5/4/2019 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 5/5/2019, By: supranihilest Info: The snow on the ascent was great - nicely frozen and supportive. The trail is a bit hard to find in the snow, but you can probably follow my tracks. I used snowshoes (the heel riser bars were super useful) from the final creek crossing, where things started getting steep, all the way to treeline where things flattened out in the basin. From there the snow was kind of meh. The postholing wasn't terrible but there was some, and most of the snow I sank 2-3 inches in. On the ascent you will either want to make a beeline to the ridge crest or stay in the basin on snow until the low point of the ridge, then directly up to the ridge top. The ridge seems to be one massive heap of extremely loose talus and you will want to spend as little time on that garbage as possible. The ridge top is better and in some places lower down is dry. The upper ridge is completely snow covered but I did not use floatation, spikes, or an axe anywhere above treeline. On the descent the snow below treeline had turned into thick, wet mush. Completely unsupportive and tons and tons of waist deep postholing, even in snowshoes. |
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9/23/2018 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 9/23/2018, By: hellmanm Info: Fall colors are peaking along the Marshall Pass road and on the lower slopes of Mt. Ouray. Summer hiking conditions too! |
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9/7/2018 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 9/7/2018, By: jeffth5 Info: There is a trail! Walk past the cabin up into the meadow and look between the trees for the start. It disappears at tree line - just keep going up. It appears and disappears on the ridge, but the route is obvious. Conditions are late summer - no snow, but heavy frost in the morning made for very slippery scrambling. Fall colors on the way to Marshall Pass are just beginning to come in - already some great areas of yellow and even orange. |
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6/23/2018 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 6/24/2018, By: madmattd Info: Route is clear and dry. I found and followed a good path from just above the cabin to treeline, then bits of trail here and there to the 12,600ft col. I encountered little but loose talus on the final 1300' ascent, with the best footing/terrain right on the ridgecrest (I did bypass the white rock outcropping). Headed North on a mix of rock and grass and footpath segments towards Chipeta before bailing down Little Cochetopa Creek Trail and the CDT, both clear and dry on this side. There is a small snow field on the Eastern side of the Little Cochetopa Creek Trail right below the saddle. Watch out for the mountain bikers on the CDT, most announced their presence well in advance, but not all did. They were the only people I ran into all day, I had the mountain to myself. Road up was bumpy and rough in places, with a few good holes to dodge, but easily passable in a low-clearance passenger car with some patience. |
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6/10/2018 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 6/11/2018, By: E_A_Marcus_949 Info: Easy to follow trail through Aspen and Bristlecone Pine forests. Creek crossings are abundant but made simple with downed trees to use to get across. Blaze your own trail to the shoulder and ridge. The more you angle up toward the false summits, the less steep you'll be (and probably happier). There is a trail up there, though if you can find it... which if you do find it will make your life infinitely better once you hit the shoulders. We discovered it about halfway up after some rock-hopping. One small snow patch, easily avoidable. First photo - Yellow = our route up; did similar coming back down apart from where blue line starts - that's where we went down. Significantly steeper than the yellow line. Second photo - View of Mt. Ouray from the road to the TH. Approximate route. May not be fully accurate on slope up face. |
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6/2/2018 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 6/2/2018, By: GregMiller Info: Only snow patches around are off route and completely avoidable. Agree with the previous report, trail right after the cabin is hard to follow, and I did end up following a path to climber's of the gpx. Note - on the way down, there are a series of large cairns way off to the (descending) right, don't follow them, they go way right off the trail. And away from the pass. |
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5/20/2018 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 5/20/2018, By: dwoodward13 Info: Start of the trail just after the cabin is difficult to see, but a bit further up its pretty easy to find (even in the dark). It trends a bit more climbers right than the GPS track on the site. A few avoidable snow patches here and there otherwise completely dry. I would recommend staying ridge proper on Ouray's West ridge as much as possible (exceptions for bypassing the white rock section). I was below it ascending for a bit and knocked a couple microwave sized rocks down....could have been very bad if I was in a group. |
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5/10/2018 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 5/10/2018, By: LetsGoMets Info: Some patches of unavoidable posthole moments in the woods. Any snow on the ridge is easily navigated around. Trail runners to the summit. |
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4/28/2018 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 4/29/2018, By: Flips Info: Snow in the forest is still in and really sloppy in the afternoon with constant post-holing. Streams run underneath the snow making for wet conditions when one post-holes. The ridge is basically clear and one can maneuver around what snow there is. Be mindful of the cornices along some parts of the ridge. Edit: Forgot to say road to Marshall Pass has deep snow and you'll have to hike the road 1.5 miles one way to the trailhead. Up to that point easy to navigate. |
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4/27/2018 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 4/27/2018, By: jladderud Info: No snow first mile. Second mile had the most post-holing. Gaining the ridge above the bristlecone pines was relatively snow free. Unavoidable snow from the shoulder to the summit; but it was supported in the late morning. Came down in early afternoon. Snow above treeline was good for plunge stepping. Post holing below treeline. |
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11/12/2017 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 11/12/2017, By: mikemalick Info: Didn't use snowshoes. You might find them useful hiking lower down through the trees after the cabin. Did fine without them, but did sink to mid-shin at times. Gaiters were a big plus. Most of he snow after tree line was not an issue. |
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10/27/2017 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 10/27/2017, By: bmcqueen Info: Route is clear and dry. No need for traction at all. Also did Chipeta and the neighboring unnamed 13er - also dry. |
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9/26/2017 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 9/26/2017, By: ZLewis Info: Clear past treeline, light snow patches approaching the summit with no ice. A few inches of snow on top. |
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7/27/2017 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 7/29/2017, By: JasonKline Info: Summer conditions. No appreciable snow. |
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7/4/2017 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 7/4/2017, By: jasayrevt Info: Also, traversed over to PT 13,472 A. 13er summits are an inspiring, invigorating hobby. This classic route is another recommended, straightforward path. It has incredible views of many quality neighboring Sawatch Rangers (i.e. Anotra). Conditions up high were moonlit, summer bluebird, etc. So, perfect for navigating these slopes and ridge line extremely well. Standard light pack plus trail runners approach was good. Pictures with a topographic map diagram have been included as beta. Climb safely out there mountaineers |
