Crestone Peak

Route: South Face
Posted On: 9/20/2023, By: quandary34
Info: At the moment, Broken Hand Pass is the main concern in the South Colony Lakes area in terms of snow and ice. It snowed about an inch last night, and I doubt that the snow will be melting off BHP this season. I found microspikes to be helpful on the descent. The Red Gully had about an inch of snow and some slick ice (in addition to the usual running water) when I reached it around 6am this morning, but I expect that most of that melted today. The standard route is still very doable, but we are definitely approaching shoulder season! 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 9/17/2023, By: mattbrill9
Info: Most of this weeks snow melted out well on Crestone Peak. BHP is still holding a decent amount of snow and would recommend spikes. The red gully was mostly ice free - and any ice is avoidable. Great day in the Crestones! 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 9/3/2023, By: HikesInGeologicTime
Info: There is water running down lower Red Gully, but it is fairly easy to avoid. The rest of the route is still dry, so worth taking advantage of before any of the snow forecasts have started to mention comes to fruition. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 8/19/2023, By: sfreytag
Info: Summer conditions. All the snow mentioned in previous reports is gone. Leave those spikes at home. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 8/7/2023, By: skythian
Info: Did the peak today and didn't put one boot in snow the whole way up. As previous members said, there are still two snow patches, but the lower one is off route, and the higher one now has an exposed ridge on climber's right (there's even a cairn that's poking through the snow). Very easy class 2/3 climbing to stay on this ridge and completely avoid snow. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 8/6/2023, By: 14ercooper
Info: Mostly melted out. One small snow patch on BHP that'll be gone within the week and isn't problematic anyways, and two snow patches in the Red Gully. First one is off to the right of the route and isn't a problem, second one was covering most of the Red Gully still. Lots of people were scrambling along the wall to the left of the snow (looked fairly awkward) to bypass it, or if you have microspikes (or just really trust your shoes on snow) you could cut across the snowfield with 10 or so steps and get past it that way. Overall, great conditions on a great mountain! 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 7/31/2023, By: bsiegs
Info: Started from Cottonwood Creek side. Original intention for the day was to do the traverse, but it felt risky given the conditions and we decided to forgo. A really insane hail storm parked itself over the Crestones yesterday night and the rock was quite slick. There were piles of hail pebbles all over the ground that kept our shoes continuously slippery, even after the sun started to dry off the rock. Red gully was wet but had enough dry rock off to climber's left that we were able to get up it and summit Crestone Peak without too much trouble. 

Route: Crestones Traverse
Posted On: 7/24/2023, By: terribletigzy
Info: Posting this trip report under both Peak and Needle for simplicity. Broken hand pass is clear and snow free. There is one short snow crossing just below where the steep begins up the pass, but there are large footholds, making it very easy even when icy in the early morning. Red gully is clear of snow with running water in the center for approximately the first half of the gully. Snow in the upper gully slightly complicates the upper portion of the route, but it can still be kept class 3 staying on the left side of the gully. I crossed over the right of the gully near 13,900 or so where to snow required a single step to cross. The traverse is almost entirely snow free. There is one small snowbank you need to climb over just before dropping to the base of the black gendarme, but it is inconsequential. Crestone Needles East Gully is completely snow free. If you stay on route, this traverse is almost entirely class 2/3 aside from the 5.2 bulge and the 4th class headwall. Aside from the traverse, this route is the tale of two gullies. The East Gully on Crestone Needle is Steep with lots of solid rock and the Red Gully on Crestone Peak is less steep with much more rock. Rockfall is a major concern in both these gullies, I would avoid true center in both. 

