Mt. Hope

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 4/27/2020, By: Randy1983
Info: Went for the Hopeful Couloir, but bailed at Hope Pass due to a cornice on the top of the col. Pretty dry getting to the TH. Might even be accessible for 2wd vehicles. Didn't go further down the road. So no info on Winfield. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 7/14/2019, By: dwoodward13
Info: East Ridge via Little Willis Gulch side. 3 or 4 snowfield crossings above treeline on the Willis Gulch side. Nothing too major, and they are well tracked out. Snow also just below the Hope Pass saddle, but again no big deal. East Ridge is basically in summer conditions. You are able to almost complete avoid any traces of snow on the ridge. I put one foot in a small snow patch on the very upper section, but likely will be gone soon. Brought ax and spikes, but should have left them in the car. Fantastic mountain and a great day! 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 7/6/2019, By: nyker
Info: We did the east ridge from Sheep Gulch today. Route basically dry with only a couple small patches of snow to cross before 13.5k or so where on the main route there is a 30ft stretch of snow you'll have to move through. You could certainly encounter more snow if you take a different line but you don't need to to summit. Other patches of snow near or on the route can be avoided. We found the rock more stable than the very loose Class 2+ sections so tried to stay on that when there was a choice above 13.1k or so. 

Route: Hopeful
Posted On: 7/6/2019, By: CheapCigarMan
Info: For all practical purposes, dry all the way to Hope Pass. The couloir is in. I got to the top of the couloir around 10:30 / 10:45 am and the snow was starting to soften pretty good. Wouldn't of wanted to have been there after that. Was a great ride! Only needed crampons and ice axe. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 6/30/2019, By: Markwise
Info: Some recent reports seemed to suggest snow was of no concern on Mt. Hope. Perhaps I misread them, but I would respectfully disagree. I would offer the opinion that snow is of "some concern" for those wishing to gain Hope Pass. Snow is of "more concern" for those wishing to summit. A handful of snowfields need to be crossed to gain the pass. They have many steps kicked in and so can be reasonably done by most with no traction. On the summit ridge snow isn't of concern til about 13,800 at the top of the class 2+ difficulties. We ascended 20-30 yards of fairly steep snow. Below this snow was a long snowfield droppign for a thousand feet. We did it with no traction and trekking poles. I would have preferred to have my axe for protection. Above this snow was a series of class 3 moves in a 20-30 foot climb. I believe the easier routes to avoid this are still buried in snow. As a whole, what a wonderful hike/climb! My brother and I remarked on the summit how funny it is that if this were 70 feet taller everyone would be up here climbing it. But since it isn't we had a summit to ourselves and only encountered a handful of people on a mountain every bit as enjoyable and challenging as a 14er. Photo 1 shows the most notable snow crossing before Hope Pass Photo 2 shows most of the Mt. Hope east ridge. The only snow to be dealt with is up near the false summit. Photo 3 is the snow climb we made around 13,800ft. 

Route: Hopeful Couloir
Posted On: 6/16/2019, By: supranihilest
Info: I started at Sheep Gulch. There's less snow on the trail than there was a couple of weeks ago and you can make it to treeline pretty easily in just trail runners; however, there's a lot of water flowing on the trail that you'll have to dodge. You may want some kind of flotation above treeline, though the pass itself (and the east ridge, if you choose that route) is dry or very nearly dry. The couloir itself is in fantastic shape, provided you hit it early enough. Two weeks ago it was a knee deep slushpile, this weekend it was fabulous solid snow from the time I hit it at about 6:45am until nearly 8am at the top, where it started getting a little punchy. The descent back to the saddle was a mix of plunge stepping and glissading the southeast face (between the east and southeast ridges). Hit the couloir early or risk it being a sloppy mess. Skiers please note there is a TON of avalanche debris that cover nearly half the total vertical, and there are several runnels as well. It would make a terrible ski right now. The southeast face would ski just fine. 

