Mt. Columbia

Route: Southeast Ridge
Posted On: 12/23/2024, By: AndrewJCraigie
Info: Fun day with @astranko! Sections of deep loose snow between the Colorado trail split and the ridgeline made snowshoes handy to have, but annoying take on and off as we crossed dry sections. Carried spikes but never put them on as overall trail didn't have too much snow and it was warm. Minimal snow on the ridgeline. Was able to make it to the proper trailhead w/ my Subaru outback with four season tires pretty easily. Some snow and ice along the way could be difficult for some cars. 

Route: Southeast Ridge
Posted On: 11/23/2024, By: bigfoot1
Info: I didn't use traction at all today, and trail is 95% bare until the second switchback. A lot of the snow has melted in the past 2 weeks. After that, it is patchy, especially along the boot trench. Still pretty easy to follow, and only a 3 or 4 10m sections have had snow drift back over it. The snow that is still there is a mix between granular faceted snow (that is really trying to melt), and powder under ~1cm of crust. The mud is a little bit slippery if you are running down the ridge, ok if you are walking. At near treeline, still a lot of wind drifted snow. Only heard suspicious hollow snow when following the old trench, and there was some small bit of cracking. Definitely wasn't steep enough to worry about any large slabs cracking off. There is no cracking if you leave the drifted trench areas. Above treeline, snow looks to be completely avoidable and the ridge is more or less clear. Ok so now, I'm going to admit to being a flatlander who has never hiked in colorado in the winter before, and I know I sound absolutely insane, but I swear on my life the wind at the ridge today was SW at 30-40mph sustained with gusts up to 70mph. I know the NWS has the winds on Columbia 20mph west sustained with gusts up to 38mph. I was able to lean fully into the wind and not fall. I had to walk angled into the winds to make any significant forward progress, and was almost forced off my feet every couple of seconds. I stuck closer to the NE side of the ridge, trying to be somewhat shielded by the wind, which maybe 15% worked, but it just got worse the higher I went. I ended up turning around at the first mini peak at 12.7k ft because it was becoming difficult to see with the wind drying my eyeballs out from under my sunglasses and also from having tiny pieces of ice/snow hurled at my face. There was also absolutely nothing in the way to shield from the wind. It would have been ok to slowly truck on if I had brought my ski goggles, but I didn't think they were necessary on a sunny, 35 degree day with a forecast of mild wind. At least I got further than last time. There has got to be some weird wind tunnel effect or something to make the winds so aggressive along that ridgeline. I've been above treeline in 60mph sustained, 80mph gusts before.. so I really don't think I'm being that much of a drama queen about the wind today, but maybe the winds feel less overpowering in the appalchians?? I stuck my head out the car window at 60mph on the way home and the ridge gusts felt faster. On my way out, met another hiker who was going to head partway up the ridge and 2 others heading to Harvard Lakes. Seems like the trail to the lakes is also pretty trenched out and popular and I doubt you'd need any traction. It will probably be a few snowstorms until I want to return here to finally get the summit. I wasn't able to see how much snow coverage there was on the standard route, and it is probably 50/50 on whether it is snow loaded or dry. If you want an easy shoulder season summit of Columbia via the standard route before full winter comes, you might as well try tomorrow. I would not recommend this ridge route tomorrow unless you bring a parachute; NWS is calling for sustained 25-35mph SW wind with gusts up to 50 mph. 

Route: Southeast Ridge
Posted On: 11/11/2024, By: bigfoot1
Info: Patchy at the beginning switchbacks. Broke out a boot path up to the treeline at 12.2k ft, and there should be a pretty good trench now to follow. Don't recommend spikes, snow gets too sticky and balls up as the day goes on. Snowshoes would have been smart in the trees, but not sure how much they will help along the ridgeline. Some small patches of snow were shearing off, but was still pretty stable. I will be back again soon to actually summit columbia via this route. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 10/26/2024, By: bfaulkne
Info: Snowy/icy sections the entire way. I brought microspikes and did not use them. You may run into a trapdoor or two on the final ridge to the summit, but nothing consequential. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 9/30/2024, By: etradio1
Info: Mostly dry. Spikes not needed. 

