Route Climbed: SW Ridge (3rd class route) Date Climbed: 5 July, 2003
What a phenomenal climb! Route finding problems are somewhat interesting, but not nearly as complicated as many of the other 3rd/4th class routes in Colorado. Some rotten rock is found leading up to the prominent notch in the ridge, but above the notch the rock is suprisingly very solid. Final stretch to the summit finds some exciting exposure on a neat ridgeline that narrows to as little as 12 inches in places. Don't let the class 3 rating scare you off of this route - the standard route is one big long choss pile and no where NEAR as fun (IMHO) as this ridge. DO THIS ROUTE!
Route Climbed: SW Ridge Date Climbed: 27 August, 2000
Having turned back the previous day due to threatening thunderclouds (some naïve guy from Holland had kept going without any worries), I got an alpine start to give me a better probability of escaping bad weather, leaving my car in the dark at 5.22. I parked well below the standard 2WD parking lot at 5.5 mi past the turnoff from highway 550, where my map-deciphering placed me a good, solid 4,000 ft below the summit. Hiking through the sunrise, I was amazed by the beauty of Yankee Boy Basin and the enormity of the peaks of the area- I didn't know which mountain was the right one until I was on its lower slopes! Hiking on a weak and sore ankle, I still almost caught up to the 'Swank bro's (one of the guys had done 34 14ers, the other 30),' whom I'd first spotted at the saddle, on the class 3/4 ridge variation taken (fun climbing!). Summited at 9.15, hanging out to talk to the other guys on top and enjoy the beauty of the surroundings, before leaving @ 9.35 (clouds already starting to build). Took the standard scree slog route down, reaching the car @ 12.35.
Route Climbed: South Ridge Date Climbed: June 1995, July 1996
Climbed with James Harrison in 1995 and Chris Snell in 1996, both times up the South Ridge. The South Ridge is an excellent choice and much more interesting than the standard route up Scree Col. Although the route at times looks impassible, one should never encounter climbing harder than hard 3rd class with proper route finding. Highly recommended.
I attempted the Snake Couloir in September of 1993, but we turned back just below the turn. Lightning was striking nearby peaks causing massive rockfall. We got the heck out of there.
Route Climbed: Class 3 Route Date Climbed: July 29, 2002
I had the pleasure of climbing this mountain this summer after hearing so much about it for a long time. We took the Class 3 route which was incredibly invigorating and spectacular. The view of the Blue Lakes from the Class 3 route was great. Weather conditions were very nice as we were able to take our time and enjoy the incredible view from the summit. One of, if not the best view from a 14er. I would definitely climb this mountain many more times. We descended the standard route. It was fun climbing this mountain with someone who had only climbed one other 14er (Sherman). The look on his face was priceless.
Route Climbed: South Ridge Date Climbed: August 27
Great route. I'm glad we opted for this route instead of the hundreds of people on the other route. Who would drive all the way to the end of the road? Why even climb the peak? As roach says, "this climb is a lark if you choose to drive all the way up into Yankee Boy Basin."
Route Climbed: Lavender Col Date Climbed: 02-20-00
"Finally - a winter ascent of a 14'er!! One of the most beautiful peaks I've ever climbed. Never would have made it without my good friend and primo-partner, Rain Sussman. Also, my first approach using skis instead of snowshoes -- WOW, am I ever sold on 'em!!
Route Climbed: Mt Sneffles-N. Face route from Blue Lakes Pass Date Climbed: August 89
We parked at the standard route trailhead, reaching Blue Lakes Pass early and began our traverse around to the north. In a little over an hour into the traverse we’d gained a few hundred feet to cross the man eating scree field immediately below the cliff band and dropped several hundred feet to cross a large scree bowl to come within sight of the couloir. It turned out to be cool and inviting, narrow tall walled, steep, mostly good footing, relatively good rock and gradually curving up out of sight. After an hour or so on, we were at the DogLeg looking down a thousand feet of ice into Blaine basin. Looking up to 500 feet of ice in the couloir above and an inviting ledge system on the right shoulder of the couloir above. We followed the ledge system to the ridge, joining the standard route and on 300 feet to the summit. Later returning via the standard route.
The traverse is mostly 2nd class and the couloirs are mostly 3rd class with a few moves of 4th class. The upper couloir especially has several sections of loose rock wall. We were continually aware not to pull a refrigerator size rock down on ourselves-literally!! The trip from car to summit is probably about 4 to 5 hours. We took a couple hours longer as we were enjoying the sights and had not actually planned to summit. The weather was excellent and everything seemed to invite us on.
More info in trip report. I do not know of anyone else trying this route and as we had a wonderful time would love to hear you experiences.
