7/5/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 7/6/2025, By: Btuperkwh Info: Summer conditions-dry, no snow. A lot of aggressive, curious marmots at the cairn and along the on the ridge to the summit. |
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7/4/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 7/9/2025, By: nibbler Info: Summer conditions for the most part. The road up to the upper trailhead is in pretty good shape. We had someone in the group make it up there in a VW golf or something like that. The first mile is pretty steep, and as of 7/4 the first quarter mile was extremely wet and, in some spots, pretty muddy. My wife went through three pairs of socks for some reason. rock was very solid on the scrambling sections at the top. nothing special to report. |
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6/29/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 7/1/2025, By: Clairebaums Info: No snow. No trail either below the ridge. Some of the rocks before and at the false summit are loose and it's hard to tell. |
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6/21/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 6/21/2025, By: Ariella6 Info: trail basically dry. Some marshy bits in the cow pasture area but nothing too bad. Lots of wind today |
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6/14/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 6/14/2025, By: colingoodman Info: Summer conditions. Almost 100% snow free. |
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6/6/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 6/7/2025, By: dakotasmama Info: It was really windy and overcast on this day so the snow fields stayed firmer than they probably would on a sunny day but you can avoid most of them if you want. Definitely take your spikes for the ones you can’t and for more sure footing once it starts to get steep past the rock formation. Basin is starting to get pretty squishy in spots. I had just done Eolus/NE the weekend prior so it seemed like a breeze. |
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5/30/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 5/31/2025, By: ColoNativeGal Info: Subaruable to 4wd TH. Patches of snow slightly frozen in the morning that you can mostly navigate around after creek crossing up to the ridge, definitely post holing in the afternoon coming down if you also do Red. Some ice in the morning, and running water in the afternoon as well. After the ridge you have to navigate snow in some spots, which I found easier than talus hopping. Pretty firm in morning, slightly mushy which opens trap doors and some post holing after 12 noon. Had spikes, did not use. Gaiters are very helpful as are waterproof shoes. Some wildflowers are starting to pop. Marmots out in the afternoon below the ridge. Also made it over to Red. See report for those conditions, but basically the same. Several people glissaded down below the cairn. 2 skiers enjoyed the gully. We navigated around the snow up to the cairn, and then used the snow vs talus to the summit. |
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5/25/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 7/11/2025, By: sam_wade76 Info: Huge shoutout to the Cielo Ranch crew. I know private 14ers come with lots of conversation and complication, but everyone on the ranch was very straightforward and kind and as long as you follow the process which they are very good about communicating, you'll have an excellent summit day. Still snowy conditions when we climbed but a great day on the trail. Shorter summit, but the climb to the first ridge is quite the ascent and will wake you up first thing in the morning. |
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5/18/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 5/19/2025, By: BillMiddlebrook Info: Same conditions as the report posted yesterday but I've included more photos. We were able to ski the entire peak with the exception of about 25 feet along the summit pitch. Also, the snow from the false summit (13,900' to ~13,700') was getting thin and we had to work to make a continuous line. It won't be long before this pitch is no longer skiable. |
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5/17/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 5/18/2025, By: b_moar Info: Started a little before 7:00AM. The upper trailhead and four way is once again accessible so it was a short day for us. The snowpack was solid the entire way to the top with only microspikes. Some other hikers had skis and snowshoes but we made it up without postholing. The ridge was quick to ascend and the route up is obvious with previous tracks standing out. We even did a little glissading on our way down! I can imagine this shallow snow won’t last much longer with the temperatures trending up. |
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5/11/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 5/12/2025, By: Roughrider23 Info: Great day in the alpine. The snowpack was solid all the way up. Saw snowshoers and skis w/ skins going up the ridge no problem. Trail was closed by ranch owners some distance before even the Fourway trailhead due to snow. Starting elevation was 10900’ and round distance I travelled 8 miles. |
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5/4/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 5/4/2025, By: Caedmonn Info: Was able to drive all the way to the 4wd trail head in a stock f150 with duratrac wranglers. Started skinning right at the TH got up to the cairn and stashed the skis. Hiked up to the summit and back to skis, skiid down the whole northwest slope straight back to the truck. Great day! |
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4/26/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 4/28/2025, By: kciamaic1 Info: Was able to start at 4way TH. Road is mostly dry except for the last 0.2miles. Took skis to top of snow gully between Punta Serpiente and the cairn at 13,3000. The ridge climb was WINDY but the sun was out and it was warm enough. Summit was surprisingly calm (ish). Couldn't find summit marker....somewhere under the snow. The North face still looks VERY skiable! The winds kept the snow very firm, so my ski down the Punta Serpiente SW face was awful - but it still save 1000+ft of hiking downhill. |
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4/25/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 4/25/2025, By: CraigE Info: I climbed Culebra with a friend today. We were the only two people on the mountain. The ranch staff let us drive up to Four Way. There was still snow starting halfway up the road between Four Way and the summer trailhead that would be hard to get past in most vehicles. There was still quite a bit of unavoidable snow up the first slope from the summer trailhead. It was firm in the morning, and we ascended in microspikes with no problem. The upper route had plenty of snow but most was avoidable if you wanted. We kept microspikes on most of the way up so we could take more straightforward lines. On the way back down, the snow was sloppier. Mostly supportive even without snowshoes, but we postholed a bit especially down near the summer trailhead. The wind was a nuisance on most of the upper route, but not too bad. |
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4/20/2025 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 4/20/2025, By: notidealbutfine Info: Started at Fourmile Trailhead. Wore ski boots with micro spikes the majority of the day with a small exception just below tree line which we skinned for about a mile. Dropped packs and skis at the cairn at ~13,300' and booted the rest of the ridge. Not enough continuous snow to ski from the summit of either Culebra or Red. Skied the face just southwest of Punta Serpiente down to the road. Pretty good snow up high made for a fun descent. 11.94 miles / 4,829' gain / 8 Hours, 27 Minutes |
