Maroon Peak

Route: Bell Cord, Bells Traverse, N Maroon NE Ridge
Posted On: 7/1/2017, By: martinleroux
Info: Good firm snow all the way up the Bell Cord, thanks to a cool, clear night and an early start (we left the E Maroon trail around 4:15am). Snow coverage was continuous except for the terrace at 11,500' where one traverses left above the "garbage chute" cliff band. In the couloir proper there were couple of places where the snow was quite narrow and close to melting out. The Bells Traverse was completely dry. On the NE Ridge descent from N Maroon there was extensive snow above 13,200'. The chimney through the rock band at 13,600' was a steep, snowy downclimb. The trail across the scree slopes at 11,500' below the N Face also had long sections of snow. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/1/2017, By: B_2
Info: South Slopes: Creek crossings are very high and take time to navigate on approach. High bc campsites trail must be used to circumnavigate Crater Lake due to high water levels but trail clear of snow to turn-off and first 1/2 mi up from valley floor. Many snowfields still on the suck to traverse or navigate around, frozen hard in early am, a few requiring traction vs. long circumnavigation due to steepness in morning, "trail" was impossible to follow with any continuity until close to gaining ridge. Traverse is largely dry with a few large snowfields holding in the usual spots/gullies, requiring careful crossing or time to navigate around. 

Route: Bell Cord Couloir
Posted On: 6/26/2017, By: bunny256
Info: Trail is submerged in Crater Lake in a few places and washed out. One creek crossing can be done via two logs that are very icy in early AM. Some minor bushwhacking required for others. Snow free until the debris field from Cord runout. Mostly continuous snow to the couloir, then up to 5' deep runnels for remainder. The snow was styrofoam until shortly after sunrise, then it quickly turned rotten in the heat and sun. Made the decision to turn around at about 12,500' due to a partner feeling unwell and moving too slow to summit and descend safely. Very slushy by about 8:30. 

Route: Bell Cord Couloir
Posted On: 6/16/2017, By: dude4mountains
Info: Bell Cord is good solid continuous snow with no ice - for now. The Runnel is waist deep in places. Cord to Summit is 50% hard snow - mostly on the summit ridge and summit proper. 

Route: Bell Cord Couloir
Posted On: 5/5/2017, By: One Sierra Charlie
Info: Most east aspects on maroon peak have suffered heavy wet avalanche activity over the past few days. The bottom half of the Bell Cord is a solid debris field as is much of the amphitheatre. More intermittent above that, but still lots of debris. The runnel is not too bad yet. The snow on the traverse to the east face is in good shape but is deep and poorly consolidated. The snow was great on the east face in the morning but a large avalanche ripped much of it off at about 11:00. Fortunately we were skiing out across Crater Lake by that time. 

Route: Bell Cord Couloir
Posted On: 3/19/2017, By: SnowAlien
Info: Excellent conditions. Start early as couloir gets direct sunhit (i.e. descending after 11am is pushing it). Summit at 8am. Sunrise from Chord is worth the price of admission. Ledges after top of couloir are somewhat unconsolidated sugar, but not too bad. Congrats to Will Seeber and Justin Becker on an incredible season. Way to go. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 9/24/2016, By: bmcqueen
Info: Quite winter like up S Maroon today. Our group of three appeared to be only group to summit. Snow 3-6" on the route with some drifts up to thigh deep. Crampons the whole way from ~12,500' on. Cairns on upper route are visible as is our on route trench. 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 9/16/2016, By: chicagostylehotdog
Info: All snow avoidable on standard route to maroon peak. Snow from Wednesday evening storm is present on the north slopes of maroon peak and north maroon peak. This makes the decent from maroon peak to the bell cord slightly hazardous, but we did not use microspikes. The traverse from the bell cord onward is snow free. The standard route decent off of north maroon was especially hazardous and microspikes helped tremendously. My partner did not have them and the toughest part of his day was descending the class 3 alternative to the chimney move without spikes in slick conditions. No snow below 13,500' on N. Maroon. 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 8/29/2016, By: youngk2844
Info: Traverse S to N. Three to five inches of snow on the north side of Maroon Peak tapering off to the Bell Cord. Clear from the Cord to N. Maroon. A bit of snow on the standard descent off of N Maroon. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/30/2016, By: STIBungy
Info: The trail from the parking lot up past Crater Lake is well defined. Just make sure you read the signs. We missed the turn off towards South Maroon at the big rock (photo 1) and went along the Four Pass Loop trail. Doh! One of the steeper sections reminded me of Columbia, steep with lots of loose dirt. I did some unintentional breakdance moves about 5 or 6 times during the descent. The route on the south/southwest face of the mountain can be difficult to find, at times. Look for cairns along the way. It is much easier to spot the cairns on the way down than on the way up. The gullies are full of loose dirt and rock so if you have multiple people in your party or there are other hikers nearby, stagger them left and right and make sure everyone knows to call out rock if they kick something loose. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/20/2016, By: goingup
Info: All snow is avoidable if one is paying attention. Fun mountain! There are goats wanting to send rock bombs down on you the entire time, adds to the excitement. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/14/2016, By: ryanclimber
Info: Sorry I don't have photos, as I forgot my camera in the car. I will try and be as objective as I can. The trail is dry almost the entire way to the summit, with a few snow crossings needed. The first snow crossing is not to far up the south face, when you cross the first major gully. There is moving water under it, but it is still thick enough people are not punching through. The second snow crossing which will melt out fast, is not much further than the first. Once on the saddle you can avoid any snow that is left. The Chimney is clear of snow as you exit the ridge. The traverse to the next gullies is clear and dry, but snow is around you. The second gully has snow at the base, but a safe and dry passage up that is possible(which we did) The large gully that takes you to the notch at 13,500 is totally dry, but past this some snow fields block the typical route. It requires very easy scrambling around, maybe low 4th class, and then on to easy 3rd class. The rest of the route is dry and free of snow. There is still a large bit of snow on the summit, but is melting out fast. Crampons, Ice Axe, etc are not needed. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/8/2016, By: herdbull
Info: Standard south ridge route is almost entirely snow free. There's a few spots around 12,000'-12,500' that can be avoided. No need for traction. The route is in great shape and very easy to follow. 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 7/8/2016, By: herdbull
Info: I would say the traverse is in summer'ish conditions. There's a few snowfields that possibly could be avoided but it might get you off route. They weren't in locations that would fatal if you slipped but you may encounter issues if you did slip. I did not have traction and honestly if I did I don't know if I would have put them on. Most of the crossings were 10' or so. I was on route for most of it and it appears to be in "ok" condition. Some locations have cairns everywhere so just pick a route and go. I never did go up the dihedral in the route description but managed just fine. What a fun route! 

Route: Bell Cord Couloir
Posted On: 7/3/2016, By: drewski
Info: The Bell Cord is good. Snow is firm and continuous somewhat runneled. Descent by southeast couloir also good and smoother .