Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 9/18/2023, By: bdloftin77 Info: Dry!! Most peaks south of Henson Creek appeared to have a decent amount of snow, notably Redcloud and Sunshine. |
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Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 9/17/2023, By: MaryinColorado Info: A healthy dusting of snow coated the entire slope but was melted off by the time we left the summit. Lingering snow on the rocky west-facing scramble made for some slick maneuvering in parts. But the good news is when we got to the real spice (i.e., the class 3 fun!) it was pretty much all dry. LOTS of loose rock shifting under us through the whole scramble, though, so I think moisture helped loosen things even more than they probably already were. So, be really careful and test every foot and hand placement first. We sent some rocks flying and also heard regular rockfall on the slopes under Wetterhorn, as well. |
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Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 9/4/2022, By: 14ercooper Info: Nice little scramble to add a 13er to a hike in the area. Could probably keep it at difficult class 2 with some careful routefinding, or just send it at class 3 up the crux on surprisingly solid rock. |
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Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 6/5/2022, By: Sbenfield Info: Did not need snow gear of any kind. Easy to navigate any remaining snow. Continued on to Broken Hill which was also snow free For those interested in the traverse to Wetterhorn, I have attached a picture for your convenience |
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Route: Middle Fork of the Cimarron Posted On: 6/28/2021, By: dwoodward13 Info: Hiked in from the Middle Fork of the Cimarron TH. Very nice trail up to the saddle where you start dropping into the East Fork valley. A few snow patches over the trail that were bulletproof in the morning that are easy enough to just walk around. I took the western most trail that ascends the Uncomp-Matterhorn saddle and it was basically an old mining road. Think Rock of Ages approach. Ridge crest the rest of the way to the summit. Some enjoyable scrambling toward the top. Sadly views got socked in. |
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Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 6/9/2021, By: HikerGuy Info: Any remaining snow can be avoided, essentially summer conditions. Traverse to Broken Hill is also dry. Route was 9.93 miles and 4,314 feet. |
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Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 11/4/2020, By: supranihilest Info: Not much snow on the road or trail (which is shared with the Matterhorn Peak trail until the stock driveway splits northeast - take the stock driveway) until above treeline. Once on the stock driveway there's plenty of snow embedded in the eroded, inset trail but it can be avoided on the sides. The south slopes of Matterhorn are almost completely dry. There's some snow on the upper scramble, which, combined with wet shoes, adds some additional spice. The rock is generally solid but be careful what you grab since there are some large, loose blocks. The scramble is fun and short. Descend the way you came. |
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Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 9/14/2020, By: Chicago Transplant Info: Entire route is dry, except for some wet marshy areas between the trail and base of the ridge. |
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Route: Southwest Slopes Posted On: 7/20/2019, By: LetsGoMets Info: I departed the Wetterhorn trail on my descent around 12,500' and boulder hopped to the large boulders that are plainly visable on the SW slopes of Matterhorn. One patch of snow in the drainage before you start to climb the Matterhorn boulders, but after that it was summer conditions to the top. On the descent I picked up a climbers trail that intersects the Wetterhorn trail at 12,300 ish - there is a snowfield over the water just before the trail which makes crossing it easier. |
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Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 7/9/2018, By: madmattd Info: Easy walkup to the base of the tower from the stock trail just above the turn for Wetterhorn. It seems the normal route swings around to the right and up, pretty simple scramble with minor exposure in one or two spots. Canister is missing a 1-1/2" male threaded cap, and needs a new log, bag, and pencil. One partial piece of paper and a torn bag is all that's left in the current one. |
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Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 5/25/2018, By: illusion7il Info: All clear, any snow can be avoided. |
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Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 7/14/2015, By: TravelingMatt Info: Dry to summit. If cutting across the basin to or from Wetterhorn, may encounter some snow, but was solid in early afternoon. Pic is from point 13060 to the south. |
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Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 6/23/2015, By: AlexeyD Info: Decided to tag Matterhorn after Wetterhorn to take advantage of the longest day of the year Compared to Wett, this one was pretty trivial. Once out of the basin between the two peaks, it was possible to stay entirely off snow by simply walking up the gentle grassy slopes on climber's left side of the SE ridge (foreground in Photo 1). Then, just before the brief, easy class 3 scramble to the summit, there is a short snow feature blocking access to the start of the scramble, requiring a couple of moves of "snow bouldering" (one foot on snow, the other on rock) to get onto the rocks (Photo 2). This can be bypassed on climber's left, but this involves some rather loose terrain and quite a bit more time than the "snow boulder move" (which is really quite easy and not exposed at all). It‘s also possible to just walk across the snow ridge, but we left our ice axes lower down, and didn‘t feel like risking the exposure off to the right side of the ridge. The way we did it, we did not use, or feel like we needed, an ice axe or any type of snow gear on Matterhorn at all. On the return back to the access trail, we did have to cross several snowfields with quite a bit of postholing, but none were long enough to warrant putting the snowshoes back on. Awesome day on two amazing mountains. The view of Wetterhorn from this little peak makes it more than worth the extra effort! |
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Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 5/9/2015, By: rcrisp88 Info: It is still very snow-covered all the way to the top with a pretty stable cornice (see picture) at the very end. You can get within 1 mile of the summer 2WD trailhead but there are two last snow drifts and two large trees still blocking the road. Also the open field leading up to the slopes has a few spots with flowing water underneath so be careful where you step. Snowshoes were very helpful about 1/2 mile after the 4WD trailhead as was an ice ax to get across the cornice. |
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Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 5/27/2013, By: BobbyFinn Info: We did not need flotation in the basin. The trail is clear until about 11,600 and then it is intermittently covered with snow until it is mostly covered nearing the turnoff to Matterhorn. Crampons/axe were necessary toward the top due to steep snow. No issues getting to/from the TH in our stock Xterra. Pic 1: From the trail Pic 2: The final bit |
