Missouri Mountain

Route: North Face Couloirs
Posted On: 4/26/2014, By: ETA
Info: Photo from the lower basin on 4/26/2014. It looked like lots of snow holding on the upper slopes. Just my opinion, and not that educated either. The trail is about 50% covered with significant snow, if you punch through it can be deep. I walked up easily in the morning but needed snow shoes from the willows back down. It‘s not constant coverage, but deep in spots. I did not climb, just sharing the photo. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 9/16/2013, By: Shawnee Bob
Info: Given the amount of heavy rains in the state, there is some washout on the trails going up Missouri Gulch and Missouri Mountain. However, the trails are still in good shape and water flow from the creeks has not affected any of the creek crossings. Snow atop Missouri and Belford that was present this morning melted out by afternoon. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 7/13/2013, By: tjerasdave
Info: Summer conditions to the top. A little muddy in places but nothing to worry about. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 6/18/2013, By: Exiled Michigander
Info: The west ridge route up Missouri from Clohesy Lake is in great shape and summer conditions are here. The river crossings at Rockdale will be your biggest inconvenience. The water is just below knee level--I brought sandals specifically for the crossings so I could keep my shoes and socks dry. No snow at all until just below the summit near 13,850 ft., then just a few patches to cross (and these have good steps in them). I didn‘t need microspikes or ice axe. Sorry no photos--too busy at work this week. But PM me if you have specific questions. 

Route: North Face Couloirs
Posted On: 5/26/2013, By: SnowAlien
Info: North face couloirs are in fantastic shape for climbing and skiing. We put a booter in the steep central couloir to the left of the summit and skied the Main one. Snow starts about 10 feet from the summit. Trail thru the basin is largely free of snow until 12.5k, so we carried skies on theway up, but on the way down I was able to piece together patchy snowfields and kept the skies on until 11.4k - almost to the mining cabin. Surprisingly, traversing thru the willows was not bad at all (at least on skis). What a great spring climb/ski -highly recommended. 

Route: North Face Couloirs
Posted On: 5/20/2013, By: leggaj5
Info: I ascended the C couloir and descended the Main. I summitted at the same time as another guy who looked like he came up the standard. I was planning on starting at 4, but had to wait for a partner until 5 who ended up not being able to make it. When I started up the C at 8:45 (later than I wanted) the snow was already getting soft. In my case a snow storm moved in while I was on the summit and basically re-froze everything, otherwise I may have been cutting it close. There was wet slide debris in each couloir as well as to the lookers right of the standard route. The standard route didn‘t have as much activity, but I was surprised how quickly the sun hits that whole face, so give yourself plenty of time to get up there. (Photo 1: ridge; Photos 2 - 4; taken on the way up the C Couloir, lots of debris) 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 11/18/2012, By: 2aron
Info: Trail can be easily followed until turn off Missouri. From there, I had to route find due to recent snowfall. No need for snowshoes yet, but I would highly recommend an ice axe and crampons for the climb to the peak. Snow was ankle to knee deep on climb, but powdery so you typically hit the icy rocks underneath, which can could cause you to slip. Crampons alleviated slippage and made for a safer climb. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 11/4/2012, By: jswiftcervelo
Info: Oxford and Belford are already reported on so I‘ll do Missouri... From the Missouri Gulch trailhead I climbed it without a problem in my trail runners (but I‘ve been known to overdo those), however microspikes might have come in handy. The trail has collected some snow but as long as its late enough in the day that its not ice you‘ll be fine. On the upper sections the trail can become problematic but getting up there is straightforward. Actually got a very odd glissade in for about 1200 feet. About 8-10 inces of snow on smooth underling scree was just enough to sort of slab avalanche my way down :) Josh 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 10/3/2012, By: Wentzl
Info: Dry. No snow. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 9/29/2012, By: nedryarson
Info: Hiked Missouri today from Clohesy Lake. Not really any snow issues to speak of. This pic was about as dicey as it got. Great weather, almost like summer - spent an hour on the summit. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 9/19/2012, By: ezabielski
Info: No snow at all on the trail. Some places on the lower slopes got muddy as the day heated up. Careful on some extremely steep sections on the ridge from the false summit to the real summit. These sections will test the limits of grip of your shoes when descending. Poles were extremely useful. If not, get on your butt and slide. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 9/17/2012, By: bhess86
Info: A dusting of snow on the mountain but none at all on the trail. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 8/4/2012, By: Zaigon99
Info: Drove up the gate. No problem with my Jeep Grand Cheorkee. Bumped bottom a couple of times going up when not paying attention. Creek crossing and big puddles near top not a problem. Trail up West Ridge was in good shape, but have be alert for cairns going up long grassy slope. You can‘t get lost, but it is easier to follow the path. Took the shortcut going down, don‘t know how much time saved, but bypassed some steep sections along the creek. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/31/2012, By: Dex
Info: Conditions are great - no need for any equipment. There is snow just before the ridge but it can be avoided. There are two areas within 75 yard of the summit that require caution. 

Route: North Face Couloirs
Posted On: 5/27/2012, By: scramble
Info: Conditions pretty much the same as the previous report. Some of the stream crossings above treeline were icy. The drainage gully mentioned in the route description still has snow that makes for good skinning, but it‘s in two pieces and you have to cross some tundra to connect them. You can hop on the drainage snow after the Missouri Gulch trail goes up the first hill. From the drainage, can skin up to and climb the chutes mentioned in USAKeller‘s report from earlier this year. The C couloir did not have continuous snow to the summit, but it had continuous snow to the ridge. Some places had ~1" thick soft windslab on top of a layer of facets on top of the old snowpack. From the ridge, you can hop on the standard route to the summit. There was one sketchy snow/ice slope traverse with some nice frozen kicked steps that would feel more secure with an ice axe. The main couloir had some old frozen wet slides. The C couloir was smooth-ish except for a dirty/rocky bit in the middle that you can avoid by skiing skier‘s right. Snow was still hard at noon. Feel free to PM or email if you have more questions and thanks for the awesome TR and conditions reports, it really helped us out!