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Thank you for your detailed descriptions and rememberable photos!
Upper S-ridge with remaining snow visible on east slopes, July 3, 2026
Really I want to add two things:
1. My take on the crux: I went around the left side of the crux (choice B from daway8's trip report - possibly the best review of the crux along the S-ridge). By choosing option B, I had to downclimb into the unpleasant gully anyway. On my descent, I took choice D (the airy move) and while there was exposure, it wasn't as bad on the way down as it looked on the way up.
I assumed the summit push after the crux was class 2 as claimed in other reports, but I found much of the remaining route class 3. Don't get your hopes up or let your guard down.
2. What of a 'West Ridge'? I encountered a professional guide and client on their way down as I was headed up the gully to the S-ridge. This guide recommended AGAINST descending the S-ridge due to navigation difficulties, and also strongly discouraged the West Slopes characterizing them as a bowling alley with loose rock. He said his company recommends an alternate route on a ridge adjacent to the West Slopes. I took a pic of his nav screen, and you can see the proposed descent in blue. To access this route, hike from the S-ridge to the summit, and keep going past the entry to the West Slopes, deviating to the adjacent ridge. He mentioned a key move around 12,800' where climbers need to cross west over the ridge (to the right, from the downclimber's perspective) into an adjacent gully to avoid getting cliffed out. Because I lacked a .gpx file for this route (sorry folks!), I actually chose to downclimb the S-ridge. I was thankful for the solid rock, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
Blue line = unpublished West Ridge, middle red line = West slopes, far right red line = S-ridge
Here are some STATS:
Snowmass Mountain (14,105'), my #53
S-Ridge (both ascent and descent)
July 2, 2026:
Arrived Lead King Basin TH - 6:25 pm
Left TH - 6:40 pm
Hiked 1:14 for 2.07 mi
Arrived at camp 8 pm
July 3, 2026:
Woke - 4 am
Left camp at Geneva Lake - 4:45 am
Little Gem Lake - 5:30 am
S-ridge - 7:10 am
Summit - 9:25 am
Left summit - 9:40 am
Back to Little Gem Lake - 12:30 pm
Back to camp - 1:10 pm
Left camp - 2:30
Back to car at Lead King Basin TH - 3:35 pm
Off the hellish road and back to Marble - 5:00 pm
Total time: 12 hours
Elevation gain: 4450'
Miles: 9.32
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
Regarding "...and also strongly discouraged the West Slopes characterizing them as a bowling alley with loose rock...", I can confirm that the west slopes route is horribly unstable and dangerous. It's the route I took last year when I summitted Snowmass and N. Snowmass, but if I'd known beforehand just HOW bad it was, I would not have gone that way, and I cannot in good conscience recommend it to anyone.
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