Route Climbed: West Ridge Date Climbed: September 2004
Did the West Ridge from Blue Lakes side. We parked at the snow closure due to our descent of the East Ridge route--no snow in Cristo Couloir for a glissade in September. Boo. Looking forward to Inwood Arete, summer 2005.
Route Climbed: East Ridge and Inwood Date Climbed: 2/03 and 8/04
Did the east ridge in the winter. . .fun, eneventful slogg.
Got totally lost on Inwood. Made it to the knife edge, soloed up a chimney and cut left. . .from there it was nothing but scary choss climbing to the top. Nice to top out as the sun was going down. We were greated by mountain goats.
Route Climbed: East Slopes Date Climbed: June 6, 2004
An absolutely gorgeous day to hike, followed by the most amazing site at the summit!! A well-versed "mountain" man at the summit gave us a verbal "tour" of our surroundings- counting out & naming 30 14ers that we could clearly see from the top!!! We even had a little fun on the way down:-) We had met 3 other people at the top, & we decided to head down the backside- by glasading on trash bags! ...at a very fast rate might I add:-) Do this hike, it's incredible!
Route Climbed: East Ridge Date Climbed: May 10, 2005
He is back and this time he is pissed!
Bagged it this time. The weather window was perfect after less than a perfect weekend - blue skies with periods of total windlessness. I wished I started earlier which would have reduced the postholing on descent (to my waist with snowshoes).
The views from the summit were stupendous in all directions. Did not see a soul all day except for the ptarmigan. Car to car - 7 hours 45 minutes.
Route Climbed: East Ridge Date Climbed: Winter/Spring 2004
I used this mountain to train for the Himalayas, hiking it with a big pack several times. In the winter, when the hordes of people aren't on it, this hike is a lot of fun. I climbed it at night with a full moon once, which was very cool (and cold). Overall an excellent hike, mellow but sustained.
Route Climbed: East Ridge Date Climbed: April 20, 2005
Skinned and skied the east ridge. Continuous snow all the way. Went from car to car without clicking out of the skis.
Brian Kalet - Apr 7, 2005 5:10 pm Date Climbed: Jul 14, 2004
Climbed Thrice
July 14, 2004: West Ridge (ascent), East Ridge (descent)
April 16, 2006: West Ridge from Fletcher Mountain (ascent), Cristo Couloir (ski descent)
June 17, 2012: East Ridge (ascent & descent)
Route Climbed: Mt. Quandary Trail Date Climbed: April 2, 2005
Fun in the snow. There were a lto of skiers, and having to climg down the normal way made me a little jeolus. Easy climb, the final push had a lot more false summits that I hoped for. Summit has a good view of Holy Cross, Massive, Elbert, La Plata, etc
Route Climbed: East Slopes Date Climbed: Jan 29 2003
I didn’t start hiking until 10:00am thinking it would only be a 5.5 mi. hike. I had to start hiking back by the road, which added two miles. It was a pretty easy trail for the most part. When I got past tree line I started to post hole a bit. I took my time and talked quit a bit to other hikers when I was stopped. The last two miles were boring and straightforward. I think I summited around 1:30 or 2:00. On the way back I traversed out to the east face. I tried to glissade but the snow was too soft. I did find some good spots here and there. When I got down into the trees I took another trail thinking it was a short cut. The trail shortly disappeared into just a couple of ski tracks. I was lost. Using my GPS I found a snow covered backcountry road and found my way back to the truck. I ended up coming back from the west instead of the north. Overall it was a boring hike but sometimes that’s good. It took a total of about 8 hours.
Route Climbed: East Ridge & West Ridge 2X Date Climbed: December 2004
What a great mountain! Solo Trip - The winds on this trip were howling and