Snowmass West Face

Crystal Trailhead

Typically I climb solo but a friend was in town for the summer so I had a climbing partner for a change. We arrived at Marble just after sunset. Shortly I found myself negotiating the road to Crystal in the dark. Roach says the road "may challenge some passenger cars", and I believe that to be a severe understatement. I was driving a Nissan 4x4, and although I didn't require 4-wheel drive, I did require the clearance. Maybe it was just the atmosphere of driving the road at night, where all the rocks seem amplified by the shadows from the headlights, coupled with the noise from the raging river just out the passenger window. The road seemed a bit easier driving out in the daylight. However, I don't think there's any way you're going to drive a passenger car to Crystal. An SUV with good clearance is probably okay. There is another road that stays higher and gets you to a trailhead a little bit closer to the mountain, it might be easier to drive but I don't know. After a few miles of the rough road I decided to call it a day and finish the drive to Crystal in the morning. I pulled over into some nice camping spots next to the river and set up camp. In the morning we awoke to discover we had stopped just a few hundred yards short of Crystal. Directly adjacent to our campsite was an old historical building.

The Climb

We started out down the road and passed through the very bizarre town of Crystal. Then the road starts uphill and except for one large rock just before we turned left at a junction the road seemed easier than what we had driven the night before. We continued along the side of a steep valley and soon we started to encounter some vehicles pulled off into the trees at some campsites.

We broke out of the trees and turned left at a junction near a cabin. We got off track briefly as we stayed on the road too long and started to climb up some switchbacks on the alternate road that comes from Marble. We backtracked and found the parking area for the Lead King Basin trailhead. There is a foot trail heading north from the parking area and it took us through some nice green aspen forest. Then we started climbing next to a nice waterfall and soon we reached Geneva lake. From here we climbed up a steep little slope to reach Little Gem Lake.

We continued north from the lake and dropped down to the base of a fanned out scree pile at the bottom of Snowmass' west face. I wasn't sure exactly where the standard route was, and decided on an ascent that would take us up the far left gully on the face and then along the crest of the ridge that forms the skyline (the yellow route in the photo). Later, I realized that the standard route probably takes one of the red lines, but I think the route we took might be better. I like climbing along a ridge crest better than up a scree gully.

We started up the falluvial debris and then headed left, crossing a few snow patches, and eventually reaching the base of the leftmost gully. The climbing to this point is straightforward and probably not even Class 2. There is a short steep section as you initially climb up the gully on some small ledges with some loose rock. This section is probably Class 2+. From here we angled left and reached the crest of the ridge. The ridge is quite steep on the north side, and you get a great view of Capitol and the connecting ridge, as well as a look down at Siberia lake. Next we stayed on or slightly right of the ridge crest climbing over medium sized rocks. The rocks were large enough that they were really quite stable by Elk standards. After looking down the "standard" route from the summit ridge, I suspect it might be looser than the way we came up. After about 1200 feet of tiring rock-hopping we made it to the summit ridge.

Perhaps the toughest part of the route is the last few hundred yards along the narrow summit ridge. You will find some moderate exposure and a few class 3 moves, but really it is quite easy. Stay to the right (west) to avoid any difficulties. At last we came upon the summit. The true peak is the top of an oblisk style rock about 6 feet tall. Being a purist, I climbed the last six feet, and then snapped a photo of my climbing partner on the real summit. We peered down the east side and a couple of parties were descending the snowfield.

We descended our ascent route and it was quite uneventful except for a few hail pellets that came and went. This route is more than 5,000 feet of gain over 13 miles. Most of the hard work is the last mile, where you climb straight up the west face over large rocks with no trail. We climbed in the middle of summer on a weekend, but we saw only one other party on the west face. This side of the mountain is certainly less crowded and that in itself makes it a nice climb despite the fact that the west face is not as pretty as the view from Snowmass lake (and it really is just a big pile of rocks, so if you don't like rocks, take the east face).

Images

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