Challenger Point

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 9/3/2013, By: falcon568
Info: Words cannot describe how crappy Challenger‘s North Slope scree slog is to descend. Aside from those 2,000 feet, both Challenger and Kit Carson Peak are solid, fun climbs. 

Route: Kirk Couloir
Posted On: 5/30/2013, By: bloomy
Info: Kirk Couloir still skiing great and should have coverage for a while. The summit gets quite a bit of sun relative to the chute, but I assume it‘ll ski from the summit for a bit. I know the road construction to the TH provides some challenges for the next few months. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 2/3/2013, By: RWSchaffer
Info: Trail was bootpacked to the stream crossing at 11,000 feet, which proved not to be the icy mess that I was worried it might be (photo 1). Fresh trench led from there to Willow Lake and then headed up toward Mount Adams‘s west ridge. I left the trench at this point and crossed the slopes above Willow Lake. These had so little snow that they were not the avalanche hazard that they might normally be (photo 2). I climbed the standard route, which consisted of fresh soft slab of varying thickness on older, supportive hard slab. In light of the day‘s events elsewhere and the resulting "Special Advisory Statement" from the CAIC, avalanche danger may have been higher than I thought. But it made for some pretty decent snow climbing by winter standards (photo 3). The ridge to the summit was clear enough that a person could stay mostly on rock (photo 4). Snowshoes, ice axe, and crampons all mandatory. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 9/28/2012, By: jdorje
Info: As of the 28th, snow on the western face is mostly melted off, though the northeast slope typically holds quite a bit more (picture 1). On the 29th, there was more snow. As of the 30th it looks thin but icy. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 10/1/2012, By: EM_in_CO
Info: The snow is slowly accumulating. On the slopes of Challenger Point, the melted snow is creating an icy base with new snow accumulating on top. The snow above 13,000 feet is deep enough to cover boots (a few inches) in some spots and begin to cover gaiters (over six inches) in other spots. The second photo shows the snow on the slopes of Challenger Point at 13,000+ feet. Snow is on the ground but is not an issue below 11,800 (although, the melted snow is making the trail a muddy, slippery mess). 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 9/23/2012, By: esagas
Info: Some lingering snow on northern aspects of Challenger and Kit Carson. No need for gaiters, though. Otherwise, summer conditions prevail. The descent down the gully on the way back is outright nasty. Bring trekking poles! 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 9/13/2012, By: jdorje
Info: There was snow yesterday, but 97% it melted off of west-facing slopes today. The forecast is more sun the next three days. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 9/10/2012, By: Unknown
Info: The scree on the descent from 13,800 to 12,000 or so rivals going down Mt. Columbia, but I think this route is worse because it‘s steeper. The trail (if you can call it that) has a lot of erosion and is in need of some CFI love. Full story with pictures & video on Kit Carson / Challenger can be found below: http://awilbur77.blogspot.com/2012/09/oh-sheep-there-are-mice-in-my-jeep.html 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 7/1/2012, By: WarDamnPanic
Info: Snow free. Started at the TH at 5:45 am, reached the summit of Challenger at 10:30 am and Kit Carson at 11:15, back to the Lake at 2 pm and back to the TH at 4:15. I would highly recommend camping at the Lake the night before as it ended up being a long day. The Class 2+ climb from the Lake to the Challenger ridge is brutal, loose rock and very steep. Easily my least favorite 14er trail. Start early and wear a helmet imho. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 6/26/2012, By: mikefromcraig
Info: The snow that the previous update mentioned is now more like 2/3 up the mountain and is easily avoided. It does get pretty slick on the way down. I guess Roach‘s 2+ rating is accurate given his definition of 2+ but I found the top half to be slower than class 3 both up and down. So much loose rock. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 6/4/2012, By: Matt Lemke
Info: 100% snow free. Great glissades down the small couloir to the north of the Kirk Upper basin nearly dry and the uppermost willow lake is about 50% thawed. Early storms today prevented us from doing Kit....the north side of the avenue still had snow though so be prepared for that. EDITED WITH PHOTOS ADDED!!!! First photo shows Adams Second photo shows Kirk coul Third one shows North side of Crestones 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 5/29/2012, By: Stevo
Info: Only a couple of snow patches beofre Willow Lake all of which were avoidable. I turned around here because I couldn‘t even stand in the wind, guessing 70-80 mph gusts- I can tell you I‘ve never seen wind like this day. I wasn‘t carrying anything special (crampons, axe) and Challenger looked doable but I wasn‘t about to endure the wind for that long. The attached photo was taken from the creek above Willow Lake. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 5/20/2012, By: climbingbiz
Info: Trail is more or less dry to Willow lake. The snow in the up the north slope was nearly continuous to the ridge, with a few dry spots. Was able to glissade most of the way down. The Avenue to Kit Carson was completely covered in snow, and snow in the second section was already very soft before noon. We turned back as it was unsafe to cross at the time. Picture 1: Going up the north slope Picture 2: Crossing the first portion of The Avenue Picture 3: The second section of The Avenue, our turn around point 

Route: 
Posted On: 4/1/2012, By: BillMiddlebrook
Info: Climbed and skied Kirk Couloir today. Snow extended from the basin below the couloir, through the couloir and to about 100' below the Kit Carson-Challenger saddle. Snow in the couloir was very firm and mostly consolidated. Hard snow and it would be hard to stop a fall. General Willow Lake Conditions: The trail is dry from the TH to the headwall where you'll find patches of snow beyond the first stream crossing and then more continous snow above the headwall and all the way to Willow Lake. The snow was hollowed out and very collapsable. After the lake, the trail up to Challenger is mostly dry past the top of the waterfall. Patchy snow after that, but not continous all the way to Kirk Couloir. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 10/16/2011, By: Cool Hand Luke
Info: Decent amount of snow above Willow Pass to the lake, although it is all boot-packed. From the waterfall above Willow Lake the snow can get mid-calve. On Challenger it was post-holing almost the entire way up. An axe helps in spots, but in others provides almost no purchase. Made it up to about 13,850 before having to turn around due to snow and ice.