7/9/2023 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 7/10/2023, By: jfm3 Info: I climbed North Maroon with a partner on July 9. The trail from the parking lot to the creek crossing is dry. We used water shoes to wade the creek- it's about shin high and cold in the morning. On the descent, the cold water was quite refreshing and we walked right through, not caring about getting wet. There are a few very short snow crossings on the rock glacier. These were firm and non-slippery in the morning. In the afternoon on the descent, we shoe-skied down a few of them. Both of the gullies on the east side of the mountain are dry. There is some snow that can easily be avoided near the gully crossover, and in the broad area near the top of the second gully. On the descent, there were several cascades of running water in the first gully that weren't flowing on the way up. The very bottom of the first gully has a small rock ledge with a big snowdrift next to it. We crossed on the rock on the ascent, but on the descent there was a waterfall coming over the rock that made it quite wet. We dropped down into the snowdrift and, while it was still wet, didn't have to cross on slick rock. The route above the second gully is the most exposed snow climbing I've ever done on a 14er. There are 3 snowfields: lower (top of second gully to above the chimney/crux move), middle (top of chimney across the precipice to a notch in the final rock band) and upper (top of final rock band to the summit). All 3 have fairly good steps kicked in and most ice axe plants were very solid. Crampons are necessary. It is very steep and secure footing is essential. The chimney/crux move is completely filled in with snow. Going up was easy but coming down had a long, semi-insecure step to get from rock back to snow. The notch in the final rock band is also a steep class 4 step. Do not go to the east side of the mountain above the precipice to find a route on dry ground- stick to the snow. We kept our crampons on the whole time, but clipped the ice axes to our belts to free up both hands for the rock moves. Be careful and deliberate with foot placement on the rock in crampons. The snow is still several feet deep. It's melting steadily, but it will be several weeks before the mountain is dry above the second gully. We wore running shoes and used strap-on crampons. I think full mountaineering boots would be too aggressive. It helps to have more flexible footwear for the rock sections between the snowfields. |
|
7/8/2023 Route: Bells Traverse Posted On: 7/10/2023, By: jas0nleslie Info: There is a fair amount of consolidated snow you can climb heading up Maroon Peak to gain the ridge, which you can get by with spikes and an ice axe (glacier style is ideal vs. the smaller ski mountaineering version). The descent off North Maroon has quite a bit of snow for the first couple hundred feet...very slippery, and while I was glad I had spikes here, I would have opted for my crampons at this point as the snow was very runny. Glacier ice axe also good on the descent off the summit. There were many seasonal snow fields on the lower section of the descent, once out of the gully, where having your ice axe would be handy. General feeling was "I can't believe how much snow is still up here!" Good luck, fellow climbers! |
|
7/6/2023 Route: Bells Traverse Posted On: 7/9/2023, By: Jorts Info: South side had some wet rock and light snow to circumvent. North end was dry. |
|
7/3/2023 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 7/5/2023, By: droyse4710 Info: We started around 4:30 from the overflow parking lot. The creek is very full and we had to take our boots off to cross. The first snow patch we ran into was right before the first gully but was fairly easy to cross without crampons or spikes. The first gully has some snow in it that's pretty easy to avoid. Its pretty clear that not many hikers had been up there because lose stuff that would have been knocked off, covered the trail. The crossover between first and second gullies was covered in snow, we tried to go above it and got cliffed out forcing us to backtrack. The second gully is the same as the first, plenty of snow but its pretty easy to avoid. Once we gained the ridge it was covered in snow the rest of the way. A class 4 section that I think is the crux of the summer route was still mostly covered in snow but will probably be dry soon considering how soft it was on the decent. This was a problem we ran into several times near the summit, much of the snow was soft and collapsed under us making climbing difficult. There was another climber we ran into who got lost several times and could see his tracks, don't rely on tracks to find your way. Bring crampons, an ice axe, and experience using both. It's far from summer up there and extremely sketchy with plenty of route finding required. |
|
6/26/2023 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 6/27/2023, By: ColoNativeGal Info: Some pics of N. Maroon and Bells in general in case anyone needs it. Still lots of snow, but it is melting. |
|
6/11/2023 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 6/13/2023, By: bribaker2001 Info: On Four Pass Loop, snow drifts begin about 0.10 miles south of North Maroon junction. Creek is flowing heavy and fast, with no footbridge, wood, or rocks above water to cross; plan to get wet. Trail looked very snowy from there up. |
