"Fancy Peak"

Route: South ridge, from Fancy Lake TH
Posted On: 7/1/2025, By: mijoflynn
Info: The east side of Fancy Pass is still holding several feet of snow -- continuous for the last .4 miles / 600' to the top of the pass. Snow was reasonably supportive going up at 8:30 -- microspikes were useful but probably not necessary. It was on its way to being a slushy mess coming down at 10:30 -- and there were too many sharks to glissade it. No snow on the ridge until a big drift just below the summit. I avoided it by taking a slightly scrambly route left; from the summit, it looked like right would have been easier. 

Route: Fancy Pass
Posted On: 9/25/2024, By: Chipmunk
Info: Up Fancy Pass, down Missouri Lakes. Completely dry. The recent snows appear to have missed the Holy Cross Wilderness, but the northern Sawatch (Massive, etc) and Mosquito ranges (seen on drive in) had snow on north facing aspects. The PVC pipe canister had water in it and the summit register dating back to 2011 was soaked and disintegrating. I took it down with me to give to CMC, and left a single dry piece of paper and pen. More paper and a new container would be helpful. There are no aspens on this loop but the drive over Fremont and Tennessee Passes, as well as up Homestake Reservoir Road to access the trailhead had plenty. 

Route: From fancy pass
Posted On: 10/14/2023, By: yaktoleft13
Info: Route up to and beyond fancy pass had much more snow than anticipated. Past the lake was a foot plus, and the final gully up to the pass had 3 foot drifts. The upper slopes were not as windblown as we'd hoped. Cold wind blowing most of the day as well. Felt a lot like winter. If we were to do it again, we'd bring snowshoes for the section from the lake to the pass. It would save some nastiness 

Route: From Fancy Pass
Posted On: 7/13/2023, By: HikerGuy
Info: There is snow on the final portion of the Fancy Pass ascent. No gear needed. The south ridge from Fancy Pass is dry. If you choose to descend northeast slope to head towards Whitney Peak, you will need an axe and crampons. You might be able to thread together a descent to avoid the snow, but the axe and pons will make a much easier descent. 11.43 miles, 5,015 feet and 7h 9m for roundtrip for both peaks. 

Route: From Whitney Peak
Posted On: 9/18/2022, By: supranihilest
Info: I took Whitney Peak's northwest Ridge down to the Fall Creek trail. Don't go too far west too soon, the western flank of Whitney is all cliffs. I took the Fall Creek trail southwest then southeast towards Hunky Dory Lake. Before the lake I took an obvious Grassy and willowy gully to Cleveland Lake, then went north and took another grass and talus gully northwest towards Fancy, approximately where the creek into Cleveland Lake begins. From there it's Class 2 to Fancy's summit. No surprises anywhere along my route. The descent to Fancy Pass is pretty steep and loose but doesn't exceed Class 2+. If it gets too hard just head to descender's right onto easier terrain. If you're done here just take the obvious trail southeast to the trailhead. I continued on to Point 12,940 to the southwest which had some fun scrambling. I descended the 12er's crappy east face directly back to the Fancy Lakes trail. Instead of going to the trailhead at the very end I took an old road, now blocked off by trees, back to the unmarked trailhead north of the Fancy/Missouri Lakes trailheads. 

Route: Fancy Pass ascent/Mulhall Lakes descent loop
Posted On: 7/2/2022, By: d_baker
Info: Similar status as previous conditions report. Snow on slope leading to saddle, but was manageable without traction or axe, and it's a rather short slope. Met forum member JosephG at Fancy Pass as he caught us, as he was going to the summit as well. From saddle, we used W side slopes a little on a grassy/tundra-ee trail then gained ridge to summit. Descended to the N/NE and dropped down into Mulhall Lakes for a loop hike, reconnecting with the Fancy Lakes trail. On Gaia, it's labeled as the Fancy Lakes Spur trail. Worked out really well, and the Mulhall Lakes basin is pretty cool. ~3000' gain ~8.5 miles A lot of backpackers out today. Another friend was doing a bigger tour up there this morning, starting on Savage and running the ridge to 13,768' & Whitney. He met us on the summit of "Fancy." He said the ridge just has a lot of ups and downs, and from the Missouri Pass, gaining the ridge to the 12er up there had some sections that looked iffy from afar, but worked out pretty well. 

Route: Fancy Pass
Posted On: 6/19/2022, By: hr011242
Info: There were a few relatively short sections of old, drifted snow over the trail before reaching Fancy Lake. Microspikes might be useful for the ascent of Fancy Pass but were not necessary. All snow was supportive and floatation wouldn't be needed either. Summit/ridge snow was all easily avoided. 

Route: South Ridge from Fancy Pass
Posted On: 11/1/2020, By: drop_bear
Info: Here's some pictures 

Route: Fancy pass/Missouri lakes loop
Posted On: 9/18/2020, By: Trotter
Info: Completely melted out. Could totally avoid any snow patches. Consider making a loop with missouri lakes/fancy pass trails. Beautiful back there. 

Route: South Ridge from Fancy Pass
Posted On: 9/11/2020, By: tjf242424
Info: 4 in of snow in general, with a few deeper drifts of no consequence. We managed the whole thing in light mountaineering boots with poles. Spikes would have been more trouble than good. Felt pretty alpine on the ridge from Fancy Pass, but I'd wager that it's totally dry by Sunday. With pmp6 in about 6 hr round trip from the TH. 

Route: South Ridge from Fancy Pass
Posted On: 8/13/2019, By: cloudkicker
Info: The road is clear to Fancy Lake / Missouri Lakes Trailhead. There is a sign at the trailhead saying the creek crossing 1 mile up is "dangerous and difficult". The water has receded since this sign was posted and it was very easy for us to cross. Route clear (summer conditions) to Fancy Lake and above. However, there is a lingering snowfield leading up to Fancy Pass that was the crux on our ascent. According to my strava, the snowfield begins at about 12,000ft and lasts all the way to the pass at 12,400ft. We decided we'd rather add some scrambling instead of ascending this snowfield, so we picked a route on a series of ledges above some cliff bands, climbers right of the snowfield. It was class 3 at worst, albeit with some exposure. Super fun! The pass is clear and the other side was as well, all the way over to Treasurevault Lake. The rest of the route up Fancy Peak (ridge direct and grassy bypass) was clear of snow. Note: I highly recommend taking ridge direct the first couple hundred feet up from Fancy Pass. Really fun slightly airy class 3 on solid rock. The last signature on the peak was from 7/16/19. On our descent we glissaded/skated down the snowfield and found the snow quality was surprisingly good. No post holing at all or plunge stepping into sharp rocks. The snowfield is low angle enough to control your slide but steep enough to actually get going a bit. Normally I wouldn't glissade without an ice axe but upon assessing the risk I determined there was hardly any danger to it, given the quality of the snow. Glissading in August was an unforgettable experience.