SummitPost.org

I know there has been a fair amount of snow the last month, so I'm wondering about route conditions on Grays and Torreys. The three routes I was looking at were the SW ridge, Main route or Loveland Pass. I was leaning towards the SW Ridge route but it seems like it could have issues. Any beta would be appreciated.

Coming in this weekend and shooting for Grays and Torreys on 3/5 but we could also do it on 3/6 if weather became a problem. Any joiners would be welcomed. Please bring a short rope.

yeah might see you there, driving out from MO on 3/4 and and probably shoot for 3/6. looking to have a go from steven's gulch, no reservations on the particular route yet.

Tonka wrote:I know there has been a fair amount of snow the last month, so I'm wondering about route conditions on Grays and Torreys. The three routes I was looking at were the SW ridge, Main route or Loveland Pass. I was leaning towards the SW Ridge route but it seems like it could have issues. Any beta would be appreciated.

Coming in this weekend and shooting for Grays and Torreys on 3/5 but we could also do it on 3/6 if weather became a problem. Any joiners would be welcomed. Please bring a short rope.

Was on Evans just 2 days ago. I didn't take any pictures but Grays and Torreys are generously covered under white. As wicked as the winds were the last few days, there's prolly some decently sized cornices built up. There's a lot of snow in the Central Colorado mountains right now.

Thanks.

I'm probably leaning towards the main route but the SW ridge seemed like it was a little shorter. Also less crowds. The added miles with road closure in winter can tac on a lot of time. I'm staying in Dillon so I can actually hit all 3 trailheads on the way to the hotel Friday morning. I may do that. We've decided to hike Sat. and ski (A Basin) on Sun.

I climbed neighboring Kelso Mountain on 2/13. So not current info for you, but maybe useful? This is for the "main" Stevens Gulch route.

The road is not driveable at all unless you have a snowmobile or snow cat. You will have to start at the highway and hike it. Adds 5-6 miles RT from summer. I did not need snowshoes on the road though. From the summer trailhead there was a packed trail, but it was getting windblown over. Snowshoes were used, and probably necessary. The avy slopes on Kelso can be easily avoided by staying wide of them in the flats. The route was well wind packed (solid snow, but very firm), and postholing was minimized to a handful of willow traps. Try and follow old tracks if you can, I was following an old skin track when it wasn't blown in with snow.

I left the trail at the Kelso/Torreys saddle, so the rest is just from visual notes. The trail above was snow packed, with some windblown talus the upper part of Grays. The trail that splits to the saddle is all snow and possibly slide prone, you have to climb higher than normal to connect to Torreys. You will have to partially reclimb Grays to avoid this slope when descending from Torreys. I have done both in winter before and usually the connecting ridge is fairly windblown and mostly talus.

Good luck!