1/19/2013 Route: West Slope Posted On: 1/21/2013, By: RWSchaffer Info: Put in trench from Marble to the base of the west slope. Followed FR 315 to the Lead King Basin trailhead. The first third of the road had seen snowmobile traffic, while the remainder was fresh snow. (Photo 1) Followed the summer trail fairly closely to Geneva Lake. (Photo 2) Above Geneva Lake, kept to the right of the stream to climb to the base of the west slope. This proved to be more convenient than the summer route because it avoided both the steep traverse leading to Little Gem Lake and the descent from Little Gem Lake to the base of the west slope. (Photo 3) The west slope was relatively dry, but what snow there was consisted of slabs that were so hard as to required toe-pointing or step chopping, alternating with knee deep decaying powder that offered little support. Predominantly the latter, which resulted in my quickly running out of time once I reached the steep stuff. (Photo 4) |
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7/22/2012 Route: Posted On: 7/23/2012, By: Zambo Info: We tackled the "S" Ridge on Sunday, 7/22. It had rained quite heavily the days before the outing, which made for an interesting climb. The gulley used to reach the ridge was horrendously loose. Loose to the point that the climbing became much more difficult and dangerous in the gulley itself. Despite all efforts to be careful, we loosed many large rocks which got sent down the steep gulley. It would have been very dangerous for any climbers below. The ridge itself is clear and in fine condition. With some exceptions, the ridge crest was usually the most stable and best option. More exposed sections can always be passed on the West side of the ridge. We descended the West Slopes route, which was also terribly loose, due in part to the rains. The quality of rock slowly improved during the descent, but the first 500 - 1,000 feet down was an absolute nightmare of shaky slabs and untrustworthy rocks. |
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7/15/2012 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 7/15/2012, By: fox_inthesnow Info: I gave the East Slope a try today from the trailhead, not sure if I'd have enough time before the rain came. I was was up near 12,500 and ran into another climber coming down, only one I saw today on this route. We chatted briefly (he did the "notch" variation mentioned in Bill's reports) and I kept heading up another few hundred feet, but thought the weather looked sour and turned around, around 9:30. On my way down, I heard a tremendous boom, then a huge roar filled the amphitheater. I turned to watch a significant rockslide start left of the summit (as I was facing it) and cross the path of the "notch" variation of this route. It was hard to get a sense of scale but it looked like several house-sized boulders crossed the path, and the slide sustained for 30-60 seconds. At this point I continued down, but just wanted everyone to be aware of the rockfall danger on this part of the route. Image 1 is the tail end of the slide, mostly just dust. Image 2 is a rough estimate of the slide path. |
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6/17/2012 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 6/19/2012, By: rockymountaindiva Info: No significant snow below 12,600. Some in our party used crampons from there, others put them on higher up, and others went without crampons by traveling between rock outcrops. Started from lake about 5:15 am, reached top at 10 am without much postholing. On ascent, stayed on snow and gained the ridge according to gpx track (south of peak and notch), then followed some cairns on rock to descend. Still some good glissades on the way down but snow is melting rapidly. Backpack in from TH took 5 hours, log jam easy to cross. In camp - deer and porcupine sightings. |
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6/10/2012 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 6/11/2012, By: sjhiker Info: The trail is virtually snow free to approx. 12,500. Conditions are very close to the photos shown in the standard route description. I highly recommend gaining the ridge as shown in that route description - gaining it further north was difficult. No snow on the west side from the ridge to the summit. We were able to stay on top of the snow on the way up and had a great glissade down. |
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6/9/2012 Route: Posted On: 6/9/2012, By: tmathews Info: S-ridge is completely clear of snow, but the gullies accessing it are not. We managed to avoid the snow in the gully to the climber‘s right, but ran into Class 4 climbing. The west face is still holding snow and we did not feel comfortable trying to downclimb it, so we descended the S-ridge. Descending the gully proved to be a challenge, though. Anyone looking to climb the west face might try sticking to one of the ribs rather than on the face itself. The trail is clear up to Little Gem Lake, but there are a couple of snow fields to cross en route to the gullies accessing the S-ridge. |
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5/27/2012 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 5/28/2012, By: jeremy27 Info: Log jam is as easy as I assume it gets. Snowshoes not necessary up to lake. Snowshoes would be helpful getting to and from the far end of the lake. We had a good hard freeze so it was crampon-able both ways for us. We found a decent line of snow down the top of the scree field (but missed it in the dark on the way up). Continuous snow to the ridge on excellent snow. No recent slide activity. Mixed conditions up the ridge to the summit - tricky in places, crampons were necessary but we were probably too low down the ridge. If you have the option stay high. About 2000 feet worth of glissades on the return, almost made us forget the wicked hike out. Long story short - go now and hope for a good freeze. PM for more info or pics of nearby peaks. Good luck. |
