Mt. of the Holy Cross

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 7/31/2023, By: mdecola
Info: Had a great hike on Saturday - conditions were all very ideal. Road to drive in is rough, but very manageable with any 4WD vehicle. Probably could even get a 2WD up there if you were inclined to try. The approach to the summit is beautiful, good haul up & down especially with the final climb back out of the valley with a 1000 ft. elevation gain at the end (that was no joke, definitely bring extra water & energy as it was hot in the afternoon). We had a late start, around 6:50AM. Summited around 11:30AM. Very fun and straightforward Class 2 14er. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 7/31/2023, By: OriLindner
Info: Road approach seemed pretty reasonable. Once past the Community Lodge it got a little rough in areas, so more clearance is always better than less. Started the hike around 4 or 5am, but didn't summit until around 10 or 11am due to poor conditioning and rests. The whole trail was great with no obstacles or washouts. Quite a good number of people on the trail, including many dogs. Morning chilliness turned into a hot sunny day fitting of short sleeves and shorts - don't forget your sunscreen! Very brief rain sprinkle around 1pm on the way down. Would recommend packing extra energy for the 1000ft switchback incline on the way back. Overall a great hike that, even as a Class 2, humbled our party sufficiently :) 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 7/10/2023, By: catward77
Info: Road easily drivable; saw some 2WD vehicles at the trailhead too. Mostly empty parking lot between Sunday 8pm - my start time Monday morning. Packed parking lot by the time I finished. 100% summer conditions on North Ridge. Started 4:10am, summited 8:40am. Super chill trail up at the beginning and then down the 1,000 ft and through the campground in the valley. Past the campground, the incline picks up again. Weather forecast claimed clear, but still got a brief, tiny storm while up top. Headed down at 9:30am, back to car at 12:45pm. Trail overall very obvious & well-maintained. 

Route: Halo Ridge
Posted On: 7/9/2023, By: terribletigzy
Info: Holy Cross and Halo Ridge are pretty much fully summer conditions. There were some snow patches remaining, but almost all were avoidable. There were two mandatory snow crossings when coming from Holy Cross Ridge to the main Holy Cross summit, but they were essentially flat snow crossings. I tend to always carry spikes, but they weren't needed. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 7/8/2023, By: jpriske
Info: Climbed Mount of the Holy Cross via the standard route. Got to the trailhead late ish the night before and was already almost completely full. Left the car about 4am and summited around 7:15 and back around 10:30. Overall the trail is in summer conditions and is very fun. One small snow section but easily avoidable. Summit still somewhat covered in snow. Definitely going back up the pass on the way back sucks a lot. Have fun! 

Route: Halo Ridge
Posted On: 7/7/2023, By: PeakMiller
Info: I ascended the ridge to it's summit, then headed south to Pt. 13768, and then hit Holy Cross. I used the standard route to get back to my vehicle, making for a nice 10hr loop of the area. The very small sections of snow were easily avoidable. Have fun out there! 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 7/3/2023, By: DestinV
Info: The trail is in great condition! Some snow on the upper parts of the final assent but nothing requiring micro spikes. The road to the trail head is in decent shape, any AWD or 4x4 will make it no problem. I would be careful if you're driving a sedan driving a sedan. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 7/2/2023, By: Skitch
Info: Almost summer conditions - couple of snow fields that are avoidable, no need for microspikes. Started at 6:15a, back at the car at 12:30. GPS had 11.1 total with ~5400 elevation gain. Amazing views throughout the hike, especially loved the ridge. Hike back up to notch pass after descending from Holy Cross was honestly not bad at all. One of our favorites! 

Route: Cross Couloir
Posted On: 7/5/2023, By: kciarlet
Info: Got slushy towards the top around 0845. Hitting it much later would have made for a tough ascent. Approach once you leave the standard trail can get tough to follow in the dark. GPS track was helpful. 

Route: Cross Couloir
Posted On: 6/25/2023, By: shepherdkyle
Info: Cross couloir still in good shape. No snow shoes needed for approach. Entrance should be obvious with boot pack. 

Route: Cross Couloir
Posted On: 6/25/2023, By: slawrence2011
Info: Started N Ridge at 3:30 from summer TH. Treeline at 6. Summit at 8:20. Dropped in just before 9, took skis off around 10:30 when no more snowfields to link, E cross creek at 12:30, car at 2:30. great snow conditions, wouldn't have wanted to be any later. Recommend making sure to stay skier's R of the runnel after the first few turns, as it gets very large very quickly, and would be hard to cross on skis, and skier's right forms the line all the way down. I also side slipped the choke for about 20 feet, turns the rest of the way. A number of climbers coming up, including a couple halfway up to the entrance from the bowl of tears after all skiers/boarders got down. As Jcinco said, recommend topping out by 8, or 9 at the very latest, to save the skiing conditions for maybe a few more days. 2 firsts: I was able to literally ski into the couloir from the summit, and I was able to link snowfields to the bowl of tears, all the way to the little class 2 saddle that gains the upper cliff bands to the bowl of tears. May this snow season keep on giving! 

Route: Halo Ridge
Posted On: 6/24/2023, By: Veory
Info: Ridge is mostly dry, only mandatory snow is up to 13373 and at the top of Holy Cross. The saddle between holy cross and holy cross ridge 13831 has hollow cornice like snow that you could fall inside if you walked on it, so be careful 

Route: Halo Ridge
Posted On: 6/23/2023, By: Jcinco
Info: Didnt climb this but have some photos. May or may not be helpful. Some snow still on the Ridge. 2 Pics from summit of Holy Cross. One pic from Bowl of Tears. 

Route: Cross Couloir
Posted On: 6/23/2023, By: Jcinco
Info: The Cross is about as skiable as it gets this late in the season. See pics. Other big snow years havent had Junes quite this cool, thus things havent completely deteriorated. Yes, there is a 3-4 foot deep runnel, but there is plenty of space on the skiers right side to make comfortable turns. Ive definitely seen worse. Its not smooth earlier season corn, but I was pleasantly surprised. There is only one place about halfway down where the runnel pinches against the right wall where I had to slip/step my way down. Unfortunately, one can only ski down to about 11,700 before the Colorado alpine marsh slog begins. The North Ridge is quite straightforward right now with a few drifts and short snowfields. Temps and traffic may change conditions in the Cross quickly, however. Just above the Bowl of Tears I ran into a party of 7 that was planning on climbing the Cross during the mushiest part of late morning/midday. If you are climbing, I highly recommend planning to top out not much past 8am. I dropped in at 9:15 and wouldnt want to hit it any later. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 6/23/2023, By: dvex105
Info: Good amounts of the trail are covered with snow. Some you can just cross through. Some might completely cover the trail and can cause you to lose track on where the trail is going. After passing east creek campground and hitting towards the treeline, the snow made my group lose track of the trail and ended up having to go off-trail and just hike in the general direction to the north ridge. For example on Photo #14 on the 14ers.com route description, this is useless as the snow just made us start guessing where the trail is. Because of this, we ended up making our own path to the north ridge in Photo #15. From above the treeline to the summit, most of the trail is covered with snow (can be waist level deep). Ended up doing a mixture of rock scrambling and hiking on the snow along the general direction of the trail.