Safe(ish) non Front Range winter 13ers

[CoHi591]

Hey everyone,
I've scoured a few threads for suggestions and come up with a little bit of a to-do list, but wanted to get some more input/suggestions. I'm looking to start working on climbing some new 13ers but I am not very experienced doing it in winter. I've only done a handful of snowy peaks, have the layering and gear down but I am flying solo so I don't want to be near anything that can slide. I'm only a novice at identifying dangerous terrain anyway.
I'm sure variations of this thread have and will continue to pop up all season, but I'd love it if anyone has any suggestions for 13ers outside of the front/tenmile ranges that have relatively safe routes that can avoid avy terrain?

[HikerGuy]

Outside of the Front/Tenmile/Mosquito, these come to mind.

Homestake Peak
Lackawanna Peak
Mascot Peak
Unnamed 13,078
Boulder Mountain
Spread Eagle Peak
Horn Peak
Colony Baldy
Marble Mountain
Baldy Cinco

[mtn_nut]

Have you played around with caltopo? its terrain shading tool is a great way to see where issues might be along standard routes.

[Tornadoman]

Outside of the Front/Tenmile/Mosquito, these come to mind.

Homestake Peak
Lackawanna Peak
Mascot Peak
Unnamed 13,078
Boulder Mountain
Spread Eagle Peak
Horn Peak
Colony Baldy
Marble Mountain
Baldy Cinco

I've done several of this list either in or near calendar winter. I would add Eagle Peak (Sangres), Tincup Peak to Emma Burr (via Tincup Pass, usually the snowmobiles trench it out nicely). There are a few more in the Sangres that appear to me that they would be fine (Gibbs, Marcy, etc). Not having done them in snow season I won't recommend them but I don't anticipate them being particularly dangerous in normal conditions. Oh, and make sure to grab Baldy No Es Cinco with Baldy Cinco! (Those also have a snowmobile trench, Snow Mesa is an odd and beautiful place in the winter).

[Monster5]

One can sort the trip reports by "All Colorado 13ers" and check only the winter months. A quick check suggests 400 reports which might help you put a list together. Most of the people here aren't doing excessively difficult or risky winter 13ers. SarahT's website will also help (13ergirl).

It is possible to avoid avalanche terrain on the vast majority of 13ers outside of the San Juan, and some of the more difficult Elk and Sangres 13ers. It does however require being able to identify avalanche terrain as winter routes are creatively modified from the usual summer routes. I'd highly recommend pursuing some education in that regard prior to doing the less risky 13ers as even those have avalanche terrain to avoid (usually, easily).

There are a number of free online resources for learning to identify/avoid avalanche terrain (as opposed to the next step of traveling within avalanche terrain), as well available tools such as the mentioned Caltopo shading tools and GEarth. Much of the identification can be done from a laptop well before the hike.

In general, I find most 13er ratios to be fairly reflective of 14er ratios. For any given comparison, 20% are fairly no brainer, 60% require some thought, and 20% have elevated risks requiring considerable thought. That provides 100+ relatively safe (avy-wise) winter 13er options, provided good route planning!

[CoHi591]

Thank you all so much for the replies. I had played around with caltopo in past winters but had forgotten. Marble is at the top of my to do list right now and will definitely start looking into all of the others. I did browse all of the TRs for 13ers in winter months but it was overwhelming to try to sift through which ones were written by people way more advanced than I am. I'll take a peak at the above listed.

[Robbie Crouse]

[quote=Tornadoman post_id=728041 time=1605224840 user_id=6101]
[quote=HikerGuy post_id=728029 time=1605220128 user_id=1782]
Outside of the Front/Tenmile/Mosquito, these come to mind.

Homestake Peak
Lackawanna Peak
Mascot Peak
Unnamed 13,078
Boulder Mountain
Spread Eagle Peak
Horn Peak
Colony Baldy
Marble Mountain
Baldy Cinco
[/quote]

I've done several of this list either in or near calendar winter. I would add Eagle Peak (Sangres), Tincup Peak to Emma Burr (via Tincup Pass, usually the snowmobiles trench it out nicely). There are a few more in the Sangres that appear to me that they would be fine (Gibbs, Marcy, etc). Not having done them in snow season I won't recommend them but I don't anticipate them being particularly dangerous in normal conditions. Oh, and make sure to grab Baldy No Es Cinco with Baldy Cinco! (Those also have a snowmobile trench, Snow Mesa is an odd and beautiful place in the winter).
[/quote]

Which route up Lackawanna? The standard route from the top of Independence Pass will be closed soon if not already.

[Cereal]

Some nice suggestions above. Here is a related thread from earlier this year: https://www.14ers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=53248

[HikerGuy]

Which route up Lackawanna? The standard route from the top of Independence Pass will be closed soon if not already.

I'm not sure I would want to do it, but you park at the La Plata TH, walk up 82 for about a mile and then head straight up the central south ridge. STEEP! Need to be aware that you are passing through an avalanche runout zone on 82 between the TH and ascent ridge.

[CaptainSuburbia]

Arkansas is a good one in the Mosquito Range. Also, Pennsylvania Mountain.

[osprey]

Is the Southwest Ridge route on Mt. Edwards and Argentine Peak relatively avalanche safe?
If not, is there a relatively safe winter route on these peaks?

[dwoodward13]

Is the Southwest Ridge route on Mt. Edwards and Argentine Peak relatively avalanche safe?
If not, is there a relatively safe winter route on these peaks?

The few times I've seen it in the winter, Argentine Pass has been wind blasted from memory. Coming up from Leavenworth Road looks to be mellow as well per the slope angle. Another option is to come up from Silver Dollar Lakes and/or Squaretop. But that is a long out and back all the way to Edwards especially if the wind is blowing.