Route Climbed: Southeast face via Yankee Boy Basin. Date Climbed: July,3,2002
Climbed Sneffels during the dry season. Even though, we encountered lighting on the way down and hiked back to Yankee Boy in the rain. It is best to start early and get down before noon. Not having 4-Wheel drive made the trip much longer. It is possibe to start from the 12,000 foot level with 4-wheel drive in the summer. The notch at the top of the couloir could be considered minor rock climbing, but once past the notch the summit pitch was rather easy. It is the opinion of this climber that the pitch to Lavender Col was the hardest part of the route. Mostly due to the lack of footing the loose scree provides. By the way an article in the Denver Post revealed that Sneffels is actually 14,153'. A recent Geological survey set the mark three feet higher. So now your t-shirt is obsolete!
Route Climbed: Lavender Col Date Climbed: June 18, 2002
I HATE scree! I took the standard Lavender Col route and didn't care for the stretch of scree bed below Lavender Col at all. Another little tip: when you go up the couloir after reaching Lavender Col, don't go all the way to the top! I got stuck up there and ended up doing some pretty scary scrambling. You want to turn left and go up some rocks about 50 feet below the top of the boulder laden couloir. Fortunately on the way down, I found out where I had gone wrong -- good thing too 'cause I had no intention of coming down the way I went up!
Started at the lower end of Yankee Boy Basin at 7:45 because my little Chevy Prizm couldn't make it up the rest of the road. Made the hike much longer than it really was, but it was a gorgeous day for it. There were only 2 other hikers on the mountain (save for the occasional jeep that passed me). What a great way to enjoy the outdoors! Made summit by 11:00 am. Third 14er and first solo.
This is a very enjoyable hike in the summer time, I loved walking through the basin with all the flowers and green grass. Absolutely beautiful!
Route Climbed: Yankee Boy Basin, Southeast Face Date Climbed: July 3, 2002
Mount Sneffels is a difficult climb, but it is well worth the effort. Start early and get down early is the only way to be sure that you won't be overcome by a thunderstorm (I learned that the hard way). So, keeping that in mind, have fun and don't forget to sign the registry at the summit!
Route Climbed: Yankee Boy Basin approach, South Slopes Date Climbed: July 4,2002
Started off to climb the class 3 southwest ridge and made it to about 13,500 when suddently it began to rain which turned to freezing rain, gropple, and finally snow. This made the rock very slippery so we decided to head back down and try again some other day. Little did we know that that other day would be just a few hours later. Around 4pm the clouds broke up and the sun came out. So we decided to give it another try. We dug deep and pushed our way to the summit in a very quick 3 hours using the south slopes route. What an amazing view from this summit. By far the best summit I've hiked.
Route Climbed: Yankee Boy Basin-south slopes Date Climbed: July 6, 1994
This is the first 14'er since I turned 50. My first attempt was laughable. I drove to the end of the Yankee Boy Basin road (it's now closed). Got there after noon. Grabbed my Camera bag, and took off. I made it to the scree col. It was there I realized I shouldn't have taken my camera bag and I should have taken some water. The couloir was full of snow and me with tennis shoes. I went home to reexamine my climbing.
On my second attempt, I drove to the end of the road the night before and spent the night in my PU. Got up at day break, took my camera only, some water etc and climbed to the summit. Wasn't ready for the final 2+ scramble at the summit but I decided I would have to "just do it". I did it. I couldn't take any pictures because I spent about 20 minutes in a cloud. I caught a few glimpses of Blue Lakes but not much else. Sneffels is the only 14'er that can be seen from Grand Junction, my home town. But only on clear days.
DaFreshman - Jul 7, 2003 8:11 am
Route Climbed: SW Ridge (3rd class route) Date Climbed: 5 July, 2003What a phenomenal climb! Route finding problems are somewhat interesting, but not nearly as complicated as many of the other 3rd/4th class routes in Colorado. Some rotten rock is found leading up to the prominent notch in the ridge, but above the notch the rock is suprisingly very solid. Final stretch to the summit finds some exciting exposure on a neat ridgeline that narrows to as little as 12 inches in places. Don't let the class 3 rating scare you off of this route - the standard route is one big long choss pile and no where NEAR as fun (IMHO) as this ridge. DO THIS ROUTE!
nickd - Jun 15, 2003 9:35 pm
Route Climbed: lavender col Date Climbed: 6-12-03climbed sneffels standard route 6-12-03. road dry to 11,400', south basin mostly melted out. east gully in good shape. the pic below shows the east gully (upper part of standard route). this shows the south basin, and this one is a cool view from sneffels toward the telluride area.
by way of crowds - there was no one else in the basin, and no-one but my party of two on the mountain that particular thursday.
Alan Ellis - Jun 5, 2003 8:16 pm
Route Climbed: Standard Route/Lavender Col Date Climbed: July 4, 2002Summited in quarter-size snow with my wife and 14 yr old son. Too many 4WDs and other vehicles in Yankee Boy basin though. Otherwise......good fun!
