6/12/2019 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 6/12/2019, By: WildWanderer Info: Easy and clear 2WD access to 2WD lot. Parked at the 2WD lot and wasn't disappointed. From almost where the 4WD road begins it's a steady stream of water running down the trail. Started at 3am. The road was worse than I remember it from 2017. No snow until after the creek crossings, but there's avy debris still covering the road about 1/2 a mile before the first creek crossing. It's easy to hike over, but no vehicles will be getting through until it melts and is cleared. When I crossed the creek(s) the water was up to my knees. No traction needed in the morning until I left the road and entered the trees. From there I postholed up to my waist multiple times before breaking down and putting on the snowshoes. No postholing with snowshoes from then on out. There was a small snow bridge in the willows area crossing the creek yet again (4 crossings total due to high water and overflowing of the creek). I'm not sure the snow bridge will be there much longer. I took the southwest route to the ridge, and had a continuous line of snow. Easy class 2 (in snow) to summit, with no difficult obstacles. I summited at 7am and by 7:30am everything was mush. My ice axe was nice but not mandatory. It's spring, so on the way down snowshoes were really helpful. Made it back to my truck by 10am. Came home, cleaned up, and experienced my first Colorado tick encounter. I've lived here since 2007, I'm active in the outdoors, and this is the first one I've seen here. |
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5/12/2019 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 5/12/2019, By: Buddyboy27 Info: Climb Cronin via North ridge and ski decent via east Face. Tried driving up Antero Jeep road but only got .25 miles up. Not really evidence of anyone making it further. Jeep road is patchy a good bit of the way to Baldwin Gulch split. I started skinning about 1 mile from the beginning of the Jeep road junction. Good overnight freeze meant easy skinning up the road, however I was postholing in hiking boots before switching to skis. Route is straight forward, a map is hardly necessary but there is no dedicated trail. Good hardback snow in AM to gain the ridge. Ridge was full of unconsolidated snow, waist deep at times. Wind blowing perpendicular to ridge travel. VERY small cornice at summit, 1-2'? Perfect powder conditions top to bottom on the face itself, 18+ inches. Slight 2 inch wind slab just below summit but it appeared to be well bonded. Decent wet slab on direct east Face that slid Saturday (5/11) along with loose wet point releases. Probably more wet activity this afternoon. Skied nearly from summit to truck. Moving time = 4.5 Hours, could be much faster if Antero Jeep road wasn't so flat... |
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3/30/2019 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 3/31/2019, By: BKS Info: Baldwin gulch road is well packed down - flotation not needed but micro spikes were helpful as there was some ice. We took the north ridge in its entirety. We forged a route through the trees leaving the road for the ridge just above the turnoff for the lake. The whole ridge is long, undulating, rocky and scrambly down low. 8 hours round trip on ridge. 4 1/2 hours on up. Snow was fairly supportive, but we still postholed some. Microspikes are mandatory, axe highly recommended, crampons would be good to kick steps and for some icy traverses above chutes to the west. The low part of ridge (below where the standard route gains the ridge) is steep with quite a few steps and notches. There is some class 3 and a couple of class 4 moves over exposed chutes. There is quite a bit of loose rock where holds are needed - as there has been little traffic to pick the route clean. We dropped some rock (accidentally) down a chute on the west side. We found very little beta on this part of the ridge - one summer trip report with a pic showing exposure on summit post. Wth the right avy conditions, the standard route would be much more efficient. It was a 12 hour day. |
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7/31/2018 Route: East Ridge Ascent and North Ridge on descent Posted On: 7/31/2018, By: LetsGoMets Info: Ascent up the East Ridge from the Antero/Cronin/White saddle is dry and easy. Stuck to the ridge proper most of the way. Descended the North Ridge which was interesting - you can't see it from the summit and most of the "next moves" on the ridge don't present themselves until you are at them. Cool ridge - narrow and rough - but not difficult. The scree slopes down to the basinis really loose however, take care on that. |
