Snowmass Mountain

Route: West Slope
Posted On: 7/15/2024, By: princessproton
Info: Beautiful area. Trail a bit overgrown in some places. Some willows in mud to negotiate but easy to still find trail. Lots of water available. Once you get to base of climb the real work begins basically straight up. Easy to find the grassy knoll once you are there. We went up and down the gully, sometimes choosing to stay more on the rocks, other times more on the looser more traveled area. Definitely are loose rocks and recommend helmet. Able to keep it class 3. At top of gully look for cairn on right side of gully to aid getting to the summit. 8hr 15 min round trip with short break. There is snow but easily avoidable. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 7/14/2024, By: PJ88
Info: Basically the same information as recent reports except for a little less snow. Great, mellow hike in to the lake. The first log jam crossing you encounter was a piece of cake. Scout out the lake trail up to the point where you need to turn off away from the lake. It's a much more pleasant hike up there than following the shoreline. Cross the waterfall at 11,600 instead of the noted 11,800 on route files. We left camp at 2AM and snow conditions were perfect when we hit the snowmass at about 5AM. The direct route looked in but we opted for the standard route. Would probably not have made it up the final slope without crampons and an axe. Be careful with all the loose rock on the west side of the mountain, but it was still a fun scramble. Snow in good conditions to glissade on the return although it is starting to get a little iffy with rocks getting exposed. Lots of bugs out at the lake made it pretty miserable to hang out at camp. Mosquitos love me and I have a ton of bites despite using spray all weekend. 

Route: S Ridge / West Slopes
Posted On: 7/16/2024, By: Kbrown321
Info: Ascended S Ridge and descended West slopes from parking at Lizard Lake. Almost fully summer conditions with snow only in left gully to S ridge and middle of the gully on west slopes (both very bypassable). S ridge had the sustained scrambling all other TRs mentioned; agree with the assessment that taking the crux wall head on pushes 4th class while the rest is all solid 3rd. West slopes descent reallyy sucked. Overall ~20 mi and 6200 vert from lizard lake though we hitched a ride back for the last ~2 miles 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 7/12/2024, By: SageCanaday
Info: Did the full 22-mile round trip from Maroon-Snowmass trailhead 1975 to the summit and back via the East Face. Highly recommend ice axe and crampons still despite the snow field starting up pretty high (around 13,000'). It is melting out fast though! We were able to gain the final ridge via "The Direct Route" because we had traction and axes (would have been very slippery and hard without as the final pitch is quite steep). Snow was certainly melting out fast and got pretty soft by 8am. After summiting we took the ridge down the the standard route and there was certainly some punchy spots in the snow around the rocks and potential post-holing which required some caution. Could be done without crampons here (I took mine off) although I would have still recommended them on the way up...and still also highly recommend an axe (we were very happy to have axes and crampons). I had fun glissading down a bit here, but my partner as well as another climber used axe and crampons to descend off the rocks/ridge ridge on the standard route as it is still snow covered and quite steep. As others have recommended it's probably best to do the "stream crossing" above Snowmass lake at around 11,650' to find a trail in the bushes/trees/rocks. There is certainly some potential rock fall and erosion in the area on the South side of the stream up higher. 

Route: West Slope
Posted On: 7/8/2024, By: rivrrapids
Info: Climbed Snowmass via S Ridge, then traversed to north summit, descended west rib/west slopes. Left gully holding some snow but can be bypassed by climbing right side of gully, but snow still goes, its solid but with axe and no traction its mellow enough to climb no problem. Ridges dry. West rib dry. West slopes have minor snow but can mostly be bypassed. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 7/5/2024, By: shapovalovm
Info: Everything from the last report still stands true. The trail on the map (e.g. Gaia) takes you up 11800 before crossing. Horrible idea. Just cross at 11600 and you will soon find a tiny trail up. We did that on the way up and it was great, but on the way down decided to follow the "official" line and regretted it almost immediately. We used crampons and axes and used direct route both up and down and snow conditions were perfect. That said, we only put crampons on at ~13k. Snow starts a bit lower, but we just walked on top, as it is not steep and not very slippery. Snow becomes soft by ~7:30am. There's no snow on the other side of the ridge, so we had to take crampons off. In my honest opinion, for direct route, especially in the early morning, crampons are pretty much mandatory. The top section before reaching the ridge is very steep and the snow is hard, microspikes might be a dangerous (at least until the snow softens a bit and you can start kicking it in). 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 7/6/2024, By: Tcash
Info: Ascended with only microspikes and decided it was unwise for us beyond ~13,600. Our first non-summit out of 30 14ers. My friend made it with just microspikes, but he's more risk tolerant and enjoys spicy climbing than the average bloke. Lots of snow remain for the final 1,000'. The only others we saw that made the summit had crampons and an ax. We heard the west route was more clear and an easier ascent this week. Be very careful crossing the waterful just above the lake and scree field. Hidden ice footings in the morning and when we recrossed it on our way back, the melting snow picked up and the flow was 2-3x what it was in the early morn. Bring extra socks because there are a lot of water crossings and post holing as the snow softens. Hoist your clothes at camp too! The marmots ate my flip flops, beanie and dirty socks while we were out of camp. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 7/6/2024, By: amlynczak
Info: Wholeheartedly agree with each of the previous two updates, especially with shapovalovm in that crampons are pretty much mandatory early in the morning particularly when approaching the ridge via the direct route. Probably mandatory on the standard too. Also agree in that the trail on the map takes you too high to cross the creek/waterfall. Cross at 11,600. There are no carins or other markers here and it's difficult to spot in the dark. Snow is melting fast - get out there while the getting is good! 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 7/7/2024, By: AJPlescia
Info: Excellent conditions beyond Snowmass Lake until about 12,500 feet. From there we hit endless snowfields until the ridge. I managed with just microspikes, but an ice axe would have made the climb a lot more reassuring. Once you start sliding, it's not easy to stop without it. We were told the snow stays pretty icy in the morning and that crampons would be required if you get an early start. So we waited until about 8:30-9 before starting the snow climb. This worked out pretty well as we could glicade down nearly the entire field. All that being said, the weather is warming quickly. Next weekend could be an entirely different story. Always best to be prepared though! 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/30/2024, By: mattbrill9
Info: Great conditions for a snow climb - minimal postholing and snow was firm for the snow climb until 730am-ish. We took the standard route up, then downclimbed/glissaded the direct route. A couple recommendations: (1) pay close attention to your elevation when cross at the 11.6k stream crossing (esp. in the dark) - we ended up climbing 200ft above it in the terrible scree and wasted 1 hr. waiting for first light to get back on route and (2) esp. if you are going soon, would recommend the direct route over standard for ascending and descending - felt less steep and you avoid not fun scrambling near the ridge. 

