The primary purpose of this report is to provide information about the NW Couloir of Crestone Peak. People interested in doing the Crestone Traverse, take note. This is much more fun than going up and over Broken Hand Pass to access the Red Gully. But the Couloir is notorious for holding ice and snow, making it impractical for some. This year, especially, it has been a tough nut to crack. I liked this report https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=19697 by Tynoland showing how much ice still lay in here as late as August 21, 2019. Anyway, as this report will show, it can hold ice all year, but that does not mean it can not be climbed without ice tools, as will be outlined in more detail in this report.

So we begin. For those who have not visited the South Colony Lake trailhead, the 4WD road is rough, but there are not big obstacles like some of the other roads. Just a constant jarring over rocks and ruts. Once you get a couple miles past the 2wd parking lot, and get into the national forest, there are about 10 or so really sweet campsites along the road. I pulled out just about 1/8 of a mile from the parking lot in this spot.

I hit the trail at about 7:30 after a fine night. Temperature dipped a bit below freezing, as attested to by the frost covered morning. After about an hour I was above the trees and heading to the Crestone/Humboldt Saddle. The Crestones are in full display most of the morning.

What little traffic there was on the trail this morning were all headed up to Humboldt Peak.

From the saddle, head West on an ill defined trail. The small summit ahead can not be avoided, don't try to go around, just bust up and over on the way to "Bears Playground".

The view of the Crestones captivates the view the entire morning.

30 minutes or so after leaving the saddle you come onto the area known as the "Bear's Playground". Across the way Kit Carson can be seen. This would have been my alternate if the ice in the Couloir proved insurmountable later on. The hike from the saddle to the playground is pretty straight forward, requiring an occasional 3rd class scramble, but mostly just hiking.

Once you reach this point the hiking is very pleasant, low angle and easy under foot. Traverse below the imposing N face of Crestone, passing by the N Buttress route. After 15 or 20 minutes, angle down away from the solid rock wall and look for a cairned trail. There is actually sort of a gate, composed of a couple rock towers, that leads directly to the start of the NW Couloir.

The NW Couloir looks rotten and difficult, but it is neither. I have been fortunate enough to find this in dry conditions in the past and it is an excellent route. It was fun on this trip too, but required a little creativity.

A short 5 minutes into the ascent I came onto the ice.

I didn't take a lot of photos, but it went like this. There were three sections of ice, each separated by a dry area where you could cross from side to side with ease. Getting from one side to the other, without ice tools, anywhere else would be reckless or impossible. This first section was easily passed higher up on the right. After that, it was necessary to exit the Couloir to the left and get under the N Buttress route. On this face, it was possible to climb about 200', just below where it turns sharply steeper, and find a descending gully leading back to the NW Couloir, accessing it at the second dry patch. There was insignificant ice from this point, about 2/3 of the way up, which was easily passed, again on the right.

This would be a nasty surprise for anyone descending this route. From the saddle between the Red Gully and the NW Couloir it appears dry and free of snow and ice.

I would not have enjoyed descending this and have to discourage anyone who is not very familiar with the terrain from using this route as a descent as a first experience in these conditions.

The rest of this report does not add much info to the many reports on the traverse between Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle, but does add a few photos with short narrative for anyone interested.

I have done the traverse 4 times now. 3 times Peak to Needle and once Needle to Peak. The Roach guide describes it a bit differently from the description on 14ers.com. On this trip I found the route to be especially well marked by cairns and easy to follow. I enjoyed the variation leading right up to the Black Gendarme and over the 5.2 bulge, which I had missed on previous trips. The move over the bulge was straightforward and the climb from there to the final pitch to the summit was easier and more enjoyable than the lower variation which I had used in the past.

I had not been up or down Broken Hand Pass in some time and had forgotten what a mess it is. Don't underestimate this. I figured a couple hours from the pass back to the car, but in fact took nearly 3 1/2 hours.

The splits on the day went like this. 7:30 start hike from 4WD trailhead. 1:00 summit Crestone Pk. 3:00 Summit Crestone Needle. 7:15 back at car.