I've been waiting for years to climb Culebra, my final fourteener. Since I live in California, it's difficult to make it out to Colorado in the summer, so I had been contemplating a winter ascent over the holidays. I finally had a great opportunity on January 3, 2026. The weather forecast was perfect as far as January goes. I arrived at the ranch at 6:00am just as they were opening the gate, and I drove up to the ranch along with a few other groups.

We were given very brief instructions outside in the cold and the darkness, and soon the different groups started walking up the road by moonlight and headlamps towards Culebra. For the first couple of miles, we were able to walk in the tire tracks of a four-wheeler from the day before. But soon the snow deepened, the tracks ended, and I strapped on my snow shoes.

I found myself breaking trail through gradually deepening snow up the long road. By the time I arrived at four-way, the snow had deepened into about a foot of powder, slowing my speed to about 1 mile per hour at full steam. The sun glinting off the smooth powder was beautiful, but I would never make it at this pace!

I plodded along for another mile until I reached the bend in the road where the trail branches off towards Culebra, though it was impossible to follow the trail that was buried beneath a couple feet of snow. After stopping for a break, two others caught up to me. They were Abraham and Jeremiah, twin brothers, and this was their birthday celebration! We agreed to help each other break trail, a very welcome relief. We decided to deviate from the trail, arcing around to the north to stay on south-facing slopes which had shallower and more compact snow.

We gained the northwest ridge of Punta Serpiente a little above 12,000'. By that point, the snow had become wind-blown and firm enough that our pace quickened, despite the increasing altitude. We contoured around the west slope of Punta Serpiente, aiming for the crest of the ridge with the giant cairn. The cairn is about 8 feet tall and easy to spot, and upon reaching it, we got our first look at the upper slopes of Culebra.

Despite a light snow-year thus far, Culebra was nearly totally covered in snow and ice. Upon closer inspection, much of the terrain was actually talus covered in a thick coat of rime, with snow filling the cracks in between the rocks. This made it tricky to use snow shoes, which would grind on the rocks after punching through the rime. But it was also difficult to walk without snow shoes, as your feet would occasionally and unexpectedly post-hole into the gaps between the talus rocks. I opted to wear my snow shoes all the way to the summit, attempting to stay on more snow-covered areas and avoid some of the largest rocks on the crest of the ridge.

We descended about 100 feet along the ridge, and then up towards Culebra's false summit. At some point, I angled onto the south side of the ridge, where the terrain had more snow-cover than the ridge itself. It was slow-going through the snow and occasional talus outcroppings, but I eventually made it to the false summit and was greeted with my first view of the true summit.

The final quarter mile to the summit was one of the nicest parts of the climb. I stayed near the ridge crest, with the north face of Culebra dropping steeply to the left. Soon I was at the summit, my final fourteener!!! It was a moment I had been awaiting for years, and I was elated! I ate a snack and soon Abraham and Jeremiah arrived, and we took some photos.

Originally I had been planning on trying for Red Mountain as well, but it was after 1pm and I was already dog-tired from breaking trail. So I started the long descent, this time ditching my snow shoes and attempting to stick to talus sections. Near the bottom of the ridge I passed the other climbers, some of whom didn't have snow shoes. Even though it was almost 2pm, they were committed to summitting, despite the fact it meant descending in the darkness and being fined for a late departure.

On my way down, I decided to stay to the south side of the trail, along a slight ridge leading to the road. This was a mistake! I found myself trudging through thigh-high powder on these north-facing slopes, which was extremely slow even though I was going downhill. We definitely made the right choice to stick to south-facing slopes on the way up. Eventually I reached the road and followed our track back to four-way.

Going down was easier than going up, but still seemed interminable through the thick snow on the road. The track was bumpy from the combination of snow shoes and boots, and because the snow had slightly melted and was starting to refreeze as the sun dipped toward the horizon in the late afternoon.

After more than 5 miles on the snow-covered road, I finally reached the ranch around 4:30 pm. I signed out, drove down, and caught a last glimpse of Culebra near sunset from the ranch gate. What a great way to end my quest for all the fourteeners!