9/4/2024 Route: From Needleton Posted On: 9/4/2024, By: kyrawhitworth Info: Day tripped from Needleton which came in at 16.3 miles and 5380ft of vert in 11 hrs (so with an early start its easy to catch the train back). The needle creek trail is just awesome now so the miles go quickly then its steep trek and a short scramble after the false summit. I definitely recommend doing Jupiter this way if you didnt catch it on a previous chi basin pack in and thats your objective. |
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7/15/2023 Route: SW Slopes Posted On: 7/16/2023, By: ablocki Info: Completely dry to the summit |
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5/11/2023 Route: Standard ridge up, Europa couloir ski descent Posted On: 5/18/2023, By: SnowAlien Info: Didn't have good weather for this peak. Snowed overnight about 6". Clouds came in early in the morning. Breaking trail in fresh snow was laborious and skow going. Clouds and fog reduced visibility and made the route less obvious. It's funny how little I remembered from climbing the same route 10 years ago. Skied Europa couloir in fresh powder and traversed around cliff bands on the way back to camp in the upper basin. |
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9/15/2022 Route: Standard Posted On: 9/17/2022, By: Dan_Suitor Info: Snow and ice on the top. Warming temperatures may melt off some. |
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9/5/2022 Route: From Needle Creek Trailhead Posted On: 9/6/2022, By: ScottLovesRMNP Info: Route is easy to follow, but it's a workout. Plenty of water available along the entire route and with hot, sunny weather, I needed it! |
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7/13/2022 Route: Via Twin Thumbs Pass Posted On: 7/15/2022, By: Wildernessjane Info: In case anyone is planning on hitting Jupiter via Twin Thumbs Pass like we did, snow on the pass is avoidable so need need for traction/ice axes unless you want to traverse high. |
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7/7/2022 Route: Slopes Posted On: 7/8/2022, By: zootloopz Info: Summer conditions! Trail is a river below 12,000 up Chicago basin and the columbine pass trail. Up slopes down columbine pass ridge. Got into low 5th class on the ridge, probably avoidable. |
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7/2/2022 Route: from chicago basin Posted On: 7/4/2022, By: Laxer04 Info: We climbed from our camp in Chicago Basin. Forecast was iffy so we started early, well before sunrise. We lost the trail in the dark fairly easily - if you can wait for sunrise I would recommend it. We basically just stayed to the left of the stream up to the ridge. We opted to head right on the summit block and that allowed for some fun class 3 moves to the summit. The route is completely snow free. Cheers! |
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6/30/2022 Route: SW Ridge Posted On: 6/30/2022, By: daway8 Info: As reported elsewhere, trail from Needleton to Chicago Basin is free of deadfall but has some significant wash-out. From the turnoff between Twin Lakes and Columbine Pass the trail is often extremely muddy with a few downed trees that can easily be bypassed. After leaving the Columbine Pass trail, the trail for Jupiter comes and goes. Highly recommend having gpx files downloaded since it's tricky to navigate between the sporadic rock bands/mini cliff bands in the dark. No snow anywhere on the route. |
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8/7/2021 Route: Southwest Slopes Posted On: 8/8/2021, By: LetsGoMets Info: Took advantage of a zero cloud day and climbed Jupiter after Eolus/North Eolus. Departed Columbine Pass Trail around 11,650 (before stream crossing) and located a solid path near the stream across the meadow. Path and cairns easy to follow up to the upper basin, where you have a couple steep grassy options to the ridge. Register soaked and needs replacement. |
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7/17/2021 Route: Southwest Slopes Posted On: 7/21/2021, By: supranihilest Info: We backpacked in from Purgatory and climbed Jupiter on the same day. The Purgatory Flats trail is in great shape and easy to follow to the Animas River trail and then to Needle Creek Trail. Needle Creek trail had dozens of downed trees, maybe even more than 100, which slowed things down. There were beaten paths around all the deadfall. Camping in Chicago Basin was kind of a pain due to the crowds but it seemed like there were plenty of open spots above the Twin Lakes/Columbine Pass junction. From camp we took the Columbine Pass trail up a bunch of switchbacks and past an open mine until we could see Jupiter's large southwest amphitheater. We left the trail there and made a short traverse through the forest to treeline, and then up grassy slopes to climber's left all the way to the ridge. These slopes are steep and generally good for hiking up, but beware if wet - they'd be very slippery and steep enough that it would be hard to control a fall. Once on the ridge things became rockier, Class 2 granite boulders and talus, until we were about a third of mile from the summit. There was some scrambling to reach the summit ranging from Class 2+ to Class 4 with plenty of options to keep things easier. Rock quality was generally good, exposure was high in some spots. |
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6/27/2021 Route: Southwest Slopes Posted On: 7/3/2021, By: MC.Ikema Info: Snow free to the top. Started from our camp in Chicago Basin. |
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8/22/2020 Route: Chi Basin Posted On: 8/24/2020, By: Unknown Info: Summit needs paper. Unexpected false summit leads to borderline class 2+/3 depending on your line. Water is still running after the Columbine split up to the meadow. Someone was using a chainsaw near the cabin and had several horses/donkeys |
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9/1/2019 Route: Purgatory Posted On: 9/4/2019, By: angry Info: Dry/summer conditions all the way. Lots of people in Chicago Basin, but I had the summit to myself. |
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8/4/2019 Route: Southwest Slopes Posted On: 8/5/2019, By: Bailey Tyson Info: No traction (crampons or micro spikes) or ice axe needed. Standard route is good to go. Chicago Basin approach from Needleton is dry and in normal summer condition save for one small area of avalanche debris, which is easily navigated/bypassed as others have noted. |
