Winter Kit Carson via

Coles Couloir

A winter Kit Carson has been on my radar a few years now. Coles Couloir looked like a fun route but the right conditions were needed. This first weekend after the New Year luckily had just that with a green avy forecast and not much recent snow. Anthony (astranko) asked me to join a small group. I'm not one that usually climbs couloirs so was a little hesitant at first, but then was all in. I saw a great opportunity to get a tough winter peak with a strong team. Max (shapovalovm) also Joined.

I left Fort Collins around 11:30 pm for this climb. The plan was to meet my climbing partners at the Spanish Creek trailhead for a 5:30 am start. This trailhead is located on property owned by the Crestone Mountain Zen Center and you are required to get parking permission through their website.

I arrived in Crestone about an hour or so early after the long drive. The road to the trailhead is 2wd friendly and it was dry which was not surprising given the 8,400 foot elevation. I quickly geared up and then got in a 20 minute nap while waiting for the others. I'm not sure I ever fell asleep but at least got to rest my eyes for a bit. The 3 of us promptly started our climb at 5:30.

Day of Climb: Saturday, January 3rd, 2026.

Peak: Kit Carson Peak.

Trailhead: Spanish Creek.

Mileage and Elevation Gain: Approximately 12 miles and 5600 feet of gain.

We started with headlamps on and our first task was cutting through the Zen Center to find the trail. The place was very quiet. I didn't see or hear anyone in the morning or evening. We located the trail without difficulty and were on our way. The Spanish Creek trail is a little bushwhacky to treeline but not horrible. Snow was present most of the way, but it was rarely deep. Luckily, we followed a boot track to start (thank you jacolc!) which was a big help keeping us on course in the dark. Lots of cairns marked the trail as well. There were a couple icy beaver pond bridges that were challenging to cross and plenty of deadfall, but for the most part the trail went okay. We slapped on snowshoes as we neared treeline to avoid postholing and broke trail to the base of Coles Couloir, located between Columbia Point and Kit Carson, following a gpx track.

We left the Spanish Creek trail once we were directly below Coles Couloir. This was at around 11,900 feet elevation. From here, we climbed through a steep boulder field to find the couloir entrance. The snow conditions were fantastic (probably even better than we expected) as we entered the couloir and started climbing up in our snowshoes. It was very steep with firm snow for the most part. There were though occasional short sections of softer snow that were more difficult to grip with snowshoes.

All and all the couloir seemed very stable. We had timed it perfect making for a relatively easy climb. It was a long, tiring grind though with the steepness never relenting for the entirety of our time in the couloir. It was a super cool experience and I will not soon forget climbing within it's cavernous walls. I've never skied a 14er but this couloir would be an amazing ski with the current conditions.

At about 13,450 feet we exited the couloir to the left and climbed a mix of snow and rock to meet the Avenue. We then continued higher from the Avenue climbing the SE gully to the upper ridge. This last snow slope was steeper and softer than the couloir, and it made us work hard for every inch of the final 400 vert feet to reach the upper ridge.

The ridge was windy and had an airy feeling with a huge drop off on the opposite side. It made for a good resting spot though, and a secure place to leave our snowshoes before departing. This ridge section to the summit was short but full value as Anthony remarked. We put crampons on for this and scrambled over several snowy rock lumps and squirmed cautiously around a couple corniced sections. Thankfully, the ridge then turned much easier for the last bit to the summit.

I think we were all elated to reach the summit. This was a hard fought winter peak and extremely enjoyable as well. Kit Carson is a rugged looking peak with some of the most stunning winter views I've seen.

It was a cold summit so we didn't stay long. We all took a bunch of photos admiring the awe inspiring views and quickly began our descent. The ridge section back to our snowshoes was a little tricky, and it was a relief to get by this. The rest was smooth sailing. We remained in our crampons and plunged stepped down the SE gully and continued this to the bottom of the couloir. Just below the apron we enjoyed an extra long congratulatory snack and soaked in the last of the stunning views surrounding us. The descent down the Spanish Creek trail seemed to take forever, but we were in good spirits after a successful full value day and made our vehicles by dark.

The End!