Mount Sneffels - 14150' - Lavender Col Route Class 2+
​June 2011

My Mount Sneffels Page on SP 

Sunrise on Gilpin Peak across Yankee Boy Basin

This was a fun climb on a Sunday during field camp. After doing Challenger Point the day before, I wanted to climb something in the San Juans so I flipped through the 14ers book and looked at a bunch of options. Since I really had never climbed on snow much before I was looking for something a little simpler. I would also be solo and didn't have a four wheel drive so I considered that as well. I decided on Mount Sneffels since I had heard the standard route is much better when snow covered. Usually in mid-June on a normal year much of the snow would be gone however the winter of 10/11 in Colorado was one of the wettest on record (contrary to the next one in 11/12). I also had never used my crampons before and was itching to start using them and put my new ice axe arrest skills I had learned to test. Since I needed to be in Silverton that evening this was also close by so I drove to Ouray and up the Yankee Boy Basin Road as far as my little car would go. 

Sunrise from Yankee Boy Basin

It was dark and well into the night when I finally got my car parked along the side of the road and I managed too get a couple hours of sleep before twilight came. I unloaded the bike and packed up and began walking the bike up the steep road. Luckily for me though, just as I passed the famous "road cut" a nice lady was driving up and offered me a ride up the road. I was really happy and accepted. This allowed me to start the actual climb before sunrise and as I was walking up Yankee Boy Basin on the firm snow I saw the first rays of light hitting Gilpin Peak shown in the photo at left. I continued straight up the valley and was feeling fantastic. In well under an hour I made it to the base of the Lavender Couloir and caught up to a couple guys preparing to ascend. They were nice enough to show me how to put on my crampons and I was on my way practically running up the perfect snow. Man did I feel good. In no time I made it to the col and veered left working my way up the steeper snow by this point. Now I didn't look too hard at the route description so when I reached the top of the couloir just below the summit I was greeted with a very steep drop on the northwest side I wasn't expecting. Looking for the correct way to ascend the final 100 feet, I first went right and quickly realized that wasn't right so I then went left around a notch and saw the final little bit to the summit. 

Mount Sneffels Summit Panorama

The summit was really amazing. I had my first views of the San Juan mountains! Yes, this was my first climb in the San Juans and I was loving every minute of it. Gilpin Peak, Dallas Peak and the Wilson Group were all visible to the south and west. The air was crisp and I was all alone. The summit was all mine. I was very happy to have chosen Sneffels. I had made it up in amazing time of less than 2 hours. The sun had literally only been up a little bit by the time i summitted and the lighting was fantastic. But I began to get cold so I started down. Retracing my steps I ran into the lady who gave me a ride at the Lavender Col. She had found her client (she was guiding a couple up the mountain) and they were doing great. By the time I got back to the basin the sun was higher and it was getting hot. I got back to my bike stash at the end of the road and bombed back down to the car and drove out to Silverton to meet my class to start week 5 of field camp at Molas Pass

Sneffels Southwest Ridge Spires

Yankee Boy Basin on the return

Yankee Boy Basin from the trailhead