Climbing Mt Sneffels Via Snake Couloir - June 2016
We climbed Mt Sneffels, one of Colorado's 14,000 foot peaks, on June 3rd and 4th, 2016 with the Utah Climbing Club. Special thanks to Darren Knezek from Mountainwoks, Provo for planning such an awesome trip. Round trip via Blaine Basin was 14.0 miles with nearly 1 mile of vertical of gain (5,236 feet via barometric altimeter).
On day 1, we started out at 1pm and hiked 5 miles up from the Blaine Basin trailhead at 9,350 feet. It took us about 4 hrs 30 min to reach camp at treeline at 11,100 feet. Conditions were good except for late-season snow appearing at the 10,000-foot level, requiring slower snowshoe travel for most of the ascent
On day 2 we started off for the summit at 4am. We had to gain 2,000 vertical feet just to get to the start of the Snake Couloir. Initially, we needed snowshoes to avoid postholing, but as we approached the couloir the snow firmed up and we switched to crampons. The couloir itself was fantastic and iconic, getting steeper and steeper until hitting an estimated 50 degrees about half way up. Snow conditions were perfect for solid boot kicked steps and a secure ice-axe belay. The final pitch required that we take the "direct route," a 5.5 to 5.6 mixed climb, as the usual traverse around to the standard route was blocked by giant snow cornices.
Total time up to reach the summit from base camp was around 5 hours. After descending to the Lavender col, the snow was getting very soft. We had the best glissade we've ever done (that's sledding on your butt), dropping over 1,000 vertical feet in just a couple of minutes at 10+ mph. Time back to camp from the summit was 2 hrs 30 min. After packing up camp, it was 2 hrs back to the cars. All in all, one of the best mountaineering trips I've been on.
Song: Digitalism - Circles (Eric Prydz Remix)