Mt. Ouray

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 6/4/2022, By: ncxhjhgvbi
Info: Summer conditions. Highly recommend this route! Beautiful views the whole way. Decided to climb the white rock tower. Probably goes difficult class 3/easy class four for about 15' and then eases to class 3 for the next 10-15'. After that you can walk on top of the large white boulders until the trail intersects again. Pretty fun little extra credit scramble similar to the class 4 section on Lindsey. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 5/28/2022, By: malogos
Info: Basically clear of snow until around 13k ft. At that point, virtually all of the remaining snow can be avoided with rock hopping/scrambling. Stick to the ridge as much as possible, minus the light-colored rock tower. 

Route: Devils armchair
Posted On: 5/10/2022, By: Agstrohmeier
Info: Sorry it's a few days late, but we hiked up into the bowl on Saturday. It is pretty melted out, we didn't end up doing any skiing but you might be able to scrape a line together through the rocks. You can skin after 1-2 miles of hiking. Snow was pretty rotten below tree line due to no freeze which made for some laborious hiking and skinning. 

Route: E Ridge / E Face
Posted On: 4/17/2022, By: Gueza
Info: Able to drive to Grays Creek TH no problem. Hiked about 0.5 miles up towards Mt. Ouray before donning skins, and skinned well into Devil's Armchair before having to boot it again to gain the E ridge - the last 400' of Ouray is skinnable as well. Great ski conditions down the east face into Devil's Armchair. Overall, skiing from the summit back to within 0.5 miles of the car was pretty straightforward and mostly continuous (minus a couple of grass patches and downed trees). Cheers! 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 4/3/2022, By: halfapackofapache
Info: Definitely felt like spring today. Temps were high in the trees and the snow was completely unsupportive. Started at 7am and after a 1/4 mile I decided to head toward the northeast ridge of ouray to avoid the soft snow. Bushwhacked to the ridge and followed that to the summit. Much better this way in my opinion. Once above tree line on the ridge temps we cooler and I rock hopped all the way to the summit. Stayed pretty ridge proper the whole way and it made for fun terrain. Brought micro spikes with me but did not wear them today. Forecast called for 20mph winds today. Cold and windy from about 13.2 to the summit. Stashed my snowboard around 12.8k on the ridge and rode down some mellow terrain into the aspen forest on my way back. Didn't care to ride the steeper terrain by myself today and risk getting buried. Once the trail flattened out in the trees I had to unclip and walk back. Postholing anywhere from my knees to hips. Soaking wet by the time I got back. Was able to drive my pickup all the way to the grays creek trailhead in 2wd. So I'd think most vehicles can make it to trailhead as of right now. 

Route: “Rollercoaster” from Monarch Pass
Posted On: 2/27/2022, By: -wren-
Info: 20 hours, 26 miles, 8,500-9,500 gain (conflicting measurements with me and my partner) If you're annoyed by ups and downs along a route, look elsewhere lol! starting elevation of 11,500 and peak of 13,970 but 8,500-9,500 elevation gain to grab it this way. You have the opportunity to bag Chipeta Mountain and its subsummit along with 3 12ers and an 11er, we got three of them. We were hoping for lots of dry ground, we got some but not much - brutal trailbreaking around the final saddle before climbing up to Ouray, and not great on many other places either. Snowshoes 100% required. We eventually stashed them at 12,450 but they stayed on most of the rest of the day. Above 12,450 it's classic Sawatch winter with loose talus and unconsolidated snow and pieces of wind crust. There is one very concerning piece of avalanche terrain along the most direct route after the last 12er - you cant miss it looking on CalTopo. it can be managed very well by veering around it quite far to the right, adding gain and mileage. Descend a ridge until you reach dense trees with lower slope angle, cut down, stay away from overhead hazard, and get back on the most obvious route. The snowpack is extremely fragile right now, we heard several huge whoomphs. Other than cornices and that spot, there isn't much of concern if you have your avy brain turned on. Be careful out there. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 11/20/2021, By: vegabond
Info: Conditions have not changed since last posts. drove up the west side of Marshall pass, nothing crazy to note, some snow on the road. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 11/6/2021, By: wintersage
Info: Previous conditions report is still valid 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 10/30/2021, By: paigie_42
Info: Marshall Pass is still open. There was some snow on the road. In the morning the snow was crusty and in the afternoon the road was pretty muddy from snow melt. The trail up through the trees was the same, patches of snow that were crusty and stable in the morning, but wet and slushy in the afternoon. On the ridge, snow was easily avoidable most of the way, there was one section that was snowy. I'd suggest wearing gators. Micro spikes or snowshoes were not needed. Beautiful day! 

Route: West Ridge Variation
Posted On: 10/20/2021, By: sctbke
Info: All is well out there still after the snow this week. 3 inches of fresh accumulation this morning, that was melting quickly by the time I returned to the car around noon. Road is still open, snow covered today but it'll melt soon. I started at the cabin, some hunters are staying there, make sure to bring some bright colors along if you're hiking this in fall/early winter, I was happy to have my orange Melanzana along :) Climbed via the west ridge, some large drifts are starting to form already that I had to navigate around to gain the ridge. There was a strong wind from the north today, most of the surface rocks had blown off and left the snow in the gaps between the rocks. Left the car at 7:50 and summited at 10:20. Strong winds at my back most of the way up. The wind chill was extreme enough that I decided to bail directly south off the summit into the basin that the ridge wraps around, instead of descending facing into the wind. The slope is steep and somewhat loose for about 2,500 vertical feet, but ended up being decently reasonable even in the snow. I descended facing the wall with both hands and feet, and was in the basin in about 30 minutes. It kept me out of the wind and on warmer ground. I cut through the center of the basin, went up the middle couloir on the other side, and traversed right aiming slightly downhill. Ran back into the trail about a quarter mile before the cabin, and by then the trail was a bit of mud and some snow in the shade. Photo attached, ascent in green and return route in red 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 10/10/2021, By: acasali
Info: Minimal snow - little bit of accumulation along the ridge. Scant ice between talus chunks above 13.6k. Still in great shape for late season climbs. The ridge to Chipeta looked clear too, but didn't head over that way. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 10/4/2021, By: seoulman
Info: Still summer conditions. Negligible snow. Ouray's neighbors, chipeta and angora look doable. AND the south sawatch, north and central sangres look clean. The east San Juans look like pretty white though... 

Route: West Ridge Variation
Posted On: 9/27/2021, By: CheapCigarMan
Info: Started at Marshall Pass 4WD TH. There's a closed road / trail as a starting point. Lost the road shortly after starting in the dark. Not sure how far the road / trail goes up. Steeper slope through the open forest. Make your own trail. Nothing which would stand in your way when gaining the ridge. After treeline mainly grassy and rocky slope to the ridge. Once on the main West Ridge intermittent trails and cairns through Class 2. Stayed to climbers left around the white rock. Bluebird day. Smoke haze on the horizon. Fall colors are out. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 6/6/2021, By: maxavanzi
Info: Summer conditions, no snow on the entire trail. Marshall pass road is completely open and dry. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 6/5/2021, By: j_vada
Info: The Gray's Creek trail up to the Devil's Armchair is almost completely dry, with only small and avoidable pockets of snow starting ~10,900'. I ascended via the NE ridge, where there was continuous snow on the final stretch to the summit. I descended the East Ridge, which had some negligible snow pockets.