"The Citadel"

Route: Citadel to Pettingell traverse
Posted On: 7/23/2019, By: polar
Info: There are some loose rock on the Citadel, but I don't find it any worse than the previous time I did it. Traverse is essentially in summer conditions. Previous report by nickle indicated 5 strands of tat on the rap station, however, someone must have gone up and clean it. The high rap station now only has one shiny orange webbing with one new blue rap ring. Thanks to whoever cleaned up the rap station. In fact, the orange webbing has such a long tail, I threaded the tails through the rap ring and tied the tail together with triple fisherman's knot with plenty of webbing to spare, so now the webbing is essentially doubled. The lower rap station is in decent shape, consist of one blue cord and one black webbing. Webbing is slightly faded in the sun, but otherwise no visible damage. Blue cord has one damaged section which I isolated with an alpine butterfly knot. There is a rap ring and a quicklink on the lower rap station. (Sorry I forgot to take a photo of the lower rap station) 

Route: Snoopy's Backside (NW Chute)
Posted On: 7/23/2019, By: polar
Info: Snoopy's Backside is still in! Snow is continuous from the shelf all the way to the notch between the two Citadel summits. Condition is a little variable due to the many sun cups, but overall still very good for snow climbing. Approach from Herman Lake is easy, there's a trail that takes you almost to the base, and just a bit of talus hopping will bring you to the snow. Photos: #1: looking up from base of Snoopy's Backside #2: 2/3 way? Looking down. #3: Same spot looking up. #4: At the notch between the summits looking at the top of Snoopy's Backside. #5: At the notch, looking at the top of Snoopy's Collar. 

Route: Snoopys backside from herman gulch
Posted On: 6/10/2019, By: Trotter
Info: Trail mostly snow covered after 0.5 mile. Lots of social trails over drainage. We postholed some in the willow sections even at dawn. I would recommend you go on the right side of the creek. Once away from the creek, its hard icy snow until base of couloir. Couloir was in, but very lumpy from previous wet slides. Needed snowshoes on way back down, then trail becomes a sloppy slushy muddy mess about a 1 mile from TH in late morning. 

Route: Snoopy
Posted On: 6/3/2019, By: Sglm14
Info: The trail to the base of the couloir is dry for the first 300 feet of elevation gain then the trail is covered with hard snow in the early hours around 4 am but quickly turns to slush later in the morning.  We hiked to the base of the couloir without snow shoes then ascended quickly as the snow was melting on the couloir so kick stepping was difficult and we decided to descend the same way as the other side did not look passable.  Snowshoes definitely needed on the way out 

Route: Snoopy's Collar / South Face
Posted On: 5/28/2019, By: polar
Info: Continuous snow started shortly after the locked gate. Even early in the morning snowshoes were very useful, especially in the trees. Once on the south slope the snow was not supportive, with crampons on I was sinking in anywhere from boot-top to mid-shin. It did not make for the most enjoyable kick stepping. Sun was hitting the top of the route at 8am, and by 8:30am most of the route was in the sun. I used a snow-free south facing slope just east of the Citadel to descent back to Dry Gulch. 

Route: Snoopy's Backside / Northeast Chute
Posted On: 5/12/2019, By: JaredJohnson
Info: Started 5a, floatation needed above treeline by 7 or 8 AM. Climbed the chute from about 9:30 to 11:30 AM. Although the snow softened up a lot by 10 and skiers were releasing some loose snow from above, it was a very cloudy day so it remained manageable. In comparison, the previous week we had to turn around at 10:45am due to softening snow at the base of the chute. Crampons were necessary for much of the chute in spite of some loose sections. Easy plunge stepping and some glissading on the way down but if there had been anyone below that would have been problematic with all the snow getting released in the process. By early afternoon on descent, progress was impossible without floatation even a bit below treeline 

Route: Snoopy's Backside / Northeast Chute
Posted On: 5/5/2019, By: JaredJohnson
Info: Started 6am and up to treeline no snowshoes needed. After treeline snowshoes were a must although that may have had more to do with the sun being out. About 8-1045a we noted the soft snow but felt pretty good about continuing up and our chances to summit. Right around 1045a around 12,600ft a couple of very small rider-triggered slides went by us and simultaneously we lost almost all ability to progress even in snowshoes due to the snow finally softening up dramatically. It was suddenly clear it would be foolish to continue so we headed down easily. A few skiers continued up the same route and seemed to summit or nearly so and made it down alright 

Route: Herman Gulch SE Shoulder
Posted On: 5/3/2019, By: dubsho3000
Info: coverage is great and Snoopy's Backside Chute is in good condition. I did not climb or ski Snoopy's, but the hoots and hollars from those who did were sufficient information in my opinion. My partner and I climbed up the SE (?) shoulder to the East Summit and that skied fantastically. There are large cornices on the shoulder to pay attention to. Started and finished in Herman Gulch. The lower section is melting out so plan to start booting from the TH. 

