Quandary Peak North Gully aka Quandary Couloir

From Breckenridge, drive 8 miles south on Colorado 9. Turn right on the Blue Lakes 850 Road. Drive a short distance and turn right on the McCullough Gulch 851 Road. Drive approx. 1.4 miles to a small parking area on the left where the Breckenridge-Quandary shuttle turns around during summer months. Just beyond the parking area, walk 0.3 miles further down the road and past a gate. Follow signs for the McCullough Gulch trail.

This couloir should be done with adequate snow cover and is not recommended as a summer climb  1. It's located on the north side of Quandary and can only be seen in its entirety from McCullough Gulch. Taken from Mt. Helen (13,164'),  2 and  3 show the upper portion of the route.

Walk past the gate and follow the old road up to the left. Pass a building after about 1/4 mile and, after almost 1/2 mile, take the marked trail that leaves the left side of the road  4. Follow the good trail through forest, over a few small log bridges and across a small boulder field  5. Near 11,600', the trail approaches some waterfalls that can be heard beyond the trees. There are social trails that lead to the falls - stay right and continue onto a rocky hill just north of the waterfalls. Hike up through ledges to reach a point where you get a great view of the Quandary Couloir  6. Gain the top of the rocks to reach a small, unnamed lake at 11,900'  7.

From the lake, you can see all of the couloir  8 and it's a good location to carefully assess conditions before committing to the climb. Drop left (east), cross the stream below the lake  9, and hike over to the large rock/snow apron below the couloir. If you're lucky, the entire base will be snow-covered, making it easier to reach the base of the couloir  10.

Once on the apron, strap on crampons and hike 200' to reach steeper terrain  11. Near 12,400', the walls of the couloir begin to close in as you approach the crux of the climb - a 100-foot section of that forms a "choke" in the couloir  12. Depending on the snow-depth in the choke, the snow may be less than 10 feet wide and the angle of this pitch can range from 40 to 45+ degrees. Carefully climb through the choke to reach easier terrain, above 12,800'.  13 and  14 look down on the crux.

The next 800+ feet of climbing is straightforward (although not straight) and has a fairly consistent angle  15, 16  17. Near 13,500', the couloir turns right and you can finally see the terrain near the top  18. Follow the middle of the couloir to 13,700' where you will likely encounter some rock outcroppings in the center  19. Turn slightly left and continue up steeper terrain  20 to reach the top of the couloir  21  22  23  24. Turn right  25 and hike 350 feet to reach the summit  26.

This couloir is a great ski line and is slightly steeper than the South (Cristo) Couloir.
Entering the couloir:  27
Upper half:  28  29
Lower:  30
Steeper section before the exit:  31

Near the waterfalls (11,800'), the route can be a bit confusing due to social trails. If you go left to reach the falls, you have left the main trail - stay right and look for a small trail that climbs up through rocky terrain in the forest.