Pikes Peak

Route: Y Couloir
Posted On: 5/29/2024, By: bradyj
Info: The Y and Hero Traverse are definitely in. Took the road up at 7:30 and started at 8:15. Snow was in great shape the entire climb. 

Route: Y Couloir
Posted On: 5/27/2024, By: Veory
Info: Great skiing, crux is passable to the skiers right, or you can get a little (~3 ft) drop. Super filled in, really good snow today. Established bootpack is easy to follow back up, still enjoyed having crampons. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 5/20/2024, By: Been_Jammin
Info: I attempted to climb the Y-Couloir today. My plan was to approach using the Bottomless Pit Trail that joins the Barr trail around mile 8. Barr Trail is cruiser up to ~11K... then traction starts becoming useful. The Bottomless Pit Trail is not currently a viable way to approach the Y-Couloir. I bushwhacked in snowshoes for about 30 minutes only to gain about .25 miles. That is when I decided to bail. Too bad... I bet the Y-Couloir was in prime condition. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 5/8/2024, By: bdloftin77
Info: Road happened to be open to Devils Playground, where I started. Snow was solid all the way up and down and didn't posthole, though conditions could have changed since then. Carried snowshoes but didn't use them. Some areas had no snow, other areas had likely very deep snow. 

Route: Three Little Pigs
Posted On: 4/24/2024, By: desertdog
Info: We climbed the right Coulior. Conditions were great in the main section, but once it opened up at the top the snow got a little sloppy. The chockstone crux was well filled in with snow and not too hard, really just one awkward move. The gate does not open till 9am, so you cant get an early start. I dont know, you might want wait a couple weeks to let the snow consolidate. Fun climb! 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 4/23/2024, By: masonzastrow
Info: Decent trench from one mile short of the summer trailhead to treeline, more blown over after that but a path is still visible. Road is in good shape to the Mennonite Camp, then pretty rutted out from there to the (closed) gate. High clearance recommended. I put on snowshoes a couple miles in and wore them almost the whole time, my two partners didn't put them on until the descent and didn't posthole much. Great conditions, snow felt stable on the steepest section leading up to the ridge. Snow stayed firm below us until about 1 PM. We only made it to the ridge (~12,600) but some of the upper slopes looked dry from my vantage. Around 11.5k, I found a piece of equipment with the number six written on it. Describe it to me and I'll get it back to you! 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 4/14/2024, By: Vasqujg
Info: It's my fault, for being uninformed...today Pikes sucked for decent. Made fast progress all early morning. Then the sun and heat made the snow super soft. Snowshoes were useless and I sank in the snow all the way back to the car. Horrible bruises and extremely stressful day. 4 foot deep drifts just crumbled underfoot. Following my morning foot prints - useless. I know, learn to snowboard. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 3/31/2024, By: colorado yooper
Info: From a SAR mission. Rescued 3 males from just above treeline. Lots of snow @treeline and below. There is no parking at/near the Mennonite camp. The road is not plowed past the camp. Much above tree line is blown off or hardened drifts/sastrugi. This is not a normal winter! Today winds were constant 45mph gusting to ???. Be careful if you're choosing Pikes in the next few weeks. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 4/5/2024, By: mtn14
Info: Barr Trail was mostly dry up to the Incline merge (apx 2 miles). Soft/slushy snow pack up to 9,000 ft (apx 3.5 miles), and some post-holing during late morning. Trail was packed down and increasingly supportive up to Barr Camp (apx 6.5 mile). Beyond that, used snow shoes and broke trail up to the bottomless pit (apx 7.5 miles) before I turned back. Saw a couple other parties intending to summit as I went back down, so the trail may now be booted in beyond. Traction recommended between No Name Creek & Barr Camp, Floatation highly recommended beyond Barr Camp. Record snow conditions - get it while it lasts! Barr Camp Note: The staff would be thrilled if you drop in and volunteer to haul down a grocery bag of trash for them! 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 3/11/2024, By: wmanke13
Info: Road closed shortly after Mennonite CG. -1F when I parked my car. Trail is well-packed and defined most of the way below treeline. I put snowshoes on at 11,000 and kept them on until the summit. Above treeline, the trail disappeared and route finding became more of an issue - I found myself off trail several times between treeline and devils playground, which consumed more energy than I would have liked. From Devils playground to the summit, the trail is more or less easy to follow, as it generally follows the road. The last pitch of boulder hopping was a major PITA and I was struggling to decide whether snowshoes were helping me or slowing me down. This was the crux of the route and consumed a lot of my energy. At the top I decided I absolutely did not want to retrace my steps back to devils playground, so I took the road, which is mostly dry. Retraced steps from Devils playground to car. Left car: 5:40am Summit: 1:15pm Back to Car: 5:10pm ~19 miles ~5,100 elevation gain 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 2/26/2024, By: masshole40
