May 29, 1997 - Approach from Yankee Boy Basin. Standard route up Lavender Col.
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Mount Sneffels, located roughly between Ouray and Telluride, is one of the most beautiful mountains in Colorado. The best view of it is on Highway 62 west of Ridgeway, from Dallas Divide. |
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We arrived at Yankee Boy basin in the early afternoon
on May 29th and decided to pack in as far as possible. We
ended up about as far as we could go at this picturesque
campsite situated between Mt. Sneffels and Gilpin Peak
(background), which is practically at the base of the
snowfield that leads up to Lavender Col on the southeast
side of Sneffels. The night was very windy and snowy, yet relatively warm. The skies were clear the next morning, but clouds began gathering to the east around 8 am. |
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(left) This is a view of the snowfield that leads to
Lavender Col. Notice the avalanche runout on the left
side of the slopes. This snowfield is moderately sloped
and easy to climb with snow cover. It's best to stay
along the righthand side. Cornices tend to form on the
this side (south) of the col and they seem to be larger
on the right. There's also a rock outcroping in the
center of the col that you can climb to avoid the
cornices as well.
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(left) Once the summit of Lavender Col is attained,
the climb gets more interesting. You need to snow climb
this semi-steep couloir. Be sure you have an ice axe and
know how to use it if there is snow present (and most of
the time there is). The couloir is deceptively long but
not very difficult. The maximum angle is probably around
50 degrees. You'll have to exit the couloir to the right
about 20 feet before you reach the top to attain the
summit ridge. Go ahead and peek over it down the north
face - don't get too close to the edge though since you
can't tell how thick the snow is.
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(right) Twenty feet below the top of the couloir, you have to find a place to climb up to the summit ridge. There's a small notch that we climbed through. It should be easy to find - just look for the most obvious place! The climbing is easy - actually, it should be called scrambling. There's plenty of footholds and handholds but for some, it's enough to get your adrenelin ready for what lies ahead...
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(right) The last 15 feet of snow is steep with an
awkward side angle just to make it interesting. Be sure
to plant your ice axe deep here to keep yourself secured.
If you have a short kermantle rope or daisy chain, attach
that to your ice axe the clip in to a harness and use the
ice axe to belay yourself. This is a great finish on a
great mountain! Look for Wetterhorn and Uncompahgre in the left background of this photo. |
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Now you're rewarded with awesome views. On a clear
day, you can see north all the way to Grand Junction! To
the south you're treated to a view of continuous
mountains including about six fourteeners (Needle
Mountains and the Handies Group). To the east you can
easily spot Wetterhorn and Uncompahgre. To the west (as
shown here), you can see Mount Wilson, Wilson Peak, and
El Diente. I highly reccommend Mt. Sneffels. If you camp where we did, you can even be at the summit in under 3 hours. Be sure to glissade from Lavender Col back to your camp! |
