Southwest Ridge

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Southwest Ridge

Page Type: Route

Location: Colorado, United States, North America

Lat/Lon: 37.70670°N / 107.6882°W

Route Type: Scramble + short rock climb

Time Required: Half a day

Difficulty: Class 5

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Page By: truchas

Created/Edited: Sep 10, 2004 / Jun 19, 2008

Object ID: 162106

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Table of Contents

Recommendations

This route is an alternative to the Northeast Ridge Route. There is less scrambling and less sustained exposure on this route; however, the difficulty is greater at the crux (Note: Spring snow may lessen the difficulty here significantly). Boulder hopping up to the saddle between Snowdon and Pt. 13,041 will be a pain in the butt as well. A short 10 ft. section of 4th class climbing and a short section of 5th class climbing will possibly be required when the route is snow free. A round trip of Snowdon using both the Southwest Ridge Route and the Northeast Ridge Route will make for a fun day. Take this route seriously in snow conditions and at least double your climb time in snow.

Approach

See the "Getting There" section on the Main page for information on getting to the trailhead. The road has now been paved all the way to Andrews Lake.

Hike up from the trailhead about 1/2 mile to a large open meadow on your left hand side. Cross this meadow and head towards the end of the meadow where the stream coming down from Snowdon enters it. Enter the forest to the right of the stream and hike uphill staying about 100 yards away from the stream. Do not get too close to the stream because it runs through a small box canyon.

After a short distance of about 1/4 mile or less, you will enter another large meadow. Follow along the stream on either side to the other side of the meadow below Snowdon.

Route Description

At the end of the second meadow, bushwack right (south) up some steep slopes through a lightly forested area to a bench below Snowdon. Continue heading south into a basin and continue on past some small ponds past Pt. 12,450 which will be on your right.

Make a left turn and boulder hop across a large ascending boulder field which will lead you to the saddle between Snowdon and 13,046. Climb directly up the Southwest Ridge for about 100 yards until you are just about 50 yards below the prominant notch on the ridge. Traverse down below this notch on some 3rd class rock.

You will now be below a steep gully which heads directly up. A 10 ft. section early on in this gully is low class 5 up a band of red rocks. Upclimbing this shouldn't be to difficult; however, a rappel may come in handy if you are downclimbing this. At the top of this gully, you will need to make a right turn and ascend a short 4th class section to the top of an arete of sorts, then traverse over into the next gully. At the top of this gully you will need to make another right turn and climb directly up onto the Southwest Ridge. You will now be above the prominant notch.

From here, the summit is an easy scramble up the ridge and up the broad summit plateau of Snowdon.

Essential Gear

At any time of year, an ice axe and crampons may be necessary if there is any snow in the gullies. A helmet is highly recommended also. A short rope may be needed for about a 20 ft. rappel if you choose to downclimb this route.

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