Ice Mountain

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 8/4/2026, By: cdgibbons
Info: Summer conditions, obviously. As has been widely documented, this is a very tedious approach, even by the standards of a less-traveled Centennial. Crux is fun and stable; to the discussion of class I'd probably rate the second to last move at the top as class 4, but it's right on the line. 2 other climbers on both mountains on an August Monday (+North Apostle) and a suspicious mountain goat at the saddle. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 7/27/2026, By: jahselassie
Info: The register on Ice has a broken screw top. The previous night heavy rain also soaked whatever paper was inside. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 7/19/2026, By: snacktime
Info: Summer conditions. The summit register on Ice is just an envelope, so it might need more paper soon.

We met a group of three just past the saddle on our way up Ice - if you read this, thanks for the beta and here’s your N Apostle summit shot! 

Route: Apostle Traverse (North-Ice-West)
Posted On: 6/16/2026, By: ptylman3
Info: Snow in the basin between North and Ice. Avoidable until the last couple hundred feet. Managed with microspikes.
North Apostle is summer conditions. NE ridge on Ice has some snow around the class 3 headwall, then couloir but they are avoidable. Dry from Ice to West but horribly loose and tedious. Dry up West Apostle. Ridge coming down West Apostle is dry, but loose until the last couple hundred feet where we glissaded to the saddle before the hike to Lake Ann. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 6/14/2026, By: jfm3
Info: I climbed Ice Mountain and North Apostle on June 13. The route is dry to the end of the trail near the treeline. On the ascent, I stayed south and hiked up the moraine below West Apostle, entering the large basin at the very bottom. On the descent, I took the trail through the talus out of the basin, went around the cliffs below North Apostle and down through the trees to re-join the trail.

The upper basin still has snow cover most of the way up to the Ice-North saddle. There is running water below the snow in the lower half of the basin. Most of the exposed rocks in the snowfield were slick with water ice in the morning. I used crampons and 2 ice axes to climb the snowfield. The Refrigerator Couloir still has snow all the way to the top.

The ridge on Ice is dry over the first bump and notch. The first headwall has a snowfield down the center but can be climbed on the left side on dry rock. There is 1 required step on the snowfield before exiting at the very top of the gully next to the wall. The next portion of the ridge can be climbed on dry rock on the crest. The final gully has icy snow in the middle all the way to the top. It can be climbed on the right side on dry rock. There are many loose rocks and the exposure is significant above the steep snow. After the top of the gully, the final steps to the summit are dry.

The snowfield in the upper basin was mostly supportive during the descent at 12:30 PM. The upper portion was soft enough for easy plunge stepping. The lower section, with the running water, was very soft and often broke apart under my feet. This slope is too steep for snowshoes, and the footing can be treacherous because there are big gaps under the snow from the uneven talus. I stayed close to the edge of the snow and tested every step. The upper basin is very steep and is challenging in any condition. The snow must be in good condition for crampon/axe travel. When dry, the jumbled and occasionally loose talus makes for difficult travel. 

Route: Refrigerator
Posted On: 5/27/2026, By: ericahlstedt
Info: The Refrigerator is Stocked on Ice Mountain

What a fantastic snow climb and ski line. Super stoked on this one.

Surprisingly good conditions after last night’s snow. About 5” of soft powder in the upper ~500 ft of the Refrigerator Couloir, 2–3” in the next ~500 ft, then transitioning to smooth spring slush for the lower ~1,500 ft. Lots of wet slide debris through the basin, but mostly avoidable and soft.

Lucked out with another cloudy, moody skies day, which kept things from getting too soft and allowed me to sleep in, starting up just before sunrise.

First ~3 miles are mostly flat hiking to around 11,300. Patchy unconsolidated snow started in the trees after the Lake Ann trail split (~11,000’) and was wet/annoying in hiking boots, definitely wished I had gaiters to keep my socks dry.

Above treeline I bootpacked to ~12,300, then switched to skins for a high traverse to the base of the couloir around 13,000’. From there I used crampons and I put in a bootpack up the line. Summit ridge was briefly pretty spicy in ski boots/crampons.

Dropped in around 11am and the couloir was still skiing soft and powdery wall-to-wall. Continuous skiing back down to ~11,300 for roughly a 2,600 ft descent. Pretty great for end of May on a low snow year.

No idea how long it will stay soft, but might stay pretty nice for a few days with the cloudy skies forecast and will be a bit easier with a bootpack established now.