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5/5/2018 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 5/7/2018, By: Chicago Transplant Info: Road has patchy snow starting 1/2 mile up from 2WD parking, but is mostly dry to the main creek crossing. Creek crossing on rocks to the left works well, take care on anything wet. After that the road starts to be mostly snow covered 1/4 mile above the crossing and stays fairy continuous on the road and in the trees. We gained the north ridge on a shallow angle slop above a large orange talus heap. Could skin all the way to the ridge. Carried skis on the class 2+ ridge. Took us longer than expected and the snow was getting too soft (10.30), so we bailed down a 35-40 degree east facing couloir at 13,500. The ridge to the summit and the NE face all looked about the same condition as our route, if you want ski, try and summit by 10. Image 1: Ascent slopes to the ridge from the talus heap Image 2: Ridge conditions Image 3: Overall of the bowl Image 4: Zoom of our line |
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1/28/2018 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 1/29/2018, By: wondering_hough Info: Three of us attempted the north ridge, again. Used spikes (micro) until 10,800 feet and the upper trail head. Used snowshoes for the next segment of the road, through the forest, and up to 12,400 feet on the shoulder before the final ridge. The remaining route didn't need floatation. We did not summit due to time..... a nice trench is in place for a few days if anyone wants to attempt. |
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10/15/2017 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 10/16/2017, By: Bombay2Boulder Info: There is some snow on the upper section after the false summit. We did not use any traction and there are steps kicked in through it. The stream crossing after leaving the road and dropping into the gulch is negligible at this moment. Stream is very low and can be easily crossed. Apart from the snow after the false summit, entire route is snow free. I will add separate conditions for the road. |
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7/1/2017 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 7/2/2017, By: Grover Info: This route and peak are clear of snow. Its a steep hike up grass and talus to the ridge. Suggestion for this peak/route: If you cannot or do not want to drive up CR 277, or, don't want to drive past the creek crossing road split at ~10,800 ft., consider hiking into the basin where you cross the stream and willows, and camp there. I drove up to ~11,700 ft., backpacked for |
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6/10/2017 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 6/10/2017, By: kansas Info: Pretty much summer conditions, little bit of snow in the trees after the turnoff from the road, the rest of the snow can be easily avoided. No need for spikes or snowshoes. |
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5/23/2017 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 5/23/2017, By: desertdog Info: We drove 1.5 miles up Baldwin Gulch road before snow drifts stopped us. Some snow on FS 277. Solid snow on FS 278. The basin had plenty of snow so you may want snowshoes. We chose to climb the ridge on the far left ( as you face the peak) rather than the standard route. The ridge was mostly dry until the last 100 yards to the summit. We had the whole mountain to ourselves on a beautiful day. |
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10/20/2016 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 10/20/2016, By: wildsidesky Info: Ascended Cronin from the long saddle between Cronin and Antero. That route is dry (though it doesn't seem that way from the summit of Mt. Antero). We then descended Cronin the standard North Ridge route. Some snow accumulation as high as ankle deep all the way down to ~13,000'. My climbing partner felt more comfortable with microspikes, but I didn't put mine on. Did see bear tracks in the snow near 13,000'. Weird, right? We were hoping they were lynx tracks :) Also spotted some Ptarmigans very close to the route on the way down to treeline. Get it while it's hot! |
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6/18/2016 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 6/18/2016, By: RyGuy Info: The standard route to Cronin is dry and good to go! There still is some snow on the ridgelines and summit, but nothing that can't be avoided if you choose. |
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5/14/2016 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 5/16/2016, By: Kitten Info: Snow is continuous from one mile before the creek crossing all the way up to the summit. We saw two groups of skiers, snow is still great up there! We needed snowshoes only on the traverse through the trees, although coming back we were postholing. No spikes or snowshoes needed on the ascent to the ridge or after, snow was firm enough that it was easy to make steps. |
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7/16/2015 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 7/16/2015, By: BillMiddlebrook Info: Cronin‘s north ridge route is dry to the summit. |
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6/16/2015 Route: N. Ridge Posted On: 6/18/2015, By: illusion7il Info: Stream crossing is high All clear up to the ridge A few patches of snow above 13.5K |