Diggler - Mar 21, 2003 12:06 pm
Route Climbed: SW Ridge Date Climbed: 27 August, 2000Having turned back the previous day due to threatening thunderclouds (some naïve guy from Holland had kept going without any worries), I got an alpine start to give me a better probability of escaping bad weather, leaving my car in the dark at 5.22. I parked well below the standard 2WD parking lot at 5.5 mi past the turnoff from highway 550, where my map-deciphering placed me a good, solid 4,000 ft below the summit. Hiking through the sunrise, I was amazed by the beauty of Yankee Boy Basin and the enormity of the peaks of the area- I didn't know which mountain was the right one until I was on its lower slopes! Hiking on a weak and sore ankle, I still almost caught up to the 'Swank bro's (one of the guys had done 34 14ers, the other 30),' whom I'd first spotted at the saddle, on the class 3/4 ridge variation taken (fun climbing!). Summited at 9.15, hanging out to talk to the other guys on top and enjoy the beauty of the surroundings, before leaving @ 9.35 (clouds already starting to build). Took the standard scree slog route down, reaching the car @ 12.35.
dsnell - Dec 18, 2002 3:22 pm
Route Climbed: South Ridge Date Climbed: June 1995, July 1996Climbed with James Harrison in 1995 and Chris Snell in 1996, both times up the South Ridge. The South Ridge is an excellent choice and much more interesting than the standard route up Scree Col. Although the route at times looks impassible, one should never encounter climbing harder than hard 3rd class with proper route finding. Highly recommended.
I attempted the Snake Couloir in September of 1993, but we turned back just below the turn. Lightning was striking nearby peaks causing massive rockfall. We got the heck out of there.
markmay - Dec 8, 2002 9:27 am
Route Climbed: South Ridge & 4th Class Col Date Climbed: June 10 2002Great Hike! I want to come back for the North lakes route.
mtnhiker13 - Nov 19, 2002 4:20 pm
Route Climbed: Class 3 Route Date Climbed: July 29, 2002I had the pleasure of climbing this mountain this summer after hearing so much about it for a long time. We took the Class 3 route which was incredibly invigorating and spectacular. The view of the Blue Lakes from the Class 3 route was great. Weather conditions were very nice as we were able to take our time and enjoy the incredible view from the summit. One of, if not the best view from a 14er. I would definitely climb this mountain many more times. We descended the standard route. It was fun climbing this mountain with someone who had only climbed one other 14er (Sherman). The look on his face was priceless.
cruzit - Nov 16, 2002 7:08 pm
Route Climbed: Lavender Col Date Climbed: July 4, 2002The snow was beautiful and the company even better. Summitted with my husband, mtntrail2 and my son.
lemushratfou - Oct 9, 2002 2:34 pm
Route Climbed: South Ridge Date Climbed: September 15,2002Nice fun route with some good scrambling on a beautiful sunny day.Reminded me of the Cuillin mountains over here in Scotland.
Alex :o)
rmjwinters - Oct 6, 2002 1:41 pm
Route Climbed: South Ridge Date Climbed: August 27Great route. I'm glad we opted for this route instead of the hundreds of people on the other route. Who would drive all the way to the end of the road? Why even climb the peak? As roach says, "this climb is a lark if you choose to drive all the way up into Yankee Boy Basin."
mountrobson - Sep 26, 2002 4:55 am
Route Climbed: Lavender Col Date Climbed: 02-20-00"Finally - a winter ascent of a 14'er!! One of the most beautiful peaks I've ever climbed. Never would have made it without my good friend and primo-partner, Rain Sussman. Also, my first approach using skis instead of snowshoes -- WOW, am I ever sold on 'em!!
Rich Huss - Aug 11, 2002 10:50 am
Route Climbed: Mt Sneffles-N. Face route from Blue Lakes Pass Date Climbed: August 89We parked at the standard route trailhead, reaching Blue Lakes Pass early and began our traverse around to the north. In a little over an hour into the traverse we’d gained a few hundred feet to cross the man eating scree field immediately below the cliff band and dropped several hundred feet to cross a large scree bowl to come within sight of the couloir. It turned out to be cool and inviting, narrow tall walled, steep, mostly good footing, relatively good rock and gradually curving up out of sight. After an hour or so on, we were at the DogLeg looking down a thousand feet of ice into Blaine basin. Looking up to 500 feet of ice in the couloir above and an inviting ledge system on the right shoulder of the couloir above. We followed the ledge system to the ridge, joining the standard route and on 300 feet to the summit. Later returning via the standard route.
