5/28/2021 Route: West Face - white gully Posted On: 5/29/2021, By: Koy Info: It's no longer possible to get parking permits, so you'll have to bike up to Maroon Lake. We parked at the turnout just before the welcome station and biked up from there (5 miles). The trail is clear all the way to the snow bridge where you cross the creek and begin your ascent. Great snow conditions right now if you want to avoid the summer talus/scree. We ascended/descended the white gully. Sun hits the face just before 10am so you'll want to be descending by around 11 to have firm snow for the descent. |
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5/15/2021 Route: West Face Posted On: 5/16/2021, By: rachel Info: Started at 0400 from Maroon Lake TH with a group of 4. Crossed a snow bridge at about 10,400'. Firm, supportive snow for the climb up. Used crampons and 2 ice axes. Ascended the west-facing White Gulley. Lots of debris from previous wet slides. At about 12,800' took the climber's left branch to the northwest saddle. Attempted to follow the ridge-proper, but difficulty appeared to increase to class 4 or 5. Considered taking a high traverse from about 13,700', but the sugary snow was not supportive enough. Down climbed about 100' and traversed to a rib that connected with the southwest ridgeline. Route-finding was straight forward after that to the summit. Summited at 1330. Descended the more southerly branch of the 40+ degree slope. Front pointed (facing in) most of the descent as snow was globbing badly to the crampons. Glissaded the lower-angle slopes lower down. Used snowshoes on the exit and even post-holed with snowshoes on. Snow on trail is patchy from about 10,300' down to about 10,000', then dry below that. |
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10/3/2020 Route: Standard Thunder Peak Route Posted On: 10/4/2020, By: bryanpeck3 Info: Still no snow on this route as long as you head up Thunder (rather than Lightning which seemed to have a little bit but was probably also fine). |
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7/11/2020 Route: White Gully Posted On: 7/11/2020, By: dwoodward13 Info: I rebuilt the cairn marking the turnoff from the trail. Not too bad to find, its just after the trail crosses the creek. Route up to Len Shoemaker Basin is marked pretty well. Upon reaching the Basin and making the ascending traverse on grassy ledges to reach the white gully the mountain or a goat sent down a mini fridge sized rock that was bouncing way high in the air. Even though you aren't in the gully, be on the lookout for falling rock. White Gully is pretty solid actually. Stayed on it until 13400, then crossed the gully and picked our way to the ridge. Stuff is the loosest in here, but not terribly bad. We didn't have much of an issue kicking stuff down, so if you are careful it is possible. There are no easily visible cairns so make sure to have route finding skills on point. Kept to left side of ridge to summit, which is probably the easiest way. There is a small amount of snow deep within the recesses of the gullies, but no reason to go there. Brought both traction and ax and there is no need to lug them up. |
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6/20/2020 Route: Over from LP, down white gulley Posted On: 6/20/2020, By: dcruz654 Info: LP and TP couloirs are in excellent conditions for climbing right now as is the traverse. Nice and firm all morning, on snow at 6am off it by 1030 and it never softened for me. I could have started my hike an hour later and been fine. Thunder has snow from about 12300 to 13600. Will post a more detailed report with pictures when I get home. Just wanted to do a quick report for anyone looking to get out soon. |
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6/14/2020 Route: West Face (white gully) Posted On: 6/16/2020, By: bunny256 Info: W. Maroon Creek trail is free of snow. Creek crossing is tedious but passable over large avy debris field shortly after S. Maroon trail cutoff. The route up through the cliff bands is mostly free of snow, just wet in places. Continuous snow in the gully begins around 12,200' until 13,600' and was in good shape minus a few thin and rotten areas near the edges. There was a bit of fresh snow/graupel on the rocks exiting the gully but nothing serious. Summit ridge is completely dry. Summited at 11am, snow softened perfectly for glissading or plunge-stepping on the descent with a few areas of postholing. Things are melting FAST, I wouldn't give the snow in the gully more than a week or so. |
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6/14/2020 Route: West Face Posted On: 6/15/2020, By: angry Info: Maybe we made the summit. Maybe it's the refraction horizon parallax theory. Maybe it's Maybelline. |
