Peak 8

Route: Through Breck
Posted On: 5/31/2025, By: HikesInGeologicTime
Info: Peak 9 Road is open to the 10.3k switchback that makes sense to use as the TH. Patchy snow below treeline that naturally became harder to avoid as elevation increased; the three options for dealing with it are 1) postholing a short ways at a time, 2) switching in and out of flotation every time the road/bike trail ducked under the wrong side of the slope, or 3) accepting that ski resorts are basically Superfund sites in the making and take a straight line along the dry side of the slope. It is officially the season for starting as early as will allow someone to summit and start down by early morning. Even sticking to low-angle options while skiing down, including the ridgeline from the top of Imperial, I still managed to set off some rollers/sliders by late morning. The most impressive chunk I set loose was a bit larger than your typical microwave, and that was on the ridge. Took it as carefully as I could dropping below the lift line, but while there was some small debris, it held up better the lower I skied. Would strongly recommend returning to the main service road (or just sticking to the ridgeline the whole way down for maximum snow safety) rather than taking a look down Psychopath and being tempted by the snow continuing down it - it is more trees, willows, and dirt/pine needles than actual snow, and it ends abruptly in the middle of a steep-ish gully that I can only imagine is more fun to ski than to hike while schlepping skis and boots. Still, not bad for the last day of May, and it looks like at least some snow might last another couple weeks, so worth a visit for diehard skiers who are willing to start in the dark if they are not FKT contenders. 

Route: Via Breck
Posted On: 6/13/2024, By: HikesInGeologicTime
Info: Overall conditions unsurprisingly similar to when SnowAlien posted on Tuesday, but since it seems like my route varied both up and down from the top of the Peak 8 Superconnect, I figured I would make an entry to let anyone interested know about that option and maybe offer some insight for fellow Ikoners/indie passholders/other non-Breckies. I followed the road up from the top of the Superconnect to the Patrol hut at the top of the T-Bar. Snow was intermittent with longer patches the higher I went but bootable even at 9 a.m. Snow continuous for all practical intents and purposes from the top of the hut/T-Bar along the ridge to the top of Imperial and then the summit. Because of the few and short dry spots combined with my own laziness and stubbornness, I booted the entire ascent, which led to some predictable knee-deep postholing, although I was pleasantly surprised at how much of the snow was supportive. I would caution future hikers/skiers/etc. not to get too cocky when they reach the summit, however; suffice to say I was glad to have my skis with me even before the descent, because I needed to use the tip of one to dig one of my hiking boots out of a particularly epic (heh) posthole maybe 5 feet from dry rock. Skiing: in the dual interests of keeping slide danger as low as possible and maintaining as continuous a line as I could, I more or less followed my same path from the summit down to just above the top of Imperial, then played Ski Pinball between dry patches to skiers right of the liftline. Fortunately, this was a short stretch, and I was able to get some halfway decent turns in most of the way down to where the slope levels out near the base of the lift, then was able to keep going a short ways below it. A hiker coming up let me know that I could butcher a path above a dry stretch of road to more continuous snow, which I was then able to follow to where the catwalk splits off to go to Vista Haus. As the snow did not appear to continue for much longer below the split, I elected to de-ski, follow the catwalk to rejoin the road, and then take it down to Vista Haus to change out ski gear for hiking boots. I then stuck to the MTB trails and roads on the way down as I had on the way up; some might consider it less efficient than booking it straight up and/or down the slope, but trails exist for a few good reasons, among them avoiding excess torment on weak legs and lungs. I then followed signs for Peak 9 and the Easiest Way Down to the Peak 8 Superconnect midload station, then back up the road on the other side to the gate and from there back down to where I had parked at 10.3k, all of which I mention to recommend that anyone else looking to save a little dry vert by driving up the Peak 9 Road go up to the switchback around 10.5k, where another road splits off and starts going downhill a short way to the gate I passed. Unless you really feel like shwacking a more direct, elevation-holding line to the midload station, you will most likely wind up going down that road and having to come back up it at the end of the day anyway, so you might as well save yourself the extra ten minutes of cursing yourself for thinking you could totally avoid the mild rollercoaster and park off to the side of the Peak 8 Transfer access. 

Route: Lake Chutes ski descent
Posted On: 6/11/2024, By: SnowAlien
Info: After skiing pk 8 many, many, many times in the past with the lift assist, and even skinning up to the Vista House once, I was still not allowed to check this one off :( Since today the Breck quads were not working for some reason, I had to use my personal ones :) Was able to drive up to about 10,300 ft and connected the network of roads and MTB trails on the east side to reach 11.5k ft, when the continuous snow started, and switched to skinning. Almost made it on skins to the summit, but had to boot maybe last 20 feet, as it got steep. Snow was getting soft after 9am, but still supportable. Freeze was marginal - 41F at the car in the morning. I was hoping to ski one of the main steep chutes, but the entrance (cornices) and snow itself didn't look good anymore. Skied the main wide chute in the corner, although the entrance turned out to be spicy! It's a giant cornice and doesn't look steep in the beginning, but then suddenly it does! Once in the main chute, it's pretty cruiser. The lake is starting to melt out, so it's rather pretty. As my typical sequence, I skied down towards Chair 6 on the SE side, and the snow actually lasted a bit longer, to 11.1k. Overall, a nice, pleasant, short day in the hills. 

Route: CT/CDT (Copper)
Posted On: 6/2/2024, By: rleclair
Info: From the Copper Mountain overflow parking lot, the trail is snow free for about a half mile, then patches of snow getting deeper. By the time you reach the CT/CDT/Wheeler junction its all snow. With warming temperatures, it was a posthole sufferfest. We attempted to gain the Peak 8 ridgeline but super deep snow in the trees was a problem. Backtracked to the junction to try to gain Peak 7 via the CDT trail to Miners Creek Peak 6 trail but once up a few hundred feet was an open area of deep snow. Needs a few weeks more to melt out. 

Route: far east lot
Posted On: 5/13/2024, By: jbealer
Info: had to set out and reclaim my finished 10mile range with the now 13er, peak 8. We had snow from the far east parking lot to the summit. we carried our snowshoes but chose to post hole and break trail without them as the side hilling would have sucked with them on. we took a more direct snow route up to the peak, we wore a mix of spikes and crampons on the way down as the snow got hard with the incoming snow. there is now a track if anyone wants to go get it. 

Route: Imperial Express trailhead
Posted On: 2/20/2024, By: MaxScott
Info: The trail to the summit has heavy a snow pack, along with the peak itself. Hiking conditions with the sun shining were ideal. Temps at about 25 degrees Fahrenheit made the hands and feet cold on the way up but, not too bad once at the summit with a chance to warm them back up.