Sneffels Southwest Ridge
Date: 09/5/2024
Partner: Solo, Kristi Henes, Mike Poland
Trailhead: Yankee Boy Basin
Distance: 3.9m
Elevation Gain: 2450ft
Duration: 4hrs
GPX
Sneffels 14ers.com Page
Solid rock and great views on one of Colorado's most iconic peaks make the southwest ridge the hands down best summer route up Sneffels. For a longer (and more challeging) day combine this route with the class 4 west to east traverse of Kismet.
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3.9m - 2450ft - 4hrs
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Sneffels SW Ridge and Kismet from Gilpin
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Hiking to Blue Lakes Pass from Yankee Boy. Gilpin in the background
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Blue Lakes Pass and Sneffels SW ridge in view
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On Blue Lakes Pass with the Block Tops in the background
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The terrain is much better than it looks and gets much better
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Blocky, Solid, Scrambly
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We descended a notch to the east and contoured around before climbing more blocky terrain
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Kristi descending the notch
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Climbing back to the ridge after the notch
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The ridge narrows and has some mild exposure
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Looking back down the ridge - Gilpin and the Block Tops behind - The Wilsons off in the distance on the top right
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Yankee Boy views
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Looking down the ridge with Block Tops on the left and Dallas on the right
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Dallas and Blue Lakes from the summit
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Yeah Buddy!
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Descending Sneffels' standard route to the Kismet saddle
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We descended this loose notch to Lavendar Couloir
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Kristi in the notch
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After descending the lower third of Lavendar we reached the Kismet saddle
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Descending from the Kismet saddle consists mostly of hard pan and loose rock
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Much better with snow
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ok... this is fun!
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Back to the truck
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A nice trail back to the truck. Stony Mountain (12er) is a center piece of Yankee Boy Basin