Info: Started at the Crags campground. Microspikes the whole way. Brought snowshoes didn't need them. Between treeline and the ridge you could use flotation to make the brief stint of postholing a little better. Wind was 40-45 mph anywhere above treeline and became a nuisance quickly. Garmin watch had me at 19 miles 6000 ft elevation gain about 12 hours truck to truck. I did have some issues with the wind and choosing a route up toward the top. I also added about a mile of uphill tracking to go retrieve my snowshoes that I forgot I stashed. So this contributed to my longer route. Great trail basically all the way up to Devil's Playground. This is a long one but I found the length helped reduce the steepness of the climb. The very top is light scrambling and the point between the treeline and ridge is a pretty brutal uphill. Outside of that I found it to be very manageable. If you are looking for a winter 14er go get this one! 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 2/18/2024, By: backcountrybrodes
Info: Started from winter closure 1 mi below Crags TH. Perfect weather all day, best I've ever seen on a winter climb - cloudless, 0-10mph wind, and had to have been 45 degrees at one point! My Strava said 16.76 mi and 4,875 ft in 10:23:25. 8:20am start | 2:30pm summit | 6:50pm car Snowshoes required, poles are helpful. Very good trench in right now from the winter TH all the way up to Devil's playground - spots of hollow snow on the initial slope up from tree line but I only saw cracks around where I stepped and heard no whoomphing. Everything above that is windblown, and there are 5ft drifts on the road all the way up. I stashed snowshoes as soon as I got to the road and walked it almost all the way up, and on the way down I took the normal trail off of the summit (trapdoor rock hopping) and the road for the rest. Was surprised to see no one else on the trail - only technicality to that was the snowplow train car on the Cog tracks that came to the top to clear the tracks. Needless to say the summit house is closed but it made nice shelter from the wind. Weather definitely made the day!! Go get it! Bring snowshoes! 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 1/20/2024, By: Gator Wrasler
Info: Great hike, temperatures in the 20s down in the trees, closer to well below zero with the child chill at the top. Well established, packed trial but the packed trail is actually not on the regular trail. It eventually gets to the top though. Micros spikes a must, snow shoes optional and some of group used, ice axe not needed. Wind was brutal at the top, ski goggles a must. Parked at the lower parking lot and then hiked in about 2.5 miles in and camped about 10,700 feet elevation. There are Several good campsites that are packed down if you want to use them. Six person group with varying speeds, took about 2 hours to hike into camp. Started from there at 4:40 AM and made the summit at about 1:40 pm. Pretty chill Pace, had breakfast on the way that way. Took about 7 hours from summit to car at parking lot. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 1/6/2024, By: Gueza
Info: Well established and easy to follow trench with about 4 - 8 inches of new low density snow to treeline then its knee deep with a lot more new snow until the saddle - I wish I had floatation for this section. Saw one solo skier skiing in this area and the turns didnt look too bad - lots of buried obstacles for sure though. Everything below treeline except for the road still surely sucks for skiing at the moment. On and off trap dooring from devils to the last summit pitch - microspikes were useful 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 1/2/2024, By: s_brummer
Info: Climbed the NW Slopes on New Year's Day for my second winter summit of Pikes! Snowshoes were not necessary, I also did not use any traction for the ascent (I did put spikes on for the descent, but certainly not totally necessary). Trail to treeline was very nicely packed, extremely easy to follow. Treeline to saddle at 12,750 was in really nice shape too, quite a few different options through that area, the one I took was mainly about 4inches of snow over tundra, with maybe three spots where I sunk in just a little, but barely enough to consider it a post-hole even. The "meander" to the last summit pitch is basically just covered in variable levels of minor snow, nothing to be of concern though really. Final summit pitch was really straightforward, all the cairns were basically entirely exposed, as well as many footprints in the scant snow that was left. Quite a few other climbers out as well! Ran into @ eagle_eye (Mike) The train and highway were both very busy too!! I started at 1:30 and summitted by 10, back to my car a little after 2! I'm certainly not the fastest, and I also had a heftier pack (ice axe, extra coats, stove, etc.) on for winter-training just to give a little more info. Also don't forget that there is a little additional mileage with having to start at the winter road closure! The drive to the TH was fine (2WD here), the road was snowy, but very nicely plowed! I'm sure conditions will stay favorable even with the potential round of upcoming snow later this week and weekend!