Sneffels in January

[centrifuge]

I am toying around with the idea of going down to the ice festival in Ouray, and taking a day or two out to climb Sneffels. I have done a search in the forum and there are no trip reports in the last couple of years that I was able to find. For people who have climbed Sneffels in the winter, how feasible and/or safe would an ascent of this mountain in January be? How is access?

Trevor

[oldschool]

Trevor,

One of your biggest issues will be the length. If you come in from the Ouray side, you won't be able to get very close, so expect a long walk. The actual route should be ok...the talus slope should be covered and the ridge can be handled sometimes easier than staying on the snow. It's do-able for sure...I think the long walk scares most away. Check snow stability and that stuff before you go to be safe.

[sgladbach]

I assume you saw the last 1/3 of this TR. Two years old. Same time of year. Sorry, I took no photos in those days.

http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepor ... ki=Include

I read somewhere that they quit plowing this year at the camp bird mine. When I was there two winters ago, a miner was keeping the next 3 miles to the governor basin fork well packed w/ a snow machine of some kind. That went quickly. I thought the route was spooky for avalnache in several spots. I needed crampons on and off through a few areas, so I wound up leaving them on. Good Luck! Write a TR w/ photos !

[BuckytheGREAT]

Would anyone know of the beta for NYE?
We are thinking about going there Dec 30-Jan 1 and considering the Snake Couliour. Would you guess that it's safe to do that route at this time or not enough snow yet?

[Doug Shaw]

Would anyone know of the beta for NYE?
We are thinking about going there Dec 30-Jan 1 and considering the Snake Couliour. Would you guess that it's safe to do that route at this time or not enough snow yet?

Generally speaking, couloir climbing in Colorado isn't a great idea until mid to late spring. Colorado's snowpack tends to remain a bit unconsolidated in the winter and can be avalanche prone.

[robby40]

i would post some photos if i could and for what they are worth but they are too large.

i was on sneffels on each of three week-ends in october, the last one being the 24th of october when there there was at least a notable amount of snow compared to the prior week-ends.

up to the south face, there were about 8 inches of snow with a hard but breakable crust on top and the new snow on top of that. it was good going but the breaking crust was a bit tedious and it took quite a bit longer to get to the col in snow than it had without snow. the south face had similar conditions with some harder surfaces.

the most notable feature of the climb was the cornice that was forming at the col (have a decent pic or two of that). it made the transition from the face over the col to the main chute above the col a bit strenuous in places with deep snow. i can imagine that being a nasty spot at times in winter. from there it was good going up the main chute with dry snow. about 1/3 of the way up the main chute i took a narrow chute that goes to the left. in the lower portion of that narrow chute, there was a LOT of snow that had blown in and it was very deep in places. the snow was layered, but there was no crusty layer and i felt comfortable there. however, with some melting and refreezing and then more drifted snow, that could be a dangerous chute. just me, i would prefer this side-route to the v-notch in snow. i would certainly want to give the south face and summit cone due respect too and would not do the climb if it was icy. probably bring snowshoes for the hike up to at least the south face.

[centrifuge]

thanks for all the replies, and steve, I missed that report, I dont think I went far enough back. It was a great report, and very informative! Buckythegreat, if you head up on NYE please post back with conditions! I would love to hear how that goes :D