Def need 4x4 to get to the trailhead.


10.3 miles, 3,700 ft gain. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 1/21/2026, By: Yikes
Info: Went back after trenching to treeline on Sunday. There isn't much tundra or scree in the upper basin, ridge or peaks... just a million medium sized rocks. So it was very slow travel, having to be very deliberate in every foot placement to prevent dropping knee deep between the rocks. Even with caution, I ended up head over heels a few times. The snow is probably holding the loose rocks on Ice together, but I still pulled down a few. Crux chimney was pretty easy. The only challenge was a 10' class 4 move further up with a near vertical face on the left where my crampons let loose; fortunately I had good hand holds and didn't fall off the mountain. I tried to find a different/safer descent, but wasn't comfortable with the options, so decided to upclimb and then reverse the class 4 moves. I'm glad I was able to take advantage of driving to Winfield this "winter", but it was still an effort to get these 2 peaks (15hr car-to-car). 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 1/18/2026, By: Yikes
Info: Trenching trip up to Apostle Basin, 11500'. Parked at Winfield, road was very dry except for one ice patch.

Nice day in the mountains. Not much snow until Lake Ann split, then a bit of work trenching up to the basin. Not much wind, so probably won't fill back in for a few days. Anyone looking for an "easy" winter Ice Mtn, tomorrow MLK might be a good day to attempt. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 10/8/2025, By: DrSluice
Info: The summit ridge of Ice is in terrible shape (snow and ice, go figure). Plenty of slippery conditions on all of the most concequestial moves. At this point I'm sure it wont have dry contitions again until next summer. North Apostle was almost totally dry and very easy. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 8/23/2025, By: Laxer04
Info: summer conditions. aspens are starting to change already. summit register for ice could use a new pad. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 8/3/2025, By: notidealbutfine
Info: Started about 1.3 miles below the 4WD TH at 5:00AM. Not much to note in terms of conditions; there's no snow whatsoever in the gulley at this point so it climbs a little loose as a result, but I didn't think it was anything to write home about. The crux chimney at the top of Ice seemed a little more difficult than class 3, but I probably could have chosen a better line. Really fun scrambling from the saddle to the summit of Ice. The class 2 hike up North Apostle was short and not particularly noteworthy. Ice is definitely one of the best peaks in the Sawatch! Easily 150+ people on Huron today, but only about 10 on the Apostles. 12.64 miles / 4,180' gain / 6 hours, 38 minutes 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 8/4/2025, By: cdgibbons
Info: Turned back on Ice after this monsoon pattern brought a third straight day of 7 AM storms, with the proverbial 0% chance...6 of us on the mountain on a Saturday in August; spoke with 3 others who pressed on and made it.

Posting not to complain about weather forecasting but instead to name that there's a serviceable climber's trail through the bushwhack section. After crossing the creek, parallel it a bit to the south, pass the gnarly wood in the first photo and go through that gap; continue parallel to the creek in marshy meadows to the cairn in the second photo; turn left there and climb to the cairn in the third photo and enter the forest between those two trees; follow the trail segment to the rock in the fourth photo and turn left, uphill, and follow to a cairned exit at 11,900. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 7/12/2025, By: sehessler92
Info: All snow avoidable. The scramble up to the saddle actually makes you appreciate the willows A LOT. Two other groups were hiking spICEy, both of which yelled “rock” that we could hear from North Apostle so check and double check those handholds. The gully crux wasn’t as difficult as it looks (probably a very difficult class 3 due to exposure and rock quality) just take your time and test your hand and footholds. I was able to butt scoot/crab walk down the crux gully without much difficulty(my pants on the other hand took a beating..). Most of the rock seems pretty solid in the crux but there are a couple rocks that didn’t get that memo. Also saw a thiccccccc porcupine this morning around 4-4:30 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 7/8/2025, By: jcgeissler
Info: Summer conditions as has been said before. The bushwhack was frustrating there and especially back when tired. Beautiful day. Wonder if the bushwhack could be avoided if you stayed west of the stream and scrambling the boulder debris field and met up with the trail. Scree fields heading up to the gates was sucky. 

Route: Ice Northeast Ridge + North Apostle
Posted On: 7/6/2025, By: Sbenfield
Info: Took the standard route along with North Apostle. Summer conditions, no need for any microspikes or axe. Ice summit scramble very fun and enjoyable. Met a great group of other hikers as well. Attached a photo of refrigerator.