18th Annual Winter Welcomer!

[globreal]

The 18th Annual Winter Welcomer!
Quandary Peak-14,272'-East Ridge
Scheduled for Saturday, October 31, 2026 —7:30am

It's time to mark your calendars!

So, what is the Winter Welcomer? It is an event started by Steve Gladbach (sgladbach) and Jim DiNapoli (dancesatmoonrise), who both had a desire to help others learn backcountry skills. Even though Steve and Jim are no longer with us, Brad McQueen (bmcqueen) and I (Britt Jones) desire to carry on their tradition of helping others learn skills for hiking and climbing in winter.

We know people move to Colorado all the time who are unaware what is needed to climb the high peaks in cold and snowy conditions, much less be aware of the dangers of avalanches. This annual "Winter Welcomer" offers an experience of climbing in wintery conditions with other people on the mountain. There are usually experienced climbers on this outing who you can hike with, learn from, and ask questions of, to grow your skills. Check out the excellent Winter 14ers for Beginners page too - https://www.14ers.com/winter-14ers-for-beginners.

We are climbing Quandary Peak since the required shuttle/parking permit system concludes on September 13, 2026. Please note: only park in the designated parking lot or you will likely receive a ticket. Do NOT park on the neighborhood roads. Because of limited parking, we encourage everyone to carpool or park in the Hoosier Pass parking lot and get a ride back down to the trailhead.

Most will hike the STANDARD EAST RIDGE route:
https://www.14ers.com/route.php?route=quan1

We plan to arrive in time to start hiking by 7:30am. Others, feel free to start anytime between 6:00a-9:00a and hike at your own pace. An average/moderate pace is 3.5 to 4 hours to get to the summit. Getting back down is usually a bit quicker around 2.5 to 3 hours.

Hiking solo is not advised, especially in winter. So, feel free to post in this thread for a partner and then stay together with your partner(s).

After the climb we usually have a tailgate party back at the parking lot. Feel free to linger and bring some post-climb tailgating food and drink to share and enjoy with the group. However, since this year our Winter Welcomer falls on Halloween we realize many may want to leave right away for that.

Since this annual climb is done around (or on) Halloween, tradition is to wear a Halloween costume! Get creative with a silly outfit. It's loads of fun!

Again, this annual "winter-esk" climb (calendar winter starts Dec 21) is all about helping people learn to stay safe in winter. So please come experience an above treeline cold weather hike, and use this thread to ask questions. There are NO dumb questions!

Disclaimer:
The Winter Welcomer is unofficial and informal and has no affiliation with any group, organization, or website. There is no professional instruction offered and no fees are exchanged. The more experienced hikers often help newer folks, but know that you enter the backcountry at your own risk so bring your 10 ESSENTIALS. You are personally responsible to have the equipment, knowledge, and physical ability to reach your destination and return safely. And as always, please practice all Leave No Trace principles.

[kushrocks]

For anyone looking to gain winter experience I highly recommend this outing. Its a great time with really good and experienced people like Britt who are willing to take the time and teach others about winter mountaineering. Don't be shy and feel free to ask questions; that is how we all learn!

[climbingcue]

Great event, looking forward to attending again.

[semitrueskerm]

May there be multiple feet of snow to enjoy! We need it.

[Cookiehiker]

Thanks for planning this hike! Looking forward to seeing old and new faces this year!!

[globreal]

Thanks for planning this hike! Looking forward to seeing old and new faces this year!!

When you see me, my face won’t be a new one…so that only leaves the other dismal option.

[MaryinColorado]

Hi hi! So I really love the intent of this event, and I am curious to explore whether you get enough of the right audience? I.e., is there opportunity or need for more broad awareness? There is a healthy contingent of winter-curious folks in the Facebook .com space. And this becomes a bit obvious every year when a WW attendee inevitably posts afterwards about the event, and a bunch of people indicate wishing they'd known about it.

Similar to how there is a contingent of .com people not on the Facebook page, the opposite holds true that Facebookers may not be looking at the .com forum. So I wanted to pose the question if there is need/desire for the event to be known beyond just the .com space, and if so, I'm happy to help spread the word. I would love to let our CO Springs monthly get-together group know, for example; probably a handful of folks in there that are winter-curious, and this would be a great opportunity for them.

Thanks, in advance, for thoughts/feedback.

[globreal]

Hi hi! So I really love the intent of this event, and I am curious to explore whether you get enough of the right audience? I.e., is there opportunity or need for more broad awareness? There is a healthy contingent of winter-curious folks in the Facebook .com space. And this becomes a bit obvious every year when a WW attendee inevitably posts afterwards about the event, and a bunch of people indicate wishing they'd known about it.

Similar to how there is a contingent of .com people not on the Facebook page, the opposite holds true that Facebookers may not be looking at the .com forum. So I wanted to pose the question if there is need/desire for the event to be known beyond just the .com space, and if so, I'm happy to help spread the word. I would love to let our CO Springs monthly get-together group know, for example; probably a handful of folks in there that are winter-curious, and this would be a great opportunity for them.

Thanks, in advance, for thoughts/feedback.

Mary, you make a really good point. I've just never used the 14ers Facebook page and don't follow it. So, you are more than welcome to share the word over there for a broader awareness. Go for it. You can copy the OP and put it on FB or you can steer people over here. Lets do whatever we can to help prevent accidents, injuries, and deaths in the back country and help people learn.

Thanks for connecting the communities!

[MaryinColorado]

Hi hi! So I really love the intent of this event, and I am curious to explore whether you get enough of the right audience? I.e., is there opportunity or need for more broad awareness? There is a healthy contingent of winter-curious folks in the Facebook .com space. And this becomes a bit obvious every year when a WW attendee inevitably posts afterwards about the event, and a bunch of people indicate wishing they'd known about it.

Similar to how there is a contingent of .com people not on the Facebook page, the opposite holds true that Facebookers may not be looking at the .com forum. So I wanted to pose the question if there is need/desire for the event to be known beyond just the .com space, and if so, I'm happy to help spread the word. I would love to let our CO Springs monthly get-together group know, for example; probably a handful of folks in there that are winter-curious, and this would be a great opportunity for them.

Thanks, in advance, for thoughts/feedback.

Mary, you make a really good point. I've just never used the 14ers Facebook page and don't follow it. So, you are more than welcome to share the word over there for a broader awareness. Go for it. You can copy the OP and put it on FB or you can steer people over here. Lets do whatever we can to help prevent accidents, injuries, and deaths in the back country and help people learn.

Thanks for connecting the communities!

Wonderful - thanks, Britt! I will definitely steer folks to this thread since you've wonderfully centralized all the information in your original post at the top.

I remember the difficulty of finding a good starting place to dip my toes into snow conditions, so I appreciate this event for others who may be faced with the same challenge.

Thanks!

[daway8]

Happy to see this tradition continue - this is always the event I refer people to when they say they're interested in getting into winter 14ers but are unsure of how to get started.

If there are no objections, I'd be happy to again lead (or join) a crew going up the West Ridge for those who are ready to take the next step up in their winter climbing. Happy to review the helmet safety tidbits I recently posted about and have no problem coaching people through those last dicey parts near the top (though this is a route best done by those who already have at least some class 3 experience in summer).

[Dragonfolly]

Definitely looking forward to this, excited to attend again!

[downishardest]

I’m very excited for this! After finishing a couple years ago, I’ve set my sights on other mtns, and I really want to build my skillset to do Ranier and Hood. I’ve been doing lower peaks a lot the last few winters, and plans for Elbert East Ridge in winter haven’t worked out yet. This would be a nice start to higher elevations in winter.