Route: Crestones Traverse
Posted On: 7/26/2023, By: Jirwindisc
Info: What a great experience on the Traverse. We had 3 of us going and were a bit concerned hearing discussions of snow still on the route and having never done the Crux, Knife Ridge, and the Headwall. We are all finishers, but came back to test out the Traverse and it was worth the visit. Red Gully up to Crestone Peak was in its standard condition with loose rock and some snow still in it up top. My friends went up the snowfield next to the rock above 13,300, and I climbed up the rock. With the exception of a few cantilevered sections it was a fun way to do it vs. the gully. One thing we should have paid more attention to was where to cross for the traverse and the snow above it. We almost made the same mistake that others did coming down from the peak and heading too far east (left going down), and getting caught above the snowfield that was still hard at 8 am. Thankfully, we went to the west (right going down) and then either traversed across the rock and some snow, or down below all snow. The temptation to start gaining elevation or trying not to lose elevation was high, but if you follow the cairns, the gpx, and common sense, you actually will lose elevation for a while until you find some of the uphill sections. The 5.2 crux was easier than expected (and we found the green osprey backpack just 20 meters below the crux from the hiker in September that abandoned it). We were able to use some reverse pressure to get on up and without much climbing skills (for me) I was able to make it fairly easily. The knife edge was shorter than I expected (I was thinking Capitol) and I enjoyed it greatly with some deep breaths for the exposure. Then the headwall came. I was told to just look up, don't look down and just keep going once you commit. Great advice. It was some really spooky class 4 climbing and I did look out at the Upper Colony lake while climbing and up to the top. Thankfully my climbing friend, LBB, was right on my haunches so I wasn't able to look down or even stop for a bit... Kept going and made it to the webbing anchor for a quick break, some filming, and some laughing. What an amazing traverse and the snow is all but gone on the traverse. Came down the Needle East Gully and it was really a fairly easy class 3 and 4 downclimb. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 7/17/2023, By: tiffts16
Info: Climbed Crestone Needle and Peak on 7/15 from S. Colony Lakes. Broken Hand pass is still holding snow and though it is doable without an ice axe, I am glad that I had one, as well as traction. Needle was completely dry except for the very top of the East gully but the snow is easily avoidable by just topping out the gully on the left side of the rib near the top. Peak is still holding snow in the red gully. We could see glissading paths from people the day before however if you chose to glissade an ice axe is required as well as experience stopping yourself before the snow ends as there is no run out of the snow and it would be bad to carry speed through it. We were able to climb up and down the left side of the gully but it required a class 4 move on the way up but we found a less technical way down. Overall Peak was definitely more challenging than Needle with the snow sticking around. Climbed Humbolt on Sunday (7/16) and was completely clear with fantastic conditions except for an annoying breeze on the ridge while ascending. Grabbed a couple of pictures of Broken Hand pass from there as we ascended. Overall a great weekend though could've done without the scrambling around the snowfield on Peak. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 7/15/2023, By: andlours
Info: Broken Hand Pass is still holding some snow but is very manageable. I was happy to have an axe for peace of mind, but don't think it was necessary. The route is dry until roughly halfway up the red gully where there is a large snowfield. Most people went to the left around this snowfield to avoid climbing snow. I went around to the right side of it which made for some sportier class 4 scrambling. It was fun, but the left side would've gone a lot quicker. I had to cross the snowfield in a few places near the top of it and found an axe and microspikes to be very helpful. Once the snowfield ends around ~13,900' the route is pretty much in summer conditions. 

Route: Cottonwood Creek Trail
Posted On: 7/13/2023, By: highpointmike
Info: Started from the Cottonwood Creek trailhead. Signs say open to the public for temporary use of cottonwood creek trail. Car camped at the trailhead with no issues. Brought axe and spikes but did not use. No snow on the trail up until the red gully. However, the trail is overgrown in many spots. Some cairns to follow but easy to get lost. AllTrails honestly did a good job finding the trail up to the base of Crestone if I needed to redirect. Decent waterfall coming down the red gully and it is still snow-filled about halfway up. I stuck to the left of the snow the entire way and only had a few class 4 moves. Theres a second gully to the left of the red gully and when that came up I stuck to the left of that as well. Could have gone either side though. Came down the same way, but saw others glissading with their axe down the gully. I preferred the rock. Note: Broken Hand pass may still need axe/crampons but for this route it was not necessary. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 7/4/2023, By: ehyson
Info: Not summer conditions yet!! Think twice before attempting. Broken hand pass is still covered in snow - although seems like its melting fast. We were very glad we had ice axes and crampons, but we did see multiple groups make it up and down with microspikes and hiking poles (personally I would not be comfortable with this). The standard route on Crestone Peak is still very full of snow. You can avoid a snow climb by climbing up on the left side of the gully, but there are some sketchy moves, route finding is tricky, and some of the rock is very crumbly/wet. If you do attempt, at around 13,850 ft, youll reach a small waterfall. Turn left and hike pretty far up the side and then up a crack parallel to the gully. This is where we and the other 2 groups we encountered had the most issues. This climb will be way easier in a few weeks when the standard route is dried out. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 7/4/2023, By: maylemay1
Info: Echoing what the other recent reports say. Broken hand pass still has a lot of snow and the gully to the top of Peak is full of snow also. We made it up broken hand pass in the morning without too much trouble (although the three of us only had a total of 3 trekking poles and one pair of spikes) since the snow was solid enough. Coming back down broken hand in the afternoon was pretty terrible. Very soft snow and we had to kick all new holds since most of the ones already there were not holding up. We did not enjoy that part at all. The gully up to peak was also pretty rough. We stuck to the left side and scrambled our way to the top which means basically constant class 3/4 moves and a ton of route finding. Down climbing was pretty terrible. I would definitely recommend waiting a few more weeks or certainly taking an axe and spikes. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 7/1/2023, By: CharlieNance
Info: Trail to broken hand pass was nice and clear. No fallen trees. First real snow was at broken hand pass. LOTS of snow in there. In the early morning there's a lot of nice crunch, was able to make it up the pass with just micospikes. After the pass the trail was muddy by the stream, but no issues. Red gully/ravine was looking promising, but there was a lot of snow still in there. Made it almost to the ridge but had to turn back. Snow was melting and I couldn't hold a grip with the microspikes. Tried some scrambling to avoid the snow, but in the end had to come back down. HIGHLY recommend an ice axe, had to kick in toe holds all the way down. Same for broken hand pass. Good news is you could probably still ski this, but otherwise I would wait for the pass to melt.