TRIP REPORTS: SNAKE COULOIR - MT. SNEFFELS

The Climb: Mt. Sneffels via the Snake Couloir

At 9:00 AM on Friday, I arrived at the T-rex parking lot near Morrison to meet up with six of the other Brutes (Andy, Fabio, Brian, Adam, Jeff and Mike). We piled our gear in to the back of two vehicles and began our six-hour drive to the Blaine Basin trailhead at the base of Mt. Sneffels. Upon arriving, we sorted through our packs to determine what gear we wanted to bring. Brian and I had originally planned on a ski descent down one of the many couloirs, but we were concerned about adding skis to our already heavy packs and climbing the final and most “technical” section in AT/Tele boots. As it turned out, the final push to the summit was not as difficult as we had imagined, and could have easily been climbed in ski boots with crampons.

After four slightly nerve-racking river crossings (see photo #263 and following) and the better part of 3.2 miles of hiking through snow, we arrived at Blaine Basin (our base camp). After a few minutes of admiring our surroundings and scouting out the snow conditions, we set up our bivys, ate dinner and headed to bed. At 3:30 AM on Saturday morning, we ate breakfast and packed up for our ascent of the Snake Couloir. As we hiked out of Blaine Basin, the climb grew gradually steeper up to the base of the couloir.

The snow conditions and surroundings of the Snake Couloir were just as I had hoped (see photos #262, 265 and 266): high walls, solid snow and increasing in steepness throughout. The first third of the Snake Couloir goes straight up the side of Mt. Sneffels and then dog-legs to the left for the final push to the top. The section after the dog-leg gets a bit steeper (see photo #267) until the base of the final pitch to the summit. Once at the top of the couloir, there are several ways to the summit. After failing to skirt by a steep cornice (wish I had brought my technical axe for this part), I opted for a short 5th-class mixed climb that brought me to the back side of the cornice. From there, I met the crux of the route – another short and slightly exposed rock climb to the summit.

The views from the summit were breathtaking and clear. There was not a single cloud in the sky. After a quick bite to eat, Jeff and I waited at the summit for the rest of the Brutes to make their final push to the summit. They climbed past our ascent route and found a nice 4+ mixed climb that led straight to the top (see photo #269).

After a long rest on the summit, we descended down the Lavender Col where a long glissade brought us to the snowfield that lead back to Blaine Basin. Once we reached our camp, we packed everything up and marched the final 3.2 miles back to the trailhead. In total, we ascended/descended nearly 5,000 feet. A fantastic time was had by all.