6/5/2015 Route: NW Ridge, Descending West into the basin Posted On: 6/8/2015, By: WillRobnett Info: Drove .5 miles on the Antero Road before a 4 inch layer of solid ice covered the road for about 30 feet, incline.. Started hiking from there. Around 2 miles in, a thin layer of ice covered rocks at the creek crossing making it a little dangerous to cross early AM in freezing air temps. Snow was completely avoidable until starting on the NW Ridge. Snow coverage was 3/4 of the ridge. Up high, recent storms had created cornices with softer windblown snow surrounding. These were small and completely avoidable on the ridge. The NW face had small loose/wet slides with 35-45 degree slopes and still needs to consolidate a bit more. I descended the SW face to get better glissade conditions. Almost the entire slope was less than a 35 degree angle and snow was not deep with many rock bands exposed. Descending the SW face was variable conditions going down. Snow was too fresh up high, solid hard pack mid-mountain, and too wet/soft at the bottom. Getting back to the grassy area near the creek crossing was mixed snow fields and mostly boulder fields. 2 miles of boulder fields there. Deep postholing was the only other option in the basin west of Cronin. I'd recommend the NW ridge as a better way off the mountain! |
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4/11/2015 Route: NE face ski Posted On: 4/13/2015, By: SnowAlien Info: Still excellent coverage on Cronin. We actually had to do quite a bit of sluff magement in the couloir :) Thanks Joel P and Bill M for prior beta. Antero was bone dry. Tab has some lines but looking pretty thin. Road coverage was patchy and a pain in the butt to skin on. |
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6/1/2014 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 6/2/2014, By: mrickers Info: Went up the East Ridge from Antero. Snow can be almost entirely avoided. NE face still holding a decent amount of snow. Photo #1: Cronin from Antero Photo #2: NE face |
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4/25/2014 Route: Baldwin Gulch Posted On: 4/26/2014, By: KyleS Info: Cronin is in. The snow on the way up the road had only a slight crust from a weak overnight freeze. But there was a supportive enough seam to be found and we didn‘t end up using our snowshoes. Skinning would require a lot of tedious transitions, unless you had a pair of skins you‘re willing to sacrifice. Likewise, we chose to walk the last 1.5 miles on the way down. We stashed our snowshoes and exited the road around 11,700 following ski tracks west into the woods with only moderate occasional post-holing. Once above treeline, we found perfect crampon conditions up to where we gained the ridge at about 13,300. There were small, soft windslabs on the ridge but it was pretty smooth climbing to the summit. The east face ski lines looked beautiful white on the way up, but all of the south facing walls are dust brown mashed potatoes. The opposite walls were a little wind-scoured, but right down the middle was perfection. Soft and stable. One of the best runs of the season. The road out was the definition of isothermal. To snowboard, it was like pond-skimming. I‘ll admit to going over the handlebars at one point. Okay, maybe twice. Walking through it was like wading through a slurpee. It offered surprisingly little resistance and was some of the easiest post-holing I‘ve done. But beware of the road cuts because a small wet slide has crossed the road near the trailhead. |
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1/7/2014 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 1/8/2014, By: sunny1 Info: This update is for Baldwin Gulch - Antero or Cronin, did not summit. We found the trench to be in very good shape up to around 12,250 ft. Thanks to all who have made that what it is! Snowshoes or skis necessary, especially after crossing Baldwin Creek, but also makes the travel easier from the beginning of the 277 Rd. The southern Sawatch appears to have less snow than other areas in the state. Some slides were noted on NE-E aspects. Be safe - go get it! |
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10/2/2013 Route: Little Browns Posted On: 10/3/2013, By: IHikeLikeAGirl Info: Little Browns trail was 99% dry. Some snow as you neared the saddle, could go around, if needed. Small patches of snow on the flattish section of the ridge. Thin, continuous snow to the summit of Cronin along the ridge line. Made some of the talus easier or you could skirt it to the left. |
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11/3/2012 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 11/4/2012, By: denvermikey Info: Hiked up north ridge and descended south ridge. Very little snow on the way up to the ridge itself. Some spots of unavoidable snow nearing summit along ridge. Good foot holes to follow. Brought microspikes but never felt need to put them on. Descended south ridge, much milder as far as steepness. Snow not a factor at all. |
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3/24/2012 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 3/25/2012, By: Brian Thomas Info: Did a "Tour de Cronin" on 3/24, up North Ridge and down East Ridge and variation on Antero standard trail. About 1/4 mile after the Antero / Lake Baldwin trail junction just rounding the bend below the base of Cronin‘s ridge turned right following a ski track (with very minimal postholing on snowshoes) up into the trees. This track ended abruptly at the edge of an ominous looking slope where they had dug a test pit and turned back. Interpreting this that the slope may not be very user-friendly I dropped back and skirted left into thicker trees to make my way up onto bare talus. The ridge was mostly dry and I only put on spikes for the last part of the ridge before the summit. Descent via East Ridge is as described in recent TR and Antero trail at/near treeline very postholey and sloppy... |