Route: Herman Gulch
Posted On: 4/13/2019, By: nicklaw
Info: Low light conditions and intermittent intense bursts of snow and wind today on the Herman Gulch approach. Snow on the approach was 4-6” of dense snow that was pretty well bonded to a firm base. SE bowl very filled in, and Snoopys looked way fat. Solid skin track up to at least 12,000'. Can't comment on conditions past there, as we had our ski day cut short by an altercation between one of our dogs and a porcupine, but there was one party of 2 pushing along ahead of us. We will be back, probably the best base of snow I've ever seen up there! If you bring your dog, be aware that the porcupine den is in the very last patch of tiny little trees that you will pass right off of the skin track. 

Route: Herman Gulch
Posted On: 4/1/2019, By: aaroncues
Info: Approached the NE couloir from Herman Gulch drainage. A small 1" wind crust was present in some areas from w/nw winds. Some challenges getting purchase side hilling to the apron of the couloir itself with the soft snow pack. Didn't find any slabs of concern on approach or the bootpack. Photos by Alex Frush and Michael Clemente 

Route: North Couloir
Posted On: 5/24/2018, By: mdmss
Info: Continuous coverage in the couloir but pretty soft by 9 AM. Avalanche debris present but slope seemed stable. While we were climbing up, at least one person skied down. Took, but never needed, snowshoes. IIRC, the first 1-1.5 miles of trail are dry. Coverage for skiing would be continuous once you get out of the trees and hit the meadows. 

Route: East Ridge from Dry Gulch
Posted On: 3/31/2018, By: JtheChemE
Info: Our group of six snowshoers put in a trench up Citadel. By the time we were heading down, 4 folks had skied Hagar, and there were 6 going to ski the northside coulouirs on Citadel. South aspects of Citadel filled in. Continuous snow to the car, which is still right at the Dry Gulch exit as the road to the gate has not melted yet. 

Route: East Ridge from Dry Gulch
Posted On: 12/17/2017, By: Marmot72
Info: It was easy to get to the gate on the road from the Loveland exit. Road had good snow pack; basin was a mess of unconsolidated snow. Ridge to Citadel mostly dry, but some sugary drifts in between the bare spots to get to it. 

Route: approach from herman gulch
Posted On: 10/16/2017, By: JaredJohnson
Info: Snow starts around 11k ft. Between 11k and 12k it was a mix between shallow spots vs. deep drifts with somewhat frequent post-holing. My partner ran out of gas around 12.1k at the base of northwest-facing slopes we would have otherwise tried taking to the summit ridge; there were some rocks visible around which the snow might not be very stable but I think the snow would have been just good enough to get us to the ridge. Unsure whether climbing up the ridge all the way to the summit would have been advisable after that. Up to the point we reached, we never felt the need to take out the ice axes and microspikes we brought. Insulated mountaineering boots and gaiters were a must even though the boots killed my feet on the ~ 2 miles of dry ground on the way down. We saw some folks who climbed the past of least resistance to the Hagar / Citadel saddle (AFAIU) and they easily reached the saddle and started up the ridge but retreated due to high winds. It was quite gusty downhill of the saddle. Our goal was to get a taste of winter conditions and we had plenty of fun, but from an objective standpoint there isn't enough snow to satisfy most people :) Will add the most relevant pics from the full album found here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/sOmnxnGY4S97RRVo1 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 7/4/2017, By: JeffR
Info: Only one small and one large snowfield between the end of Herman Gulch and the bottom of the cliffs. After that, the snowfield on the south slopes is several hundred feet wide (and extends down at least twice that... bring an axe) but ends at the south gully. Gully still full of snow, but I squeezed up the left side on dirt and rock - no snow on the route above that. Snoopy's BS still completely full. Ridge to Hagar (Pic 1) RIdge to Pettingell (Pic 2) East Summit (Pic 3)