Maroon Peak

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 7/19/2024, By: mrao
Info: I soloed the traverse (07/17/24) with a car to car time of about 14 hours. The route up Maroon is mostly snow free except two snow crossings. I had brought microspikes but didn't need them as I was able to kick good steps in or match existing ones. Even this snow crossing can be avoided. My advise is to save weight and not bring traction and an ice axe. When you first turn right off the wilderness route on to the scree field leading up to Maroon, pay constant attention to your gps tracker. I ended veering too right and it was impossible to get back on trail because of gnarly vegetation blocking access. I refused to give up elevation gain, and finally managed to intersect the standard route after several failed attempts and a few bruises. I lost about an hour with this - don't make the same mistake! Route finding up Maroon once you hit the ridge was a cake walk since it's well documented and well cairned. I had previous experience from Pyramid that definitely helped. The traverse description on 14ners is inadequate IMO and I ended up doing 2 of the 3 big climbs off route, with more exposure than I would have liked. Highly recommend watching some YouTube videos and memorizing them which I didn't have the time to do. I had no parnters to balance ideas with either, so when I picked an ascent I had to own it or face serious repurcussions. The downclimb from North Maroon was the most disheartening thing ever since I was ready to be done. The rock is super lose and there are thorny plants overgrown all over the place. Highly recommend wearing gloves to avoid getting a bunch of thorns into your palm if you slip and end up instinctively grasping for something. Watch out for a left turn a mile or so down else you will downclimb into a steep gully (which I did and had to backtrack losing 30 minutes and energy) When you hit the final talus field at the base of N. Maroon, I recommend staying on route though youll see other tempting options. I had difficulty getting back on the standard route again because of overgrown vegetation. If youre not sure about your climbing ability, route findjng or feel for lose rock, I dont recommend doing this on your own. 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 7/17/2024, By: dgriff
Info: Overall conditions are great and good to go. On the way up Maroon peak there are two snow crossings - one is fairly trivial, the other is doable without spikes/axe - when we were there ~3am the snow was soft enough to kick in good steps. However, depending on your comfort level with snow you may enjoy having spikes, the party in front of us had one member slip ~100ft down the snow, no cliff out below you but didn't seem all too fun. Past that the way is steep but good. The route finding is important but if you've studied the route / consult your GPX you'll be fine. The rock on the way up Maroon Peak was better than expected but there is certainly plenty of rot. The traverse itself is completely snow free, the rock is rotten in plenty of places but solid when you need it to be. While the major obstacles are all well documented, you'll come across a few that are not but they are all quite navigable. If you have the time it is incredible and worthwhile - just make sure you have the weather window, any rain or high wind would turn it into a terrible time. The decent from North Maroon is slow going because of how loose and steep it all is. As expected the route finding takes time but wasn't as bad as expected -- the chimney will come faster than you expect it and the higher gully will feel longer than you'd like it to be. All in all, an incredible time if you have the experience. I'd ballpark it if you can lead ~5.4 trad and know how to deal with questionable rock, you're going to have a blast. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/12/2024, By: HLaski1994
Info: What a trek! Took us a total of 16 hours due to route-finding and snow fields tripping us up. We went up Maroons standard route. There were two snow crossings, which felt very uncomfortable without spikes and an ice axe to self-arrest (I was not expecting as significant of roadblocks). I would recommend bringing traction with you to avoid having to trample tundra by going around the snow/getting lost. One of the crossings is melted quite a bit underneath with an overhang at the top that could easily break off. Be careful this time of year! Aside from those two patches, the rest of the snow isnt in the way of the trail (or rather the choose-your-own-adventure). Safe travels!! 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 7/7/2024, By: happyallyy
Info: Route on the traverse is 100% clear of snow - full summer conditions on the traverse & heading up Maroon. Passed thru two small snowfields heading down North Maroon, only required hiking poles, didnt feel a need to pull out the spikes. Added a few photos. Enjoy! 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/9/2024, By: zach922
Info: Trail conditions were good. Had to cross 2 sections of steep snow in drainage on the way up so I'd recommend at least micro spikes. Axe and crampons are probably over kill and not worth the weight. There were enough cairns once taking the ridge to not get lost. Just take an extra few seconds to spot one. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/9/2024, By: zach922
Info: Trail conditions were good. Had to cross 2 sections of steep snow in drainage on the way up so I'd recommend at least micro spikes. Axe and crampons are probably over kill and not worth the weight. There were enough cairns once taking the ridge to not get lost. Just take an extra few seconds to spot one. 

Route: Bell Cord Couloir
Posted On: 6/16/2024, By: Claire Garner
Info: Snow on the bell cord is already becoming incredibly soft. Left from Maroon Lake TH at 1:30, reached the snow just around 3:15. Clear skies and temps just above freezing made for great visibility and the hope for a harder crust. Around 12000 feet there is a pretty sizable crack where the lower apron has separated from the rest of the snow (photo attached). We turned around here as there wasn't a great way to get around it and figured this would be a huge risk on the descent given the recent avy danger, but a party behind us crossed it using 2 ice tools to jump the gap and catch themselves on the other side. Sun is hitting the couloir proper by 6am, so speed is of the essence right now as the snow is not holding very well even in the dark. The peak itself is looking pretty clear though, so routefinding to the summit should be quite a bit easier. 