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6/4/2020 Route: West Slopes (White Gulley) Posted On: 6/5/2020, By: jeffdmar Info: Road still Closed to Maroon Lake TH (until June 8th) so I biked in 5.5-miles the night before and bivied by the TH. 2:45am wake-up and headed up. Found a good snow bridge just up-river from where the map shows West Maroon Trail crosses the creek; quickly over to get to the east side of the creek, bushwacked a little through some willows in the dark seeing the lowest snowfield at the bottom of the cliff-band. Trail was dry to that point. Snow begins not too far up from the creek. Was able to link about 4 snow-fields/gulleys to get up to Len Shoemaker Basin at about 12,000-feet. Crampons and ice-axe needed for sure as it gets steep. From the basin, gaining the main snow gulley leading to the summit was fairly obvious by getting above the cliffband by going looker's right and traversing over to the left. It was turfy enough that I stayed in my crampons during that dry bit. Once in the gulley, it's about a 1600-1800-foot snow climb in crampons, with just one short gap about 1/4 of the way up. Snow was firm with a few soft spots near the edges, but climbing was good and efficient. I exited very near the top by jogging right out of the main gulley. It's steep up there and definitely a no fall zone, as a self-arrest would be unlikely. Stepping off the snow about 150-200 feet below the summit, I took off the crampons and finished a pretty straightforward Class 2/3 scramble along an arrete and then the summit ridge. Note your exit/entry point to be able to regain the couloir on the descent. Summitted at 8am, 5-hours after starting. Descending was like descending a long ladder; I faced into the slope and had my climbing axe in one hand and a Whippet in the other for added safety. I liked this system a lot; first time using it. Front pointed almost all the way down. Snow was soft at 9am below the basin, and my crampons slid more and built up with snow-balls. Those lower gulleys are still steep and the snow was getting rotten, so I kept it safe and mostly front-pointed down the steeper parts with axes in both hands, although I was able to walk and side-point down some portions. Back at TH at about noon and a fast downhill bike back to the car! My take is that this is a good time of the year to do this peak as a snow climb, but time is running out this year as it was quite warm. I wouldn't have wanted to do this on the dirt and loose rocks; firm pre-dawn and early-morning snow made it pretty fun and safe! |
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5/25/2020 Route: white gully Posted On: 5/26/2020, By: cottonmountaineering Info: Photos of Thunder and Lightning pyramid conditions as of 5/23, pretty dry in this area |
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10/5/2019 Route: West Face Posted On: 10/6/2019, By: Grover Info: In the words of jscully205, from last week, "Be ready for a choss fest." Nothing could be more profound. If you are thinking of getting this peak before snow falls, it is dry as of this posting. |
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9/28/2019 Route: West Face Posted On: 9/30/2019, By: jscully205 Info: There's an avy debris field that you'll need to negotiate upon peeling off the main trail. Rest of the route was pretty straightforward. Be ready for a choss fest. Encountered a light dusting on the upper mountain. |
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5/31/2019 Route: West Face Posted On: 5/31/2019, By: WildWanderer Info: Conditions are not ideal. Don't attempt without extensive snow climbing, snow conditions, and avalanche knowledge. I started at 2:30am but would have felt more comfortable starting at 1:30am. Be back in the basin before 10am: that's when the avalanches start: Every gully on all surrounding peaks becomes an ice waterfall (and it's really cool to witness/hear them all drop at once). After Crater Lake (currently covered in avalanche debris) there is a lot of avalanche debris on the trail but it's not difficult to navigate. Bad news: the area near the first access gully avalanched. The good news: it's easier to see your path. There are a lot of hardened avalanche debris areas on the West Face as well as hardened roller balls. Everything slides when the sun warms up the snow: Pick your route carefully. I took the left gully. Final pitch to the summit was class 3 and clear of snow. Snowshoes, crampons, helmet, and 2 ice axes (or picks) for this one right now. |
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9/29/2018 Route: White gully (up) Posted On: 9/29/2018, By: CarpeDM Info: No snow or ice on the route. Same for Lightning Pyramid. Forecast says that may change soon, though. |
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6/27/2018 Route: West Face Posted On: 6/27/2018, By: desertdog Info: We got an early start with hopes to get some snow to climb. Unfortunately, it was super warm and what little snow was left was unsupportive. We opted to go to the climbers left at the white gully onto a rock rib. We then worked our way up a class 4 gully and then a low class 5 chimney. We came down the standard route on the red dirt. I couldn't imagine going up this way. This mountain lived up to its loose and dangerous rep. A good sense of humor is mandatory. IMO wait till next year when there's snow. |
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6/23/2018 Route: West Face Posted On: 6/24/2018, By: HikerGuy Info: Only snow remaining is in a NW-facing gully that branches right from the beginning of the white rock gully. Good snow from about 12,800 to 13,400. There's a 20 foot stretch that is melted out about 2/3's the way up the gully, no need to take off crampons. After getting off the snow, cross a short stretch of loose talus to gain a rib of more stable lichen-covered rock. This better rock will take you to the ridge. From this point it's an easy traverse to the summit. |