Route: West Slope
Posted On: 6/29/2024, By: 5meodimte
Info: West route is good to go. No traction needed, no snowshoes. From TH to peak, we walked on a total of maybe 100ft of snow. Main "Y" shaped gully is holding significant snow, but the ridge/rib to hiker's left of gully is very secure, reliable, and dry rock. Very fun scrambling on this terrain, i'm not sure why the route description cautions against it so much. Only gully action we had was a very fun, fast, and efficient glissade down. Don't overshoot and slide off the waterfall at the bottom though, lol. That'd be a bad time. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/25/2024, By: Rg15
Info: Fueled by copious amounts of caffeine and the entire large beef pizza I got for lunch from the Dominos in Carbondale, I stirred myself from my feeble attempt at a drivers seat power-nap at the trailhead for a crisp 10:49 PM start up Snowmass. My headlamp served as an excellent beacon to attract every moth in the state of Colorado directly to my face. Aside from a couple downed trees, the trail is in excellent condition to the lake. Make sure to cross the logjam at the more northern path. The southern path looked more appealing in the dark, but resulted in having to backtrack with a completely soaked shoe. Watch where you step in the vicinity of the logjam, as I saw several toads chilling in the middle of the trail, and it would make me quite sad if any got squashed by a burly mountaineering boot. Made it to the lake at 2:15 AM. The scree gully was awful, and I wasted at least half an hour by crossing way too early and getting cliffed up. Trust the GPX here. Continuous snow started somewhere around 12000, and I changed out of my trail runners and put on boots/crampons. The snow was mostly firm at this time. I took the moderate line to gain the ridge. I know some people choose to use spikes here, but I personally would not have been comfortable without crampons. Snow is totally avoidable on the summit scramble. Summited at 6:40 AM. The snow was ripe for glissading by 8:30. Very minimal postholing by the bottom of the snowmass. Leave your snowshoes at home. 15:40 car to car. I had been optimistic that three 5-Hour Energies would add up to a full 15 hours of energy, but they most definitely did not. If you value maintaining useful consciousness and a general grasp on reality, then I would advise camping at the lake, or at least bringing more caffeine (perhaps one more 5-Hour Energy would do the trick). This hike taught me that I dont have to be above 16500 ft to enter the dark dream world. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/25/2024, By: emself
Info: Snowshoes not needed as snow below the mass is inconsequential. Walking around lake was better than I expected from prior reports: there is a trail and it's fairly easy to follow. Gully was fine up until about 11,600 where we crossed the waterfall. Was ultimately happy with this choice, but this section seems unpleasant whichever way you go. On the snow, we took the standard route, but it has a minor cornice and still gets steep - very happy to have crampons instead of microspikes. Noticed a couple spots on this pitch where axe plunges hit rock, but it still goes for the time being. I strongly concur with others' recommendations to stay close to/on the ridgeline when possible. Lower = more loose rock and uncomfortable moves. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/24/2024, By: colin j
Info: Campsites at the lake are dry and the approach trail is a little muddy in spots but otherwise summer conditions. Snow around the lake is patchy and has a good bootpack. Ascending from the lake to the snowfield is loose and crossing the stream is pretty sketchy right now. Continuous snow starts near 12,000' and the direct finish is in and the path up is pretty beaten in. Staying on the ridge crest to the summit is dry and is much better than traversing on the west side. 

Route: East Slopes - Direct Route
Posted On: 6/24/2024, By: qkuech
Info: Trail is dry (except for occasional stream crossings) and clear of snow until about 1 mile below Snowmass lake, most sites on the right of the lake from approach are also free of snow, some sites on the left of the lake are snow free but definitely wet. Started at 3AM, summited around 645AM. Trail from lake to talus field is a mix of snowfields and really wet sections but we did not bring or need snowshoes, trail isn't hard to follow once you find it after crossing the log bridge about 25 yards below the lake shoreline. Talus field is pretty easy as well, no major issues with route finding. Once you cross the talus field waterfall its a straight shot to the snowfield start. At snowfield we put on micro spikes and make a straight line towards the notch for the direct route. Climbing never gets unmanageable, and is easy if the snow is firm. Once making it through the final section on the direct route I would suggest taking the ridge direct. On our way up we continued on the standard route and had to cross a pretty slick snowfield which was fine, but on the way back had much more fun scrambling on the ridge, just make sure to test your holds before fully weighting them. Return to Snowmass Lake via same route! There are only three areas that pose a risk of getting soaked with high water right now- the log jam, Snowmass lake log crossing, talus field waterfall. Other than those areas its a pretty cruiser route!