Mt. Wilson

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 6/18/2023, By: winter_wisher
Info: Conditions remain similar to amichell's report from last week, in terms of both downed trees over the road and snow coverage on the trail. There was about 6-8 cm of new graupel-snow mix from an early-morning storm. Ice axe was a nice safety anchor throughout the day - highly recommended. From Rock of Ages saddle and onward, I alternated all day between snowshoes and crampons depending on the pitch and snow integrity. Crampons were great for the second half of the climb, as they easily chewed into the consolidated ice rounds that were under the new stuff. I took the (usual) left side of the crux to gain the summit, but down-climbed the other (right) side since there was better access to climbable features from the top -- don't look down! Later in the day, the snow was slushy; I observed runout from several small wet/loose slides on the hike back. 

Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 6/12/2023, By: amitchell
Info: Hiked in from rock of ages. The road is closed from about a mile out due to deadfall. Snow starts as soon as you get past the TH. It is patchy and post holey, very frustrating. Continuous snow starts a bit above treeline. I needed to wear crampons to make it up and across the compact icy bits. No flotation needed at any point, though I still recommend bringing it in case you end up on a warmer day. Getting up the Eldiente standard couloir was pretty simple, a good snow climb. The ridge itself was intense. Getting to Eldiente summit was a maze of snow climbing, ridge scrambling, and tricky moves. Lots of crampons on, crampons off. The traverse isnt too bad, I honestly thought the extra snow was quite helpful. It offers bail points and makes it simple to get across the steeper more monotonous sections. The summit pitch on Wilson was pretty dry, although some lingering ice made me feel better going to the right of the crux instead of the easier left side. Definite class 5 move, but really not too bad. Wanted to get W peak as well, but the ridge left me pretty gassed, so I'll have to go back sometime soon. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 5/29/2023, By: runningbuff
Info: Did the El Diente-Mt. Wilson traverse yesterday from Rock of Ages. Went up El Diente North Slopes and skiied a variation of Mt. Wilson North Slopes. Rock of Ages becomes pretty much continuous snow after 2 miles. I was very grateful for crampons going up the El Diente couloir and across the traverse. Summitted El Diente at 8:30 so the couloir was pretty icy most of the way but the top had some really nice corn. The traverse was not the greatest with snow in some annoying places. Im not sure how it is class 4, I definitely had class 5 moves in there but Im also horrible at route finding so that could be why. Snow didnt help. In all, the traverse took me 3 hours. Skiing Mt. Wilson North Slopes was decent, but the snow was very wet/slushy towards the bottom. Climbing back to Rock of Ages was rough after all that and flotation was definitely required at that point in the afternoon. 

Route: East face up, Boxcar couloir ski descent
Posted On: 5/29/2023, By: SnowAlien
Info: Last time I skied Boxcar, the snow was frozen, so I've been meaning to go back and re-ski it in nicer conditions. Well, this time it was too soft! Partner and I launched from Cross Mtn TH around 4.30-45am. I totally forgot that South-East lines require such early starts, duh! We made a fairly quick work of the traverse to Slate Creek drainage. We skinned to about 13.5k via the East slopes gully. Views of Lizard Head, Ice lakes and Gladstone were fantastic. For the last 500 ft, we found an old booter, which really helped and we topped out around 10am. We started skiing around 10.30am, and we're surprised how quickly the snow has softened up (it was still fairly icy around 9.30 am). The snow in Boxcar was quite soft, with a runnel forming towards the bottom. We enjoyed the turns on the headwall, and then were very pleased to discover the snow in the trees stayed firm. The approach trail was skiable except the last 0.5 mile before the TH. We got back to the cars around 1pm. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 2/22/2023, By: Chrisfish25
Info: I went in from rock of ages. Up the Mt Wilson north slopes. The final scramble to the summit wasn't horrible. Although there was a good bit of snow. From there I traversed over to El Diente. The traverse had a ton of snow & was a lot of work to get across. It took me 4.5 hours. Staying ridge proper the entire way would've been a better solution to how much work I put in. I carried a 30 m rope in case I needed to rappel. I didn't. But had I stayed ridge proper I would've. I skied the north face of el Diente down & back over rock of ages & out. Great day up high. 

Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 9/19/2022, By: carlycaprio
Info: We attempted the traverse from Navajo Lake via North routes but there was way too much snow. We didn't bring traction or an ice axe and everyone we spoke to said they wouldn't attempt it either. Instead we packed over to the south side (Kilpacker approach). There was no snow on this side as the sun hits daily. Steep and sometimes tricky route finding but there are trail markers that make it easier. There is a 300 foot final pitch on El Diente where you cross to the north side of the ridge. There was snow and ice but good handholds on the rock. We got through it without traction but I don't recommend it. I really wished we had brought our snow gear. The traverse is clear of snow except on a few sections where you cross to the north side of the ridge. Doable without traction but sketchy. The traverse is well marked with carrins if you can spot them. Try to follow those with your beta from the route description. We saw someone drop too low and have to climb back up the ridge crest. The class 2 gully up to Mt Wilson has snow and it's steep.. we stuck to the left side with good hand holds. The crux class 4 move on the final pitch to Mt. Wilson has no snow. We went slow and moved carefully through the class 3 & 4 sections and we made it! Would definitely recommend the south slope routes this time of year & to bring snow gear! 

Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 9/6/2022, By: E_A_Marcus_949
Info: Traverse in great shape. Lots of cairns, but of course know the route too. Two main crux points - (1) The official 'crux' in the route description (photo 28) there is a steep drop down point that required some nifty climbing; and (2) the final moves up to the Mt. Wilson summit - near photo 33 - the narrow ridge and a few up-climb moves. Overall a super fun route, though! Downclimbed Mt. Wilson via North Slopes - that is in pretty sloppy, lose conditions from the top and partway down - lots of rocks flying around. When you get further down, go right and there are more solid rocks. CFI is doing an amazing job with the trail system out there in Navajo basin! 

Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 8/28/2022, By: Wimyers
Info: Kilpacker approach still very muddy and wet, a second pair of socks would have been nice. Saw two bears on the approach. El D south slopes route was frosty and slippery pre-dawn, but sun on the traverse quickly melted off the frost. However, frost lingered in the shade until late morning. North slope of Mt. Wilson very loose, saw three serious rockfall events on the way down, one involving two fridge-sized blocks. Wilson peak route was totally dry by the time we got to it in the early afternoon. Navajo approach was much drier than kilpacker. We saw no snow or ice on any of the routes we were on. 

Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 8/23/2022, By: TheSpaceForce
Info: 8/20/22: From the Kilpacker trailhead - with the recent rain, this approach was very muddy with lots of standing water. This had the effect of consolidating the scree on our ascent of El Diente. However, the downclimb, while class 3 was still very loose, even if well-cairned. GR describes the SW slopes of Wilson as a "scree-and-rubble challenge"; even with the Class 3 route, we still have to agree. 

Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 8/15/2022, By: cvbuffs
Info: Hail and snow up high (above 13k mostly) from the storms the night of Saturday, August 13. Made the traverse extra tricky with route finding and safety with the add wetness and slipperiness. Particularly the moves starting from 19 on in the route description, I felt the exposure went way up trying to stay on drier rock. The last move to the summit of Mt. Wilson was extremely difficult in the conditions. Coming down the SW slopes of Mt. Wilson wasn't much fun either with the amount of snow in the gully, combined with the already existing looseness. Definitely added a good bit of time to the downclimb until reaching the more stable talus fields near 13,200. I would guess they likely got a bit more snow/hail with the storm on Sunday night, so would recommend bringing traction on this route moving forward since the snow will likely linger for a bit. All three in my group had traction and sparingly used it, but in hindsight, I probably would have put mircospikes on for the initial descent off Mt. Wilson. 12.5 hours roundtrip, and that felt like we were moving at a good pace all day (another group that was a little faster completed in 12 and they were moving). Would recommend planning for 2-3 hours on the traverse for the time being until the snow melts out. After conferring with the other party that did the traverse, we all felt like given the conditions, it added a major upgrade to the difficulty. Having only done the Crestones traverse, I would say this was much more difficult given the more sustained climbing (I felt like the Crestones traverse was very mellow up until the 5.2 move and beyond, which as really a pretty short amount of time). The members of the other party, having done all of the traverses minus LB - Blanca, said this was by far the hardest and one of the most sustained days of climbing they had. Just our opinions, but something to think about if climbing and exposure isn't your thing. 

Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 7/22/2022, By: bsiegs
Info: Great conditions along the traverse - took about 2h 15m with really spot on route founding from leader (thanks Dan!). Started from Kilpacker and took south slopes up El Diente (a lot of fun!) and Southwest Slopes down Wilson (less fun!). Clouds & hail rolled in fast as we started descending Wilson around 10:30. No need to cross any snowfields on the descent. 

Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 7/3/2022, By: ladnerkm
Info: Traverse is snow free but many of the rocks are slick (the shale-type more so than the granite) from the evening freezing rain/hail that has been coming through the last week. Give yourself 2 hours to do the traverse if you aren't familiar with it. We saw some people starting the traverse as late as 11 am and sure enough the hail and rain came in at noon as predicted. Having done the Maroons traverse as well, I'd say this is slightly tougher because of length and additional exposure 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/22/2022, By: tlgold1990
Info: Started at 5am from Kilpacker. Several snow fields to cross. Didn't use spikes there (probably should have) but definitely did on the way back. Was super slick and an ice axe would be great to have. Didn't have mine and wish I would have. Recommend having it for now. Some of the rocks in the gullies are super loose from snow melt but they are clear of snow. Did see one HUGE boulder go flying down the 1st one right before we crossed. Other than the sketchy snowfields and some loose rock, it was a great day!!! Intimidating going up, thinking of coming down, but once we started down, it wasn't too terrible. 

Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 6/20/2022, By: Cide
Info: Traversing from El Diente to Wilson: Small patches of snow in some key areas just below the El D summit warranted just some extra caution in traversing. The area below the Organ Pipes and Gendarmes had no snow/ice considerations. The ascent of the rock formation before heading up Wilson's final gully was full of ice and snow patches (with ice under them). Take extreme caution in holds and footing while maneuvering that. The final gully had a couple inches of snow, nothing concerning. I utilized microspikes to good effect. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 5/29/2022, By: jfm3
Info: I climbed Mt. Wilson in combination with El Diente (no traverse- I used the separate south-side routes for each mountain). From the El Diente split, there is continuous snow all the way to and halfway up the gully just below the summit. I did not summit until 2:30 PM and even then, the snow was mostly supportive. The only place where I sank through significantly was on the steepest headwall below the gully. The upper part of the gully and the final ridge to the summit are dry. I used a short ice axe and strap-on crampons in running shoes and felt secure.