North Mt. Eolus, Needles Range, CO

View looking north from the summit of North Eolus (14,039 ft), Needles Range, San Juan Mountains, Colorado at 10:00 AM, 05/27/1983, with the high peaks of the Grenadier Range in the background. We approached the peak on snowshoes from the Noname Creek drainage, and ascended via the north couloir between Eolus and Glacier Point. From the head of the couloir we climbed to the northeast ridge on dense snow and ice and followed it to the summit. Heavy wet snow avalanches were a problem on the return to high camp. If we were to repeat the climb under the same conditions, we'd opt for a much earlier start to be off the peak by the warm part of the day. Climbers are Mark Pontius and Doug Hansen.