Route: Bell Cord Couloir
Posted On: 6/3/2024, By: ROPjason
Info: I summited via the Cord couloir and only saw one set of foot tracks on the upper mountain and summit. The upper mountain was completely covered in hard snow and crampons were necessary. I descended the couloir which had become slushy and sloughy. 

Route: Y couloir
Posted On: 5/28/2024, By: One Sierra Charlie
Info: Wish I could have seen the previous post before I left for Aspen on the 26th. I found the same conditions in the Y Couloir. It was clear overnight, there was a good freeze, and I made a 2:30 AM start, but difficult booting conditions in the Y really limited my progress. Soon after sun hit, the cliffs above the couloir stated to shed junk and around 8:00 a large dump entered the couloir at about 13,200 feet and ran about 800 vertical feet, entraining snow as it went. I was just below13,000 at the time and decided to bail. The good news is that there is a T*O*N of snow on the bells. I would recommend waiting for a few/several more days for the snow to cook down and then use a brutally early start on a cold night to get it done safely. The Y will likely slide more and the apron on the Bell Cord is already chunder city. I expect the E face and upper portions of the Cord will stay clean, however, so could be mixed, but not terrible skiing. Other info - there is currently patchy snow from about 1/4 mile below Crater Lake to the willows at the far end of the inlet. I probably started skinning too soon and needed to carry skis several times and over significant distances. As far as parking goes, a useful tip is that 10 additional slots are made available between 8-8:30 AM three days out. This may help you get in once you choose your weather day. 

Route: Bell Cord Couloir
Posted On: 5/26/2024, By: Tylerbeck25
Info: Extremely post-holey. I postholed the whole way. I thought the snow would get firmer and better with altitude, but that was an incorrect assumption. Alas, 500 ft vert an hour was the best I could do. There was no broken trail and it doesn't look like anyone has been on the Bell Cord route recently. With the conditions, it is extremely slow going. Knee deep most of the way, sometimes deeper. I got a 3 AM start from Crater Lake, but this was not early enough. You need to get a 1 AM start (or earlier) to summit and get down before the snow starts baking in the sun.... because of the slow going conditions, I turned around below 12k feet. It is still very wintry in the bells. The current conditions are low risk from an avalanche perspective as long as you get done EARLY. Loose wet slides are dangerous given the steepness of this route. For skiers- I didn't ski but the conditions would be primo for the coulair. There are a couple of places with large balls of ice (very noticeable), but everything else has phenomenal snow with a little bit of fresh snow on top. Crampons and ice axe should be considered necessary for this route. 

Route: Bell Cord Couloir
Posted On: 5/25/2024, By: Evey1134
Info: Seems like the cord is in still, continuous snow about 1.5 from Maroon Lake, Photos from the last 5 days including after the storms. Seems to have added about 4 inches to the pack. 

Route: Bell Cord Couloir
Posted On: 5/25/2024, By: Evey1134
Info: Seems like the cord is in still, continuous snow about 1.5 from Maroon Lake, Photos from the last 5 days including after the storms. Seems to have added about 4 inches to the pack. 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 10/8/2023, By: Dose
Info: Mixed conditions on the traverse. South Maroon is pretty much summer conditions. Some patchy snow is largely avoidable. Descent of South Maroon is snow covered 4 to 6 inches. From Bell Cord past the 3rd Spire is clear. Past that here are some sections that have patchy snow. Climb to North Maroon snow free. From North Maroon to the entrance to the top of the 2nd gully is snow covered 6-12 inches. 2nd gully is clear of snow. 1st gully to valley floor is mostly clear, with sections of annoying snow. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 10/5/2023, By: stonebaez
Info: Caught first shuttle, at TH by 7:30 AM. Cruised first 4 miles in 1.5 hours but took 2 more hours to gain the ridge at about 12,700 ft because of snow. Starting at about 11,000 ft there was anywhere from 2-4" to over a foot in places. Very hard to follow any real trail and made footing difficult. There were no tracks to follow, so if anyone goes up after me I apologize if the route wasn't optimal. Mountaineering axe and spikes highly recommended. Turned around before final stretch along ridge because I wouldn't have made 5 PM shuttle back and don't have any beta on that section. Started descent at 11:10 AM and back to trailhead by 2 PM. 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 9/29/2023, By: cloudkicker
Info: South to North traverse Thursday for my brothers finisher. -Dry to summit of south -Downclimb off south to top of bell cord had 2 inches of slick snow in places but we were able to make do without spikes. -Traverse was dry -About 200ft of the descent off north had about 2 inches of snow, mainly areas above and below the crux chimney. Microspikes and lots of caution highly recommended on the downclimb from north. -Crux chimney had a bit of snow left on some of the footholds and on the landing about halfway down making it more sketchy than normal. That said, no ice in the chimney. -We were the only people on both mountains the whole day. -Fall colors were the best I have ever seen here.