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5/19/2012 Route: Eastern route Posted On: 5/25/2012, By: _NW_ Info: The trail was all clear of snow right up until after the couple of switchbacks after the beaver pond. Then some lovely snow to post hole through. Also there are quite a few trees over the trail in different areas but especially after the beaver pond. Sometimes there were trees on top of other trees. At the lake there were patches of snow but clear where you can camp on the right hand side of the lake. The lake is completely open. As you go around the lake it is all snow and was all right to cross when we did at 4:00am. The snow isn‘t great after the rocks. We were up there at 8:00am and it had all ready turned into garbage. We went up the left side of the snowmass and made it to the rocks under the ridge to the summit but by then (around 10:00am) we were sinking up to our waists and farther sometimes in snow in places. We would have fairly solid sections then start sinking for other sections. Another climber who was up at the ridge around 7:00am said he was post holing badly then. The log jam is easily managed with low water currently. |
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10/23/2011 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 10/25/2011, By: kushrocks Info: Conditions to the lake were good. The trail was easy to follow and there was a few small minor ice and snow areas to cross more so as you got to the lake but nothing deeper than an inch or two. Getting around the lake was a little interesting because it was mostly snow covered about 6+ inches in spots which wasnt a problem until you crossed over a few frozen streams in your way that emptied into the lake. As you got around the lake the boulder field was dry and somewhat easy to navigate. However once over the main ridge when you enter the snow field that is when conditions started to suck. I should have checked the GPS but I am guessing around 12,500 to the summit and back conditions were really bad. Snow was really weak and dusty. We tried to rock hop as much as we could because when we didnt we were post holing which drastically slowed us down. Round trip from the lake to the summit and back was 8 hours for only 6 miles. |
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9/25/2011 Route: West Slope Posted On: 9/26/2011, By: BrentManDo Info: Mostly clear with very small patches of snow at summit. No special equipment needed. |
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9/10/2011 Route: West Slope Posted On: 9/12/2011, By: 14er Climber Info: We climbed Snowmass from the Western face. The 4 wheel drive road in was clear and we had no issues. The route was clear and we didn‘t encounter any new snow on the route all the way up. The rocks are loose and we stayed far to the left side and the rock was fairly stable. The cairns are hard to spot but are placed on the route all the way to the summit. |
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9/9/2011 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 9/10/2011, By: mrschaible Info: With all the rain recently, the trail is extremely wet and muddy (extremely slippery as well). Horses have also torn up the trail and left quite a bit dung all over it. Once you get to Snowmass lake, plan on getting your feet wet as you cross from the shore of the lake to the scree field/beginning ascent as it is a swamp. We could not find a dry route to get across. Also, the route around the lake is overgrown and very difficult to find and maintain. We followed the GPX way points on this site towards the summit and they took us up a more difficult route with more boulder hopping and scree. I would recommend going further to the hikers right. Head up right next to the exposed waterfall and follow the really small cairns. It is all hard rock fields. You definitely want to head for the notch just to the left of the summit as described in the route guidance on this site. It is a very easy climb and very little exposure. The scree towards the top is wet and very slippery. I slipped more on this than all my other 14ers combined. We did this as a day hike in 10+45 but are in very good shape. The fall colors are just starting to come in. It is a really beautiful hike. |
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7/25/2011 Route: Posted On: 7/25/2011, By: Monster5 Info: Approach to Geneva is snow-free. Plenty of easy snow up higher in the basin. Mosquitos. Trail is slightly overgrown but easy to follow. I would recommend taking the Little Gem approach and cutting right down low-angle drainage from the lake to the stream crossing. No real bushwack required. The 2nd gully holds snow - the c3 ledges to the right are dry. The ridge itself is dry and relatively stable. If you‘re a route-finding sort, the entire thing could probably be kept at exposed c3. A glissade of the W. Slopes is not in. Careful straying from the ridge as frequent rock failures are occurring. |
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7/17/2011 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 7/18/2011, By: Grover Info: The East Slopes of Snowmass Mtn. are in great shape. Only issues on trail up to Lake Snowmass is some mud.......oh, and the piles of horse s++t. Log jam crossing is solid with plenty of logs to use. The willows around the lake are overgrown, but the route is easily seen when you are on it. No snow on the boulder/scree field up the gully. At 12,000‘ ft, the snowmass starts, and you can go all the way to the middle of the ridge on snow using crampons/ice axe. If you want to angle to the left of the hump (the "standard route"), you can, but you can also aim for a couple of spots to the right of the hump in the ridge, which will allow you to cross from snow to rock right on the ridge. West side of the ridge is total devoid of snow. |
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7/3/2011 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 7/5/2011, By: lstarrsmith Info: Logjam very passable. Few patches of snow on hike up to lake but camping area is very much clear. Snow along lake to base but very soft after sunrise. Soft snow up to top ridge, with many paths available to follow. Ridge to summit mostly dry with 2 snowy patches and a few area with loose rocks. Glissading awesome from top ridge to base. Snowshoes not needed. Same for crampons unless the tread on your boots is very worn. Ice axe or support pole of some sort comes in handy on final ridge push. Many great lines for skiing/boarding down to base still available. |