|
5/25/2023 Route: N Face via NW Ridge Posted On: 5/27/2023, By: Jcinco Info: Despite the large amount of snow in the Elks, the N Face as a ski route is dwindling fast. Get after it right away if this is in your plans this season. The choke in the lowest chute is nearly melted out requiring a small huck. See the beta photos I added. You can just make out the pinch in the lowest chute in the photo taken from Maroon Lake. Having tried to ski this previously by directly climbing the face, the NW Ridge via the Gunsight couloir is a much better climbing option. |
|
5/15/2023 Route: Area Posted On: 5/15/2023, By: WillRobnett Info: Bells holding a lot of snow up high. Trail by Maroon Lake mostly melted out. |
|
3/19/2023 Route: From Snowmass Creek Posted On: 3/19/2023, By: Will_E Info: No summit. Attempted to get N Maroon via Gunsight Couloir, turned back just below the couloir after seeing not great snow conditions. Trailbreaking was brutal today, I had a skin track to follow the first 4 miles from Snowmass Creek TH, after that I was on my own, snow was really deep and soft, especially after turning off the Snowmass trail to get to the backside of the bells. Routefinding was tough in the dark, my route is vey likely the worst route anyone could find to get to treeline. Seriously, it's really an inefficient route. Every slope that goes up and comes right back down, I was able to find. |
|
3/9/2023 Route: NW Ridge Posted On: 3/10/2023, By: illusion7il Info: I got to congratulate the "Dream Team" around 1am when they finished as I was gearing up. Best of luck and safe travels to Chris on the last 2 routes he needs to complete. Surprisingly, with the over night snow shower and the wind, a lot of there skin tracks were swept away, especially in open areas. My method of travel was a little outdated using snowshoes, but the snow was really supportive anyway. No flotation was needed near and above treeline because the snow was all hard wind slab. The snow in the couloir was excellent for climbing. The snow traverse around the gunsight tower felt like it was darn near vertical. After the gunsight traverse, I found the route finding to the summit very complicated. Roach's description doesn't do much good here. I'm impressed as this was a interesting mountain that will test all skills, with a long approach, moderate couloir climb, steep snow traverse, tuff route finding, and some mixed class 3/4 rock climbing. The cold temps and high winds certainly didn't make things any easier. 20 hours |
|
9/27/2022 Route: Bells Traverse Posted On: 9/29/2022, By: -wren- Info: North and NW aspects in the Elks right now are holding enough snow to spice things up a little. In particular for this route - the descent of Maroon to the saddle with North Maroon was definitely more involved than it would've been if completely dry. Anywhere from 1-4 inches of snow covering probably 30-40 percent of the ground. The upper section of the descent from N. Maroon held similar conditions. Microspikes would have been more cumbersome than helpful IMO. With more snow showers to come in the next few days and the high temps dropping back into the low 40s/high 30s I don't expect things to improve too much until next year. |
|
9/25/2022 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 9/26/2022, By: 13erRetriever Info: Ice and snow starts just before the chimney and made this already spicy peak eeeeeextra spicy yesterday. Spikes were necessary for us above the chimney to the summit but an ice ax wouldn't have served any purpose. I almost cried at the thought of having to go back down the icy chimney but by a stroke of luck found the class 3 bypass, which was even more iced over but slightly less terrifying. Rest of the route is dry below the chimney. Bill's route description is spot on. |
|
9/24/2022 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 9/25/2022, By: phaas34 Info: 100ft below and above the chimney are snow/ice covered and a little sketchy. Micro spikes and ice-axes helped our crew get a successful summit bid |
|
9/18/2022 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 9/18/2022, By: jfm3 Info: Attempted North Maroon on September 18. The entire route to the top of the second gully is dry. Immediately (as in, the first step onto the ridge from the top of the gully) upon reaching the ridge, the route is covered with snow. It was still cold enough that the snow was not melting on the north side of the ridge at ~10:15 AM. There was just enough snow to cover all the loose rock. I turned around and descended without reaching the top. One other person was on the mountain. I talked to him at the gully crossover. He made the top but said it was extremely sketchy- in addition to the snow, many of the rocks above the chimney were iced over. There is not enough snow (and it is not crunchy/consolidated enough) for crampons and microspikes did not seem wise with that much slick cover on the loose, uneven rock. Unless it is 60 degrees up there for a week, this might be the end of the dry season for North Maroon. |
|
9/7/2022 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 9/7/2022, By: HikesInGeologicTime Info: An otherwise gorgeous day was somewhat marred by wildfire smoke from out of state, but it didn't seem bad enough to hinder gasping for air. Chimney is pretty fun with a rappel! |