Route: Hopeful Couloir
Posted On: 6/3/2019, By: supranihilest
Info: From the trailhead the first mile and a half or so is dry. You will soon encounter plenty of snow and avalanche debris and you will find flotation useful to Hope Pass, especially because the snow on the trail is an absolute mess of postholes. Get to the bottom of the couloir VERY early, especially if there was a weak freeze the night before. We reached the bottom right around 9am and it was knee deep slush. We turned around almost immediately since it didn't get any better. There's a lot of avy debris at the bottom of the couloir as well, but the cornice at the top is small; still, consider taking one of the climber's left variations if snow conditions deteriorate as rapidly as they did on our climb. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 6/3/2019, By: angry
Info: Dry from TH to about 1.5 miles in, then donned snowshoes and wore them until reaching the pass where we stashed them at the colorado trail marker. From pass to summit is a combo of rock, dry tundra and snow (only needed boots). Used crampons for a portion of the down climb to rock and then switched out to just boots again. Best glissade I've ever experienced--all the way from the pass to the avy debris (where you meet up at the defined trail). If you are considering the couilor, you will want a very early start. Wet slides started around 8:30am. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 5/4/2019, By: osprey
Info: Snowshoes are needed starting at about 10,300 all the way up to Hope Pass and of course on the way down. The trail disappears in deep snow about 10,500 and I had to navigate by GPS until reaching the crossover to the east side of the stream and then navigation becomes easy as one gets to timberline. It took 3 hours from the TH to Hope Pass. I ditched my pack on the Pass and changed to crampons and ax. The first part of the east ridge is fairly mellow as long as the large cornices on the north side are avoided. The slope becomes much steeper and icy where the ridge merges with the summit pyramid. I was very happy to have the crampons and ax at this point. After the summit pyramid the ridge eases the rest of the way to the summit. It took 2 hours 15 minutes to summit from the Pass and 1 hour to return to the Pass. After reaching the Pass I ascended the peak to the east and within 1 hour 10 minutes was enjoying a nice serving of Quail. Crampons are not necessary for Quail. 50 minutes later I was back at the Pass and then snowshoed back to the TH. 11 hours round trip. 

Route: Hopeful Couloir
Posted On: 4/22/2019, By: Buddyboy27
Info: Parking lot completely dry. First mile of the trail is relatively dry, I wouldn't put skins on until after 1 mile. The remainder of the approach can be skinned but I opted for hiking boots all the way to the apron of Hopeful. Good overnight freeze with no post holing at all on the way up. Snow in the couloir itself was solid, including the top layer; great for climbing, less fun for skiing. Cornice is actually quite small/non-existent above fall line. Cornice above cliff walls climbers right are bigger and scarier. I dropped in at 10:00AM and the line needed at least 2 more hours of good heat, still skied decent. Summit photo (#2) looks south towards to Apostles. Able to ski from summit to .5 miles from parking lot. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 6/8/2018, By: MaxKugel
Info: No snow on the route at all......Hopeful Couloir is definitely not in for skiing, but could still be used as an ascent route if someone was really motivated. Snow ends just below the couloir proper in the apron. It is also melted out for a short stretch a few hundred feet below the entrance. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 5/28/2018, By: HikerGuy
Info: Summer conditions. Had to cross two short stretches of snow on the ridge where Hopeful Couloir finishes, the first was about 20 feet just past where the left arm exits and another about 10 feet where the right arm exits. Traction not needed. 1st photo shows finish of Hopeful Couloir. 2nd photo looking down couloir. 3rd photo second patch of snow that had to be crossed. 

Route: Hopeful couloir
Posted On: 5/12/2018, By: Trotter
Info: Hiked up from Sheep gulch, several small snow patches to pass above 11k. North side of Hope pass has mostly snow. Hopeful couloir is completely filled, and in. Good steps kicked in, no cornice on normal exit at top. Lots of natural rockfall, dodged several close rocks. We never used snowshoes all day. Used crampons on couloir. East ridge is about half covered with snow, we descended via SE bowl and glissading. 

Route: Hopeful couloir
Posted On: 5/14/2018, By: Gsule
Info: From Willis gulch TH. In the morning we walked to the clearing at 11k then skinned to the base from there. Crampons to the top. There is a short section of rotten snow where an old slide stripped it down to facets. Don't be discouraged here, it gets way better after the crown. Dropped in at 10am and skied perfect corn to the tree line. From there, it was rotten snow back to the meadow, then boots down to the ditch where we switched to running shoes for the hike out. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 10/27/2017, By: mikemalick
Info: This location didn't seem to get much snow from the storm that went through the state last night. Lower down there were a few small patches of snow on the trail in the shade of trees. Up higher didn't have much snow along the route either. There was some snow between boulders starting perhaps around 13,200' but it was sparse and easy to avoid. I took spikes, but they never left my bag. The spot on photo 3 probably had the most snow of consequence, but even this was easy to navigate around.