Mt. Shavano

Route: Angel of Shavano
Posted On: 5/27/2024, By: 14ercooper
Info: Amazing day on the Angel! Solid snow (did start to get a little bit slushy around 8am once the sun hit it), and fantastic, almost 2000 feet of vert of continuous snow to the summit. Couple of very small wind slabs up high, but nothing difficult to deal with. 

Route: Angel of Shavano
Posted On: 5/19/2024, By: Jay521
Info: Get it early. I didn't and the snow was mush. Made it a very difficult day 

Route: Angel of Shavano
Posted On: 5/18/2024, By: Jgeeez
Info: Dry until around 10,500 - continuous snow from the Angel to the summit. Snow started melting fast after 10 am, a good amount of skiers. Floatation needed. 

Route: Angel of Shavano
Posted On: 5/6/2024, By: rcandell2
Info: Great day up on Shavano with decent snow conditions above 11,000 ft. I left the trailhead around 6:15am, the trail is mostly dry for the first 2 miles of the route and the snow starts around 10,800'. I put on the skins and skis around 11,000ft and was able to skin up to 12,500 ft with ski crampons, before switching to boot packing up to the summit. There were some lingering wind slabs above 12,000 ft but they were not reactive. I reached the summit around 11:30am snaped a few pictures and started skiing down at 11:45. The descent is almost continuous from the summit. I was able to avoid taking off my skis by down stepping through rocks in 2 spots for about 20 yards each. The snow quality really varied throughout the descent, with the summit still being a fairly wintery snowpack, while there was some great corn below 13,000 ft. All things considered the snow was better than I expected for skiing off of a 14er. Near & below treeline the skiing gets precarious and you have to work to keep your skis on, I only took mine off in one spot but with warm weather coming this spring this will likely not be skiable for much longer. Took about 7 hours round trip and only saw 3 other groups so great day to ski the Angel! 

Route: Angel of Shavano
Posted On: 5/4/2024, By: skeater912
Info: Great day on Shav. Inversion in the morning made for some great photos and chilly weather down low in the fog. We left the TH at ~615am, and with the chilly wind and brutal, variable snow on the way up the angel, took our time to let the sun work. We topped out around 1215 and dropped at around 1245. We were the last party of the skiers we ran into that dropped, with only a few others topping out and the majority just turning around at the rock bands above the angel. Snow remained a little punchy/variable on the summit pyramid, but the skiing down to the trees was excellent. On a day that warms earlier than today, we would have been too late. Skiing was "continuous" from the summit. We worked hard not to take skis off, and scooted across a few bare patches of ground to make it work. Gotta be mindful of sharks until youre into the angel proper. The angels skiers left arm is not continuous to the ridge and would require removing skis. The body and other arm are both doable from the top with some route finding to get down to them. We wore trailrunners all the way to the base of the angel on frozen snow, and booted the entire rest of the route w/ crampons. The folks running ski crampons all appeared to be having a rather bad time, on this day anyway. The exit is a slog, and there are multiple (10?) points where you either need to shuffle across bare ground/trees, or remove skis and walk for a second before getting back on snow. We stayed on skis until ~10800', right at the top of the rock gully that the trail follows. All in all, great day. The angel will be in for a while. Took us ~9 hours round trip (615 Depart TH, 1215 Summit, 1245 drop, 3 TH) We took 250A in and 252 out, all clear on both. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 4/22/2024, By: KC Aakhus
Info: Still technically skiable from the summit. Angel in great condition. Skinned from 10,700 ft with a few dirt patches of skis on/off right after but then skins on whole way thereafter (with ski crampons, HIGHLY recommended). Took road 250A all the way to trailhead because 252 had a very substantial snow patch just after switchback at 9,000 ft, whereas 250A just had small, residual, easily passable patches. 

Route: Angel of Shavano
Posted On: 4/14/2024, By: rivrrapids
Info: Split boarded from summit. Snow was good at noon still but it is getting thin to be able to ride from the summit. Choose lines carefully as more sharks are coming to the surface. Also consider bringing ski crampons, they were a life saver for me today. 

Route: Angel of Shavano
Posted On: 4/16/2024, By: seth0687
Info: Skied Shavano from the summit down the angel. Started descent at the summit at 1pm and had perfect corn all the way. No signs of wet slide activity. We approached from the standard trailhead and I was able to drive within .5 miles of the summer trailhead. Could have pushed to the trailhead, but there were two snow drifts I didnt feel like dealing with. Wore trail runners until about 11k, then skinned to the summit from there. 

