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 Peak:  Mt. of the Holy Cross
 Route:  Halo Ridge
 Range:  Sawatch
 Posted By:  alpinenut
 Date of Info:  11/9/2014
 Date Posted:  11/13/2014
Details

This report is probably useless for 2014 since winter really kicked in the day after we were there. However, maybe it can give a general indication of what it can be like at this time of the year. I'm guessing it had only snowed about 6" in the two weeks prior. However conditions up high were very tough. There was snow filled in between all the boulders and talus, and once you reach the shelter it's pretty much all talus hopping along the ridge line for 2.5 mi. to the summit. To make matters worse because the snow was between rocks it was always soft and never wind blown so you could never count on solid steps on the snow. Traction or snowshoes would have been useless. It took us twice as long to cover the 2.5 mi. ridge as it took to climb the 5 mi. to the shelter. Brutal.

Went down the North Ridge route because we wanted to get as far away from Halo Ridge as possible. Half Moon Pass (1k vertical climb) was worth not having to retrace that ridge in the semi-winter conditions. It seems to me that Halo Ridge would be easier in Summer or Winter. However it really is a long route!! Be careful descending the North Ridge route in snow (it was pretty much all snow down to about 11k ft). It's very easy to lose the trail. Make sure you find your way to the trail leading E over Half Moon Pass. Veer right below tree line across the fall line. If you don't you can end up lost in the valley where dozens of people get lost every summer. Not a good thing in the winter.



Comments or Questions
alpinenut
User
Summit time
11/14/2014 2:45pm
We summited around 4. It was a perfect day. Maybe 20 mph wind. Pretty good for November. Spend lots of time in the dark on the way down


alpinenut
User
Long Day Out
11/14/2014 4:41pm
So you can sympathize with the snow conditions. It was very strange. Very few wind blown spots = lots of postholing . There was a lot of snow on the South side strange enough. Probably because that last storm was an upslope. Did you find anywhere to ski or were you just climbing?


alpinenut
User
Saw that peak
11/14/2014 5:17pm
I noticed that peak. That looks like a nice approach. Did you come up from Homestake/759? After looking back at the map it looks like the worst snow for me was actually West Facing. Going up and down to/from Holy Cross Ridge Pk was the worst.


SnowAlien
User
what time
4/2/2015 7:45pm
Were your on the summit? Beautiful day though and the views were great


SnowAlien
User
Nice!
4/2/2015 7:45pm
I guess I don't feel that bad of being 1 summit away from you at 3.40pm. Got to the car around 7.30pm I think (~2 hours in the dark)


SnowAlien
User
I really can't
4/2/2015 7:45pm
This was the strangest thing - the French Creek gulch I was climbing is south facing, it turns out, so most of the approach was dry! I was suffering in my mountaineering boots (which I wore for the first time this season) on dry ground. There was an occasional postholing, but far and few in-between. Close to 90% of the terrain was dry rock/grass. I climbed UN 13768 btw, next one over from Holy Cross Ridge.

p.s. I sort of guessed the summit time by long shadows in you 3rd photo


SnowAlien
User
Technically
4/2/2015 7:45pm
it is FS 727, but yeah, that side. The ridge over to HCR looked rough, I agree. I think what ”saved” me is that I didn't have to be on the ridge at all en route to 13'768. There was a huge difference between south-facing slopes and the other aspects. Good work on getting MHC done in difficult snow conditions! Not an easy peak by any standards.


SnowAlien
User
Posted a TR
4/2/2015 7:45pm



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