Peak Condition Update | Mt. Belford

Peak:	Mt. Belford
Route:	Northwest Gully
Range:	Sawatch
Posted By:	r_grizz
Date of Info:	1/10/2016
Date Posted:	1/11/2016

Details
I made it up to the Missouri Gulch TH on 1/10/16 in my F150 without chains, but it would have been a stretch without a combination of gnarly tires, clearance, and 4wd. There's a great, well-packed trench up to treeline and then it pretty much disappears. Conditions in Belford's NW Gully were excellent. It's mostly 3-4 inches of powder on a stable base with areas of hardpack on some steeper sections. Very nice for skinning. Coverage thins out at about 13.5k where I had to hoof it in crampons to the summit. The ski descent from the summit back down to the gully was sketchy at best. Lots of rock/scree survival skiing just to get back to the main line. Skiing the gully was the tasty stuff that dreams are made of though! I was absolutely confident in the snow stability the entire way up the gully. I took a few photos of some of the flanking slopes that would have the potential for loading, but coverage was still so thin that it was never really an issue. There is one slope leading off the summit area that I was a little weary of, but I avoided it pretty easily. If you're looking for a beautiful, long ski descent right now, Belford's NW Gully is there for the taking! I was obviously the only one who had been in there, and the trailbreaking was absolutely worth it. Also, I dropped my little Kodak digital camera somewhere right around treeline where the trail leaves the forest just up and to the left of the old shack. If anybody happens to be up there and finds it, maybe you could let me know.

Details

I made it up to the Missouri Gulch TH on 1/10/16 in my F150 without chains, but it would have been a stretch without a combination of gnarly tires, clearance, and 4wd. There's a great, well-packed trench up to treeline and then it pretty much disappears. Conditions in Belford's NW Gully were excellent. It's mostly 3-4 inches of powder on a stable base with areas of hardpack on some steeper sections. Very nice for skinning. Coverage thins out at about 13.5k where I had to hoof it in crampons to the summit. The ski descent from the summit back down to the gully was sketchy at best. Lots of rock/scree survival skiing just to get back to the main line. Skiing the gully was the tasty stuff that dreams are made of though!

I was absolutely confident in the snow stability the entire way up the gully. I took a few photos of some of the flanking slopes that would have the potential for loading, but coverage was still so thin that it was never really an issue. There is one slope leading off the summit area that I was a little weary of, but I avoided it pretty easily. If you're looking for a beautiful, long ski descent right now, Belford's NW Gully is there for the taking! I was obviously the only one who had been in there, and the trailbreaking was absolutely worth it.

Also, I dropped my little Kodak digital camera somewhere right around treeline where the trail leaves the forest just up and to the left of the old shack. If anybody happens to be up there and finds it, maybe you could let me know.

Comments or Questions

aholle88	low clearance parking? 1/11/2016 8:36pm So, how far up do you think a fairly daring driver in an Impreza would make it? Obviously I'm not getting anywhere near where you did, but just curious how much mileage it adds parking at the end of the "low" clearance part of the road. Thanks! and nice work on Belford, the gully looks amazing!
r_grizz	Pretty Close 1/11/2016 9:29pm Honestly, I bet you could make it within at least a mile or a little closer to the TH. I was pretty surprised at how good the road was up to there. The steepness/grade of the road isn't much, so the problem will definitely be clearance for your Impreza with the snow being fairly built up in between the tire tracks. I heard from another 14ers member that she drove some kind of Subaru to the TH last week. It's definitely worth the effort if you can get up there. The gully was in perfect shape. Go get it!
aholle88	Thanks! 1/12/2016 7:10am Sounds good, thanks! Any issues with the creek crossing (I'm assuming not, but figured I'd ask) area on the trail up towards treeline? I remember missing the turn in the summer. And how did it look over towards oxford?
r_grizz	Trail 1/12/2016 7:51am With the trench in place, the trail is really easy to follow. I could hear the creek running under the snow at the crossing, but it was solid going across. I sort of messed up and went up to the left at the old shack up near treeline instead of going to the right and following the gully further. This put me up into minor boulder field terrain until I traversed back around to the actual trail. No big deal though, just tough on my skis. While doing that, I dropped my little digital camera somewhere in there. Maybe if you're up there and see it you could let me know. The traverse to Oxford looked dry and uncomplicated, just way too far for me to do in winter conditions that day. I added a photo.

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