable. Used spikes on descent for a brief period. Ridge lines are almost completely bare. Gawwwwgeous views all around. Went up American Peak first, then Jones and Niagara. I skipped Crown Mountain and came down Niagaras East Ridge into the basin. The road past Cataract Gulch to the Cuba 4WD trailhead has some water damage in parts, but stock trucks/4WD should be okay getting there with care. Views of Vestal were *mwah*. 

Route: American Pie
Posted On: 6/24/2024, By: mjlucarelli
Info: Started at Cuba Gulch. Descended American's west ridge. A few snowfields block the trail to the Jones/American saddle and up Jones's NE ridge but with a little extra effort I was able to avoid them all. 

Route: American/Jones/Niagara Combo from American Basin
Posted On: 6/25/2024, By: backcountrybrodes
Info: A couple of snowfields that are easily avoidable, American Peak traverse to Jones saddle is snow free. Going back over Jones wasn't the hard part... going up Niagara Peak was the hard part. Snow fields avoidable on that one too. 

Route: South Ridge/West Face
Posted On: 5/26/2024, By: Chicago Transplant
Info: See Niagara update for approach. You'll need to partially ascend Niagara's NE face them traverse over unless you want to climb the cornice. South ridge a mix of rocky trail and snow patches, pretty mellow except the final 100' to the summit. Can ski off the summit, back down the upper south ridge until the flat spot below the false summit then down the west face. Mostly good snow but a little firm and some old frozen wet debris in the gully I took. 

Route: Burns Gulch
Posted On: 9/28/2023, By: NotTimid
Info: Frost and a dusting of snow on the rocks/route starting just below 13K on the ascent, but this had all melted away by the time I was descending. In the upper basin as you are ascending the switchbacks through the cliff bands below the Jones-Niagara saddle, there were some patches of snow that persisted into the afternoon, but are manageable/avoidable. The route above the saddle to the summit of Jones is dry. Final summit pitch is quite loose. 

Route: From Burns Gulch
Posted On: 8/21/2023, By: dr_j
Info: Completely dry route, full summer conditions, with decent wildflowers. We hiked the Niagara / Jones / American combo starting up from about 3/4 of the way up Burns Gulch Road, up to the Niagara / Jones saddle. We summited Niagara first, a bit loose, but nothing exceeds Class 2+. The traverse to Jones is in good shape and is very clear, and there is a path to the top of Jones. The descent from Jones to the Jones / American saddle is steep and loose, and after an initial climb up towards American, the trail stays fairly level, look for cairns, and choose your own adventure to the summit of American. The descent back towards Burns Gulch from the saddle is quite loose (thanks you San Juans), look for cairns, and follow a very faint overgrown road back towards the trailhead. I do not recommend ascending the Jones / American saddle, best to summit Niagara - Jones - American in that order. 

Route: American Basin
Posted On: 7/1/2023, By: gcook33
Info: Started in America basin and went up the yellow gully a few trip reports mentioned. Thats all snow covered and I did it in microspikes and ice axe. Went over to Jones then Niagara and then reascended Jones and over to American. American back down to the gully for a great glissade. The ridge is roughly 80% dry, but I didnt find any of the snow too difficult to navigate. The basin has a lot more snow and excellent glissade may be had 

Route: American Basin
Posted On: 7/4/2023, By: dcsheldon
Info: Jones and Niagara Adding some pictures from the gcook33 trip report. Thanks to gcook33 for letting us know the route from Jones to Niagara was snow free except for one spot near top of Niagara that could be avoided. Snow shoes were not necessary through American Basin. No significant post holing. We took the route away from Sloan Lake up the yellow dirt gully. I used crampons up the gully to the ridge. From the ridge to both Jones and Niagara, traction not necessary. 

