Winter Columbia - Southeast Ridge

This was my second time to summit Mt Columbia by it's southeast ridge. I had climbed it the previous March, a week after calendar winter (not the smartest thing I've done), so I went back for the snowflake. This is a great winter Sawatch route with very little avalanche danger that is often overlooked. Physically, it's a relatively "easy" winter 14er to climb and the route is pretty straight forward. However, trailhead access can be an issue making it a pretty long day. Also, much of the route is highly exposed to wind adding to the challenge. Both my climbs featured high winds despite low wind forecast.

Day of Climb: January 4th, 2020

Trailhead: Harvard Lakes

Peak: Mt. Columbia

Route: Southeast Ridge

Mileage/Elevation gain: 13.3 miles and 4838 feet of gain

I arrived at first light for this winter climb of Columbia and parked about a mile below the trailhead. My progress was stopped here by a steep hill that I couldn't get traction on. I saw no evidence of other vehicles making it further. The road was pretty snowy to this point, but it wasn't too difficult for my 4wd truck. A lesser vehicle probably would have had to park a couple miles lower at the beginning of the dirt road.

After gathering my gear I started hiking up the road. Boots were fine here as the road was packed down by hikers and skiers. Once reaching the trailhead the snow was deeper and less traveled on, so I put on my snowshoes and ascended Northwest up the Colorado Trail. After a couple of switchbacks I left the Colorado Trail at about 10,000 feet and continued up the spine of the Southeast ridge. There was no trail or tracks to follow so I began trenching through the forest staying mostly center ridge or slightly right.

Route finding was easy as the forest was pretty open and bushwacking was kept to a minimum. Occasionally, I came across rock outcroppings that were easy to go over or slightly around on either side. None of these obstacles were harder than class 2. The forest thinned out more and more as I approached treeline making progress easy. Staying center ridge continued to be the best path.

As I neared treeline I was able to ditch the snowshoes and left them in a secure place (I didn't expect anyone else to come along though). I continued up the ridge over mostly windblown terrain. Thus far I had encountered very little wind, but it picked up here and remained strong (despite the low wind forecast) for the entire ridge.

After climbing to a jumble of rocks at about 12,600 (which I skirted to the right) I came to the base of a small point that was easily bypassed on the left. I would not try to undercut the rock jumble or you'll just end up on steep, loose terrain and you need to get to the 12,600 foot contour line anyways. I continued across a flattish saddle like area before a short, steep climb to a rounded hill at 12,800 feet where the ridge turned to the west and steepened again.

Next, I easily crossed over 2 rocky outcroppings (going slightly to the right side of each) and reached the upper ridge at around 13,300 feet or so. The rest of the route could now be seen and the summit was still nearly 2 miles away. Thus far, not surprisingly (with the way the wind pounds this ridge), the ridge above treeline had been mostly windblown. This has been the norm for winter 14ers in my experience. Any snow I encountered was consolidated and easily climbed in boots. The rest of the ridge looked like more of the same.

Once on the upper ridge the rest of the route was a breeze. There was still a long way to go though as I traveled around the cirque with many ups and downs (with most being skirted on the left). Even with the ridge narrowing some, the terrain was mostly easy climbing the rest of the way . Strong headwinds were persistent though as I traveled along this upper section, and they became annoying crosswinds after the turn north to the summit. At times I couldn't even see the summit with snow fiercely blowing across the ridge. It was easy to see why the ridge was so windblown.

As I got closer to the summit there was a bit more class 2 scrambling along the ridge crest. The crosswinds were particularly bad here, and I kept a low profile to avoid getting knocked off into Three Elk Creek Basin. There's a small point just before the summit (which I skirted on the right), and then I finished the climb off with a short talus hop to the actual summit. This was my third summit of Columbia, and I always find the views of a snow covered Harvard amazing.

After a short stay on the summit I started my descent back down the Southeast ridge. The winds picked up even more and were much worse on the return. I definitely reccomend climbing this route on a low wind day if you can find one. I made my vehicle just before dark. Curiously, there was a $10 bill on my windshield, and I had no idea why. I didn't complain though, stuffed it into my pocket and headed home extra happy. Halfway home though, I realized my shovel was missing from my truck bed lol. It was a $30 shovel.

On a side note, it's possible to descend the East Ridge and link back to the Southeast Ridge by the Colorado Trail. However, I wouldn't try this in the winter. I did this loop on a previous climb of Columbia, and it was a nightmare spending 3 or 4 hours trenching the Colorado Trail between ridges.