Route: Southeast Ridge
Posted On: 9/29/2024, By: jaroberto
Info: Winter conditions have eased off the SE Ridge pending the next snowfall. There is still some snow sticking to the north facing slopes, but this route is dry. See my photos for views of the ridge, the Horn Fork Basin and Harvard/Columbia Traverse. Regarding the SE Ridge: This is an interesting but lonely hike. There is no trail and cairns are few and far between. I found it easy to follow on the way up, but opted to utilize the trail on the standard route for the descent. I did not see anyone until I had started my descent on the standard route. If you are not trying for the combo I think this is a good way to do this peak, because a lot of the elevation gain is packed in early on the SE ridge; while the standard route offers a long cooldown on easy trail as you get back to your vehicle. Shout out to the guy and his dog who summitted both Harvard and Columbia by the standard routes on Saturday; you rock! 

Route: Southeast Ridge
Posted On: 9/23/2024, By: kylepb
Info: Full on winter conditions from the tree line onward. The descent to the standard Harvard TH was extremely snow packed (leeward side). Forest was in full melt in the exit, so I imagine will be dry-ish soon. 

Route: Harvard and Columbia Traverse
Posted On: 8/25/2024, By: Summitsnacks
Info: Harvard/Columbia served up some VIEWS yesterday, lol. All jokes aside I found the traverse very challenging in the dark and opted for the ridge to Columbia and then took the standard route back to Harvard in daylight. Route finding is still tricky in the daylight. Not sure why the standard route drops into the basin since the ridge is mostly navigable with some class 3 moves, and anything sketchier than that can be easily bypassed. 

Route: Harvard and Columbia Traverse
Posted On: 7/28/2024, By: gmarcotte
Info: Three short snowfields towards the Columbia end of the talus traverse, easily manageable with boots. Note that there are a lot of cairns on this route, seemingly for multiple different lines, sometimes rather close to each other and easy to get mixed up. One set leads straight into the gully that the route description recommends avoiding, for example. Would recommend using the route description and picking your own line. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 7/23/2024, By: hsfedina
Info: Hail and t-storms ended our ascent at 12,600 but up until then, the trail after the treeline was in amazing condition. I heard CFI had done work and it showed. A little confusing in the trees just up to tree line as there were a few trails to choose from. 

Route: Harvard and Columbia Traverse
Posted On: 7/7/2024, By: SeabHoban
Info: Some snow crossings remaining in the talus section but didn't need or use spikes. Snow sections werent as steep as they appeared from below. Firm and easy to walk on around 10am. Could kick in steps for oneself as needed. I went up the middle of the talus field, another gentleman stayed closer to the base of the ridge/ cliffs (roughly the two lines on route description). Another group went way low and around the talus field, following the grassy slopes instead, it looked like a slog and time consuming but valid way to avoid navigating the rocks. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/29/2024, By: tcphoto87
Info: I hiked this one before a few years ago but this was my first time hiking from the standard route with the newer trail. The trail is pretty easy to follow, but the sign with the arrows at the Columbia trail junction is no longer there on Photo #5 from the route page, just the base of the sign is there. Once we turned right there we found the rest of the trail easily enough but theres a few offshoot trails branching off that would've made it hard to know which way to go without there being signs if I didn't have the photos saved showing where to go. Shortly after that we crossed our first and only area with snow the entire hike, not difficult to cross at all and very short. The switchbacks going up the slopes were great until the area below the ridge where it gets way steeper, the good trail disappears and it's a bunch of loose gravel/scree until reaching the ridge. From there the trail was better with some rock hopping over/around some false summits to reach the summit 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/27/2024, By: laforge296
Info: On 6/26/24, Mount Columbia had 2 small snow crossings right at tree line. No worries with the snow just keep an eye out on where the actual trail goes, it was kind of hard to see. It was a beautiful hike and not crowded at all. Be safe. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/27/2024, By: RHeeney
Info: Columbia trail is in hikeable condition! One snow crossing shortly after the trail turns east at timberline. Lots of mud through the basin. But none present a problem! Beautiful hike! 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/25/2024, By: OkieBB
Info: Very little snow. We had to take maybe a dozen steps in snow total so basically summer conditions. A little muddy down in the first 3 miles but mostly avoidable. Mud is worse in the afternoon on the way down. Great day overall