La Sals in late May

[Deanxpv]

I'm working on planning a week long trip around my birthday at the end of May and want to get some spring conditions climbs in if possible. I know the snow this winter for Colorado and at least that side of Utah has sucked so how plausible would some coulouir climbs be by then? Also, I've done the standard route up Mount Tuk and traversed over to mount Peale already but I've not done any other routes there, especially not snow climbs. Does anyone have any suggestions for nice coulouir climbs in the La Sals? I'm comfortable on class 3/4 terrain and lower class 5 and I've done climbs like Cristo on Quandary in winter and spring as well. Thanks for the help!

[kaiman]

I'm working on planning a week long trip around my birthday at the end of May and want to get some spring conditions climbs in if possible. I know the snow this winter for Colorado and at least that side of Utah has sucked so how plausible would some coulouir climbs be by then? Also, I've done the standard route up Mount Tuk and traversed over to mount Peale already but I've not done any other routes there, especially not snow climbs. Does anyone have any suggestions for nice coulouir climbs in the La Sals? I'm comfortable on class 3/4 terrain and lower class 5 and I've done climbs like Cristo on Quandary in winter and spring as well. Thanks for the help!

I live in Moab and lots of people have been asking about the conditions in the La Sals lately. Like Colorado we've had a pretty low snow year this year and it's really too early to tell how the snow pack will be in May. You should check out this thread from about a week ago where I posted a couple pictures of the current conditions around here.

As far as couliour climbs are concerned your options in the La Sals are pretty limited. Most of the snow climbs are on faces or ridges or shallow gullies that aren't necessarily "couliours". The steep couliours in the range tend to only occasionally hold snow or cliff out and others have access issues due to private property or a lack of roads/trails. Also many of the gullies/couliours in the La Sals are used by skiers for descents rather than climbing ascent routes. Are you planning on skiing or just climbing?

Off the top of my head, here are a few routes that I can think of:

- Mount Peale - The standard summer hiking route from La Sal Pass goes up a shallow gully for around 1,000 feet at 30-35 degrees+- and usually holds snow into June, making it a great, low angle snow route early in the summer.

- Mount Tuk - Tuk's southwest couliour (also known as 210 Degrees), at 3,000 feet and 40-50+- degrees, is located to the west of La Sal Pass is a popular route for skiers, and is featured in the book Backcountry Skiing Utah by Tyson Bradley. In a low snow year with lots of wind, it is often in by March, but is usually skied in May. (I backed off it in mid May two years ago due to warm, windy, wet slide conditions).

- South Mountain's north facing couliour from La Sal Pass is periodically skied in March or April, but rarely holds snow from top to bottom in May, so I am not sure how it be for climbing and would probably require some steep talus/scree hopping to get to late in the year.

Also note that the routes above require a 7 mile ski/snowshoe approach (14 miles round trip) from the east off the Two Mile road out of the town of Old La Sal, as the Forest Service does not plow it or open the gates until after Memorial Day.

- Gold Basin - There a lot of gullies and couliours in this section that are often used as ski descents (Tuk Cirque, Cleaver Couliours, El Pinche, Talking Mountain, Laurel Cirque), but a rarely, if ever, used as ascent routes, and most people ski up the prominent ridge from Gold Basin to Mount Laurel to get to them.

- Mount Mellenthin - Mellenthin has three large shallow gullies/chutes ascending it's north face that hold snow late into the spring. They average around 40 degrees+- and 1,500 feet. I have climbed all three between March and May, but have rarely seen them completely snow covered and usually end up doing some talus hopping or scrambling at the top or bottom. Also, due to the fact that they face north (and somewhat east) and get beat by the sun, they can be pretty icy/hard if you get to them too late in the season.

Anyway, that's all I can come with. Maybe some others have spent time in the northern part of the range early in the season, but I tend to stay out of that part of the range until early summer due to avalanche conditions, and lack of access without a snowmobile.

Happy trails!

Kai

[Deanxpv]

Thanks for the response! That's what I needed to see, I'll probably end up changing in to climbs in the San Juans then since I haven't spent much time down there. Thanks again!