Route: up from Niagara, North face ski descent
Posted On: 5/18/2023, By: SnowAlien
Info: Booted up to Jones from the saddle with Niagara, most of the trail is dry and visible. Had 2 options from the summit - to ski SE face and traverse into the prominent North facing gully, or to drop directly into North face. I didn't see the North Face, but thought there will be some snow and the cliffs would be avoidable on skiers' left. So that's what I did (would recommend the 1st option though). From the summit, I took the skiers right mini-gully (the cental-left was melted out). The width was exactly 160 cm at the narrowest choke (my skis are 159 cm). Then I was able to ski for 200-300 ft, with every turn getting more acutely aware of the cliffband below. I was able to traverse left, find another narrow strip of snow that connected to the apron below. Overall, it is a pretty adventurous line with big exposure. The snow conditions were firm/icy at the top and ripe corn below (~noon). Was able to connect all snow patches down to Animas river, but snow below 11.5k is going fast. 

Route: Grouse/Burns Gulch
Posted On: 8/26/2022, By: JasonKline
Info: Summer conditions. No snow or ice. 

Route: American Basin
Posted On: 6/4/2022, By: jeffdmar
Info: Parked just shy of the creek crossing about 0.7 miles from the trailhead proper, although my Subaru Outback probably could have made it the whole way. Starting from Approx a mile up American basin I was able to skin a continuous snow field as high as the top of the head wall west of American Peak. Good firm snow at dawn. Easy snow free ascent from there to the summit. The ski descent probably wasn't really worth it for the hard and mostly sun-cupped descent at 730am, which was only 1000 feet from 13,200 down to approx 12,200. More time would have softened it up. Good day though. 6 miles round trip. 3000 vertical. 4 hours 

Route: From American Basin
Posted On: 5/30/2022, By: Thevirtualsherpa
Info: Snow covering east slopes to gain ridge and dry once on west side of American Peak Ridge. One of the most beautiful summit views I've experienced. Snow softened up perfect by 10/11 for nice glissade and boot ski out. A+ day 

Route: Niagara Falls
Posted On: 5/31/2022, By: CheapCigarMan
Info: Took Jones' South Ridge Route from Niagara. I found this to be a very easy ride. Mostly Class 1 across the gentle grassy saddle with easy Class 2 to the summit. Used crampons and ice axe as I glissaded down Niagara to the saddle. From there, dry. No flotation, no traction. Once back down to the saddle glissaded several times on nice consolidated snow until I got back to the road. 

Route: American Pie
Posted On: 1/16/2022, By: blazintoes
Info: MadDadMike and I skinned up the Snares Stairs then split as he went for his orphaned Niagara and me all 3 with American first. Trek to Jones looks meaner than it is. The snow was stable and there were no excuses to not keep moving. This is some of the best January conditions I've ever experienced unlike last year as looked over at Half Peak which destroyed me and my phone. But that's winter climbing. Varies day to day, year to year. It was so nice to pretend to keep up with Mike as I'm feeling like an imposter behind him but the conversation was good all the way up and 5 miles went by so fast together. I stashed my skis and snowshoed up American as the sun peaked out behind Half. It was steep but the snow was solid. The summit was corniced but easy to walk across. The side hilling to Jones wasn't annoying and the scary loose east ridge was easy to navigate. I made it there an hour after American and another hour to Niagara where I could see Mikes tracks and a cairn he made for me. Cute. Of course his classic B&B cairn was on the summit. I sent him a message that I got 3 for 3. Yippie! With crampons I made quick time all day and down the final descent into the Snare Creek basin. I made the mistake of following mikes ski tracks down and got too far below where my skis were stashed and had to trench back up then cross the last drainage down and back up to the Stairs. Torture! When I finally got to my skis I couldn't get the pin binding to snap into ski mode so I strapped them to my pack and hiked all the way to Cuba gulch then skinned back to the car at Cataract. It was best to keep skins on anyway. Hey I'm a ski mountaineer now!!! There's no excuse to not get out and climb the San Juan's now. They are in perfect condition! Get it!