Mt Sneffels (14,150) by Brian Schultz Tuesday July 8, 1997
Due to my change in plans, I was slightly unprepared for Mt Sneffels. I hadn't spent much time reading up on the route because this one wasn't even on my itinerary. Waving off Little Bear opened up a free day and Sneffels was picked because of its close proximity. After success on Wetterhorn I awoke this morning feeling very sure of myself and drove to Ouray and the Yankee Boy Basin. At 8:00 I was ready to go. I started up the road and followed it into the scenic basin which was still full of large snow patches. I thought the steep peak in front of me was Sneffels and wondered how I was going to get up it.
I was surprised when I came upon a sign indicating Mt Sneffels was to the right. A sign up here? I sure could have used a sign in the Silver Pick Basin two years ago.The fact that Sneffels was hidden in a low cloud cover justified my confusion (somewhat) and I was relieved when I turned right and found the couloir going up to the saddle. But had I been paying attention and studied the map, no sign should have been necessary. I guess it was put there for people like me.
Unfortunately the clouds were getting darker and when I finally got up the very steep scree to the saddle, thunder was rumbling. The next couloir had some snow in it and looked even steeper! The ice ax came in handy as I started up and at the halfway point a couple was coming down. He made the summit; she quit 20 feet from the top when she felt static in the air and turned back. Oh great, now what to do? This was just too similar to yesterday on Wetterhorn. I looked back down the couloir, amazed at how steep it really was. Not wanting to turn around just yet, I went up a little farther and found shelter under a slight overhang and waited only a short time before the storm moved past. All was quiet but it started snowing lightly.
I continued up and found the crack to exit the gully and made a dash up the ledges. They weren't as hard as Wetterhorn but climbing up while it was snowing was identical to its climb. I arrived on the summit at 11:15, signed the register and left, having spent all of 30 seconds up there. It was freezing on top and with the poor visibility I couldn't see much. At least when I got back into the gully the snow let up. At the bottom a solo climber was making his way up- he was concerned about the steep snow in the gully and not having an ax.
On my way down the scree gully I saw a helicopter circling the basin and finally landing in a flat area. Three guys jumped out and raced up Sneffels' southwest ridge and stopped, appearing to check out the other side of the ridge, then just as quickly descended back down to the chopper. I don't know if someone was in trouble or what, I never saw anything later in the paper about it.
The rest of the descent was easy but I got off route in one of the big snowfields in the basin for a while before regaining the trail. In the lower basin the sun came out, turning the afternoon into a beautiful warm day. On the road to the car I met a guy who said he was the owner of all the private land in the area- a very nice man named Walker. And the solo climber caught up and informed me he made the summit but was definitely going to buy an ice ax. I made it to the car at 2:15 and drove to Telluride, hoping for good weather the next two days for El Diente and Wilson Peak.
Total hike time- 6 hours 15 minutes