Route: Angel of Shavano
Posted On: 4/13/2024, By: adamjpaul
Info: The skiing is goodif you can get to it. The main trailhead is still inaccessible 2.5 miles from the parking lot, but we walked it anyways. If you have bikes, itd be an easy but muddy ride after the snow blockage. Theres a skin track out of the parking lot but it ends 5 minutes later with dirt. We had skins on consistently after 10,200 all the way up to where we dropped in. Coverage in the Angel is good and rocks are easily avoidable. 

Route: Angel of Shavano
Posted On: 4/12/2024, By: SageCanaday
Info: My partner and I made the summit (skied off the summit) today. Some rocks to avoid, but we were able to have a continuous line down the Angel's left wing (climbers right) and down the Angel's body and into the trees pretty far. Snow was in at the Colorado trail with a few rock patches, but we were able to skin most of the way up with minimal short transitions. We had to start about 1.5 miles down from Blanks cabin due to snow on Road 250A. Didn't take Road 250 at the split, but would assume it is also not passable in that final 1-2 miles or so in a regular kind of SUV due to snow drifts still. We actually skied out of the parking lot and down the road a bit as the roads are covered in snow up there. Started around 7:45am (summit around 11:45am) and conditions were firm enough going up (didn't even need skin wax)....got very soft quickly in the sun. I'd imagine with more warmer temps this Spring the snow will go a lot more quickly in the morning. Regretted not bringing crampons for the skis and had to boot pack some sections. 

Route: Angel of Shavano
Posted On: 4/12/2024, By: Curve
Info: Started from Colorado Trail and Angel of Shavano Trailhead. Snow is pretty consistent through the Colorado Trail, though shallow at times. Floatation required above around 10,800 ft all the way up. Angel is in. 

Route: Angel of Shavano
Posted On: 3/19/2024, By: artemavovk
Info: Took east ridge direct all the way up, angel down. After 8am snow is heavy, should've started earlier. Made a trench with some help of a couple of snowshoers. Ridge is snowy all the way, but everything is prolly gonna melt out real soon. Keep snowshoes until treeline tho. Didn't get to Tab because the slopes around the angel started running. No avalanches but close enough to start heading down - few wet slides on both aspects. Angel is very sharky but seems stable for now. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 2/1/2024, By: shapovalovm
Info: * TH to 12400' - used spikes (both ways). The trench is a highway, snow is rock solid, no flotation needed at all, zero postholing. Stashed my snowshoes at 12400'. No avalanche concerns as of today, but that might change with the upcoming storm (although the snow amounts in the forecast seem to be decreasing). * 12400' to both summits and back - very dry, just wore boots. A lot of rock-hopping. For Tab, I stayed lower of the snowfield both up and down. Weather: Strong very cold wind on Shavano and going down to Tab saddle. Rocks had a layer of frost on them. However, weirdly enough, saddle and Tab were almost completely calm. Otherwise, relatively warm day. Start 6:15am; 10:30am Shavano; 11:30am Tab; finish 3:25pm; 7:45 of moving time. With that super-trench in-place I was able to move almost at summer pace (minus heavier pack). Thanks everyone who contributed to it! My Garmin clocked 13.5 miles and 6485' gain. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 1/28/2024, By: sarahmariekirk
Info: Climbed Shavano and Tabeguache Peak today, we followed the beautiful super highway trench that Daway8 and his group put in last weekend. My group of 3 and two other groups on the mountain reinforced the trench today. We wore snowshoes from start to treeline, but with the current trench - snowshoes are not required. Microspikes helped a lot on the descent, the rocks are holding deep pockets of snow so rock hopping was easier than getting caught in trapdoors. Long day; my Coros watch recorded 12.5 miles (6,558ft of vert) with both Shav + Tab. 

Route: Angel of Shavano
Posted On: 1/28/2024, By: masshole40
Info: Arrived at Angel of Shavano TH by 530. On trail by 545. The group who posted below here saved us by cutting the trail with snowshoes. Big thanks to these guys. Met leader on the trail as well and he was awesome. The snowshoe path is pretty tore up and we did it all in spikes. The route is off the standard, however, and goes straight up the mountain to get above treeline. Once above treeline just follow the ridge straight ahead. Many false summits, lots of icy rock and snowholes. Weather was sunny and windy. Long day not sure I could have done it without a buddy. Roundtrip 12 miles, 5500ft gain, 12 hours.