Winter Peaks for Beginners

[CaptainSuburbia]

I would say G & T from Loveland Pass is a better winter route than standard. Higher trailhead, no snowshoes needed, no long road walk, basically no avy danger to speak of, almost zero route finding and approximately 4 miles shorter. One of the best bangs for your buck you'll find in the winter.

[John Landers]

I would say G & T from Loveland Pass is a better winter route than standard. Higher trailhead, no snowshoes needed, no long road walk, basically no avy danger to speak of, almost zero route finding and approximately 4 miles shorter. One of the best bangs for your buck you'll find in the winter.

I would disagree as that is a long out and back above treeline should the weather turn bad.

[Bean]

Not so, bean. Ever have to put ski crampons on? Not needed with snowshoes. Awesome!

Yeah it takes about 15 seconds per ski if I do it before I really need them, I'm stubborn and always push on too far and so it's a little futzy and takes about a minute each because I have to take a ski off. And it's pretty infrequent I need them, maybe a couple times a season. And they work great. Someone splitting should be aware of the hassle with taking off skis and putting them back on and put on ski crampons early.

Ever had to switch out in a blizzard? Easy with shoes! Sweet! Down mountain descents are the ideal use with snowshoes.

I don't know what any of this means but I'm not sure what the problem with doing things in a blizzard is. If anything the faster, more efficient travel afforded by skis is a major advantage if you're in a blizzard.

Not a grouch, enlightened. Split boarding did not invent backcountry snowboarding, it’s just a tool. I prefer not to use them, as I make other choices. You are free to make your own. If there are problems with the conditions and snowshoes (too deep as example) I’ll just ski. It sounds more like people who put down snowshoes just don’t know how and when to use them. I used to deal with this when snowboarding in the early 90s. People are very closed minded. And mean. But I really can’t help that, I can just make sure folks know there are options. And they work fine.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying splitboarding is ideal - I think transitions are a nearly-unsolvable problem - but it is much better than snowshoeing with a board on your back.

[JaredJohnson]

Elbert:

This trek up through the forest can be confusing so make your you have a navigation device and have done your homework.

*make sure

[SchralpTheGnar]

Any edits and feedback are welcome. Thanks!
I fixed the ones mentioned so far and added PREVIOUS/NEXT buttons to the bottom of each page.

To address the "beginners" issue, I slapped a warning on the 1st page to make it clear this information is intended to help those with experience get into hiking 14ers in the winter months.

Why not just remove “beginners” altogether and just title it “14ers in the Winter”, it’s really a great article for everyone

[nyker]

Elbert:

This trek up through the forest can be confusing so make your you have a navigation device and have done your homework.

*make sure

+1

When on a mountain in the snow where hikes start in the forest even a route you're familiar with in dry conditions, (i.e. no snow) can look foreign and climb like a new peak.

I remember one day in early March on Mt Whitney, where there is a long forested approach on route on which I was very familiar, I was about 90min up the route and was about 3:00am on a windy morning after a Sierra snowstorm. There was no sign of a trail in the fresh powder, though the first mile or so was pretty straightforward. Soon I found myself in deep virgin snow surrounded by huge drifts 10ft high or more seemingly in every direction. The snow covered not just the route proper but most boulders and most familiar landmarks including any sign of a switchback and my tracks behind me had already been blown away. Being armed with a map and compass was not of much help at the resolution of needing to find meters worth of a direction or turn on a trail. After attempting a couple of "winter shortcuts" and then another hour of trying to find the best way up I completely lost the route or where the trail likely was and just turned around and focused on following my compass back. It had become pretty obvious that moving in such conditions was too taxing and I realized I'd never have made it up and down in a calendar day which was my goal at the time, which in hindsight was foolish to think I could have done that in those conditions. I think because I had climbed successfully Mt San Jacinto a few weeks before in similar post-storm conditions, it had given me a false confidence and I thought Whitney would be just as doable but it didn't work out that way for a variety of reasons.

[BillMiddlebrook]

I would also add a link to summit post 14ers page, which has a lot of good information.

Yup! Jamie (shanahan96) did a great job assembling winter information for all the 14ers. I'll link it to on "Next Level Peaks" as well as "Final Thoughts >> Further Reading."

[Jorts]

I'm no longer with Summit County Rescue Group because I've moved out of Summit, but back when I was... there were on average 4 calls per winter for people snowshoeing Quandary and getting lost and stranded because of some combination of not using snowshoes properly (one person stepped out of both snowshoes on descent and somehow didn't notice for a couple hundred yards later when his boots had filled with snow), lack of navigation skills (the trench often gets scoured and filled at tree line... so inexperienced parties drift north or south into what can often be dangerous, unsupportable avy terrain), or getting benighted and not being prepared for it.

It was not uncommon for rescued parties to comment on debrief that "we thought Quandary was the easy winter one". This is a great guide and I'm sure it will be helpful to many. Just hope it doesn't embolden inexperienced parties and lead to a greater frequency of incidents like I described above.