Mt. Sneffels & Castle peak, which is more challenging?

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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mtree
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Re: Mt. Sneffels & Castle peak, which is more challenging?

Post by mtree »

The 2 routes are very different. Due to the V-notch, that's about the only class 3 move on Sneffels. Its a big one depending on your size. I didn't encounter anything I'd consider class 3 on Castle.

Sneffels you climb in a gully before crossing the V-notch and scampering to the summit.
Castle you hug the side of a mountain before hiking along a ridge. The rock gets real crappy towards the summit, but the exposure isn't bad unless you wander too far off the ridge. Which is more challenging? Technically, I guess Sneffels.
- I didn't say it was your fault. I said I was blaming you.
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Violet
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Re: Mt. Sneffels & Castle peak, which is more challenging?

Post by Violet »

Thank you for sharing this :). I like your opinions.
Sneffels is the most beautiful 14er so far in my eyes. But the rocks condition there are better than on Castle. I feel more stable there climbing than in Aspen.
Attaching two pics from Mt. Sneffels.

Watching the peak of Sneffels in distance
IMG_3220-compressed.jpeg
On the peak watching down
IMG_3005-compressed.jpeg
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Steve2
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Re: Mt. Sneffels & Castle peak, which is more challenging?

Post by Steve2 »

Sneffels and the V-notch are a blast! It made the drudgery of the boulder field worth it.
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Violet
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Re: Mt. Sneffels & Castle peak, which is more challenging?

Post by Violet »

Steve2 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 10, 2026 5:48 am Sneffels and the V-notch are a blast! It made the drudgery of the boulder field worth it.
I just liked the whole trip! Everything was so beautiful over there. Unforgettable memory!

There is an interesting story to tell about the trip to Sneffels, I had a very dramatic day the 1st time over there.

We got the trailhead of Blue lake in the morning, my partner couldn’t find a very important personal thing, then we decided to go back to hotel in Ouray to check. Before we left the trailhead, we saw a Tesla car stuck on a big rock and couldn’t move. A few people came to help also including the ranger, still couldn’t move because of the heavy battery. We had use a wire rope to hook Tesla and moved Jeep to pull it off the rock. After giving a help hand, on the way back to hotel, the dirty bumpy road off the trailhead shook off the portable gas tank hanging on the side outside Jeep. We didn’t find it until we got to hotel. Fortunately, We found the important thing in hotel, now we needed to go back to look for the fallen gas tank as well as finishing the trail. On the dirt road to Blue lake trailhead, we couldn’t find the tank. Sadly, we parked the jeep at trailhead, headed into trail while seeing all other people hiking out because it was afternoon. We reached the lower blue lake finally , had snack, came back to trailhead. Suddenly, we found a “duck” sitting on the jeep, which was from someone giving a thumbs up for the jeep. Feeling happy, we started to leave, after driving a couple of minutes, still on the dirt road, we saw someone waving at us. We stopped and found a camping guy in the field nearby. He told us he had our lost gas tank, he even drove to the trailhead to look for which vehicle dropped it and found it was from our jeep while we were still hiking. He decided to camp there and wait for us to coming out of the trail to give it to us………… It is a touching story…….. I still remember his name is Scott.

2nd time, we drove Rubicon to Yankee boy basin to upper parking lot and hiked the standard route to the peak of Sneffels.

This is why this mountain makes me feel special.