West Spanish Peak

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/27/2024, By: bethyhewes
Info: The road is now clear of snow up to the trailhead at Cordova Pass Campground. There are still quite a few snow drifts along the trail below treeline, but they are all very small and with enough dry trail between them that they definitely don't warrant flotation/traction. Even on the way down, I was able to walk over all these drifts without postholing. I would imagine most of these drifts will be gone within the next couple weeks, but they are totally managable now. Trail is easy to follow. On the steep slope up to the summit ridge, there were still large patches of ankle-knee deep snow. These snow patches are completely avoidable if you take some time to pick your line, but I found the snow much easier to hike on than the adjacent loose rocks. I hit this section around 10:30 heading up and found the snow soft enough that I didn't use any traction, but traction would probably be helpful if you hit it earlier while the snow is still hard. Once you reach the summit ridge, there is still quite a lot of snow. Again, it was soft enough that I did not feel traction was necessary but met a group coming down that said it was solid ice when they hit it earlier in the morning and they decided to turn around at this point because wind was high and I'm assuming they may not have had traction. Coming down from the summit around 12, the snow was just solid enough to glissade/walk down but was getting pretty slushy towards the bottom and was starting to posthole. Again, you can avoid all of this snow on the slope up to the ridge but I'll take a glissade to loose scree any day! Overall, it was a gorgeous (though a bit windy!) day on West Spanish Peak. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/4/2024, By: 14er101
Info: Cordova Pass was easily accessible until 1.5 miles from the pass where we parked. Drifted beyond there but melting fast. No traction or flotation needed for West Spanish. Below treeline was 50/50 drift and clear. Fair amount of postholing but short lived. Above treeline, ridge was entirely clear of snow. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 12/3/2023, By: sarahmariekirk
Info: Attempted West Spanish Peak today! Crazy day insane conditions with a long day of breaking trail (as were expected but you dont know if you do not try!). The snow was deep, powdery and unconsolidated until the ridge. We are estimating that it was 60mph sustained winds with gusts around 100mph today. The windchill was about -20 and we made it up on the ridge, around 12,500ft, before we called it due to the windy conditions blowing both of us over repeatedly and the incoming clouds rolling in. It is always hard admitting defeat but on days like this, it is not as hard - at least we got out and tried! Much better than staying at home, wondering if it was doable. Cordova Pass is still open as of now, but the road was pretty sketchy with deep drifts of snow in certain areas due to the wind and we actually got stuck on the way out thanks to the local who was able to tow us out and showed us an alternate road back to the highway! 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 11/12/2023, By: cloudkicker
Info: From Maxwell-Cuatro-Leaning South-Leaning North-Trinchera, I got a great view of the standard route of West Spanish Peak. Looked dry from the bottom to the top. Strong guess that Cordova Pass is completely accessible too. Would be a great little bicentennial if youre looking to test winter layers before the next snowfall. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 10/28/2023, By: greenschist
Info: The entire route was dry this morning, but by noon the clouds were starting to roll in and snow had begun to fall. Every peak I could see was already entirely socked in, except for East Spanish Peak. The trail below treeline is straightforward and in good shape. Above treeline, the trail immediately splits into multiple trails. They're all parallel to each other and they all have cairns. The wind was intense but not dangerous, so I tried sticking to whichever route was shielded from it. I saw only one other person on the trail, and a few hunters near the trail head. Strava clocked 7.6 miles RT, 2574 ft gain. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 10/13/2023, By: Troyister
Info: Road to Cordova pass in great condition for any 2WD vehicle. Fall conditions no snow. Signs of hail/ice pellets from a couple of days ago. Trail splits a couple of times in the woods, good to make sure you make the correct turns. Faint trail and cairns up the SW ridge above tree line, very steep easy to follow. As I was coming off the peak had 2 F16s fly just above the trees, cool to look down on the aircraft as they went screaming by. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 9/17/2023, By: Veory
Info: Totally dry. Looks like the Blanca group and Northern culebra range have mostly stayed out of the snow too, but I can only attest for the east facing aspects. Was really surprised by how beautiful of a hike this one is, and the talus is really not as bad as it looked. Great fun, fantastic day. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 7/4/2023, By: Ssgustafson
Info: Beautiful day on the mountain! 100% summer conditions. A few pics below after exiting the forest. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 7/5/2023, By: kwhit24
Info: No snow to deal with. Route was completely dry. Only saw a few other people on the trail (7.65 mi; 2,657' gain; 3:48:44 time) Start at TH 11:00am; Summit at 12:55pm (17min on top); Back to TH 2:48pm 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/26/2023, By: emilyexplores
Info: Patchy but avoidable snow for much of the route - snowshoes definitely not needed today. Top of ridge has the most snow coverage, still doable in trail runners but traction may be warranted if snow conditions were different. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/4/2023, By: Woodie Hopper
Info: Cordova Pass CG is driveable for higher clearance AWD/4x4 vehicles. Some snow patches and narrow muddy ruts will prevent less capable vehicles from getting closer than ~ 2-3 miles from the standard TH. The CG restrooms are unlocked, but there is no TP. There is a lot of snow, in fact almost all of the lower trail was completely covered, and difficult to follow in places. I almost bailed 100yds from the TH d/t waist deep snow, but managed (with a lot of effort) without traction aids or snowshoes- I strongly recommend bringing snowshoes. I did have an axe with me, but the sloppy snow won't permit glissades. The upper mountain holds a lot of snow too- before the summit ridge depending on preferences you can expect about 50/50 talus and snow cover. Didn't see anyone for the duration- my boot prints are the only ones on the trail. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 10/8/2022, By: zootloopz
Info: I actually climbed this on 10/1 and didn't update. The only thing I wanted to mention is that there is currently a glass jar as the register. The last glass jar on the peak shattered and there is now broken glass all around the summit cairn. Be careful if you bring dogs and please try to pack out some glass or bring a new register. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/18/2022, By: Mountain_hiker100
Info: Summer conditions all along the route. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/4/2022, By: cougar
Info: Summer conditions. Toilet at trailhead open. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/30/2022, By: Kitten
Info: Summer conditions all the way to the top. The few snow fields that remain can be bypassed easily. No traction needed.