The traverse is mostly 2nd class and the couloirs are mostly 3rd class with a few moves of 4th class. The upper couloir especially has several sections of loose rock wall. We were continually aware not to pull a refrigerator size rock down on ourselves-literally!! The trip from car to summit is probably about 4 to 5 hours. We took a couple hours longer as we were enjoying the sights and had not actually planned to summit. The weather was excellent and everything seemed to invite us on.
More info in trip report. I do not know of anyone else trying this route and as we had a wonderful time would love to hear you experiences.
screehopper - Jul 9, 2002 8:08 pm
Route Climbed: Southeast face via Yankee Boy Basin. Date Climbed: July,3,2002Climbed Sneffels during the dry season. Even though, we encountered lighting on the way down and hiked back to Yankee Boy in the rain. It is best to start early and get down before noon. Not having 4-Wheel drive made the trip much longer. It is possibe to start from the 12,000 foot level with 4-wheel drive in the summer. The notch at the top of the couloir could be considered minor rock climbing, but once past the notch the summit pitch was rather easy. It is the opinion of this climber that the pitch to Lavender Col was the hardest part of the route. Mostly due to the lack of footing the loose scree provides. By the way an article in the Denver Post revealed that Sneffels is actually 14,153'. A recent Geological survey set the mark three feet higher. So now your t-shirt is obsolete!
charles97 - Jul 9, 2002 5:25 pm
Route Climbed: Lavender Col Date Climbed: June 18, 2002I HATE scree! I took the standard Lavender Col route and didn't care for the stretch of scree bed below Lavender Col at all. Another little tip: when you go up the couloir after reaching Lavender Col, don't go all the way to the top! I got stuck up there and ended up doing some pretty scary scrambling. You want to turn left and go up some rocks about 50 feet below the top of the boulder laden couloir. Fortunately on the way down, I found out where I had gone wrong -- good thing too 'cause I had no intention of coming down the way I went up!
Started at the lower end of Yankee Boy Basin at 7:45 because my little Chevy Prizm couldn't make it up the rest of the road. Made the hike much longer than it really was, but it was a gorgeous day for it. There were only 2 other hikers on the mountain (save for the occasional jeep that passed me). What a great way to enjoy the outdoors! Made summit by 11:00 am. Third 14er and first solo.
This is a very enjoyable hike in the summer time, I loved walking through the basin with all the flowers and green grass. Absolutely beautiful!
SoonerJDB - Jul 7, 2002 1:19 pm
Route Climbed: Yankee Boy Basin, Southeast Face Date Climbed: July 3, 2002Mount Sneffels is a difficult climb, but it is well worth the effort. Start early and get down early is the only way to be sure that you won't be overcome by a thunderstorm (I learned that the hard way). So, keeping that in mind, have fun and don't forget to sign the registry at the summit!
xskier77 - Jul 5, 2002 6:18 pm
Route Climbed: Yankee Boy Basin approach, South Slopes Date Climbed: July 4,2002Started off to climb the class 3 southwest ridge and made it to about 13,500 when suddently it began to rain which turned to freezing rain, gropple, and finally snow. This made the rock very slippery so we decided to head back down and try again some other day. Little did we know that that other day would be just a few hours later. Around 4pm the clouds broke up and the sun came out. So we decided to give it another try. We dug deep and pushed our way to the summit in a very quick 3 hours using the south slopes route. What an amazing view from this summit. By far the best summit I've hiked.
wayneaflick - Jun 25, 2002 8:49 pm
Route Climbed: Yankee Boy Basin-south slopes Date Climbed: July 6, 1994This is the first 14'er since I turned 50. My first attempt was laughable. I drove to the end of the Yankee Boy Basin road (it's now closed). Got there after noon. Grabbed my Camera bag, and took off. I made it to the scree col. It was there I realized I shouldn't have taken my camera bag and I should have taken some water. The couloir was full of snow and me with tennis shoes. I went home to reexamine my climbing.
On my second attempt, I drove to the end of the road the night before and spent the night in my PU. Got up at day break, took my camera only, some water etc and climbed to the summit. Wasn't ready for the final 2+ scramble at the summit but I decided I would have to "just do it". I did it. I couldn't take any pictures because I spent about 20 minutes in a cloud. I caught a few glimpses of Blue Lakes but not much else. Sneffels is the only 14'er that can be seen from Grand Junction, my home town. But only on clear days.
climbcolorado - May 26, 2002 7:51 pm
Route Climbed: Southeast Ridge Date Climbed: 5/25/02Fun climb with my two dogs! I had to climb a steep coulior to the left because the standard routes final 2+ move was not good for my large dogs!
Matt Mahoney - May 17, 2002 3:42 pm
Route Climbed: Southwest ridge Date Climbed: July 9 2001Very fun class 3 climb. Descended the standard route back to Yankee Boy.
jeffn - Apr 3, 2002 7:36 pm
Route Climbed: Standard Date Climbed: August 98Strange having trucks full of people go by that high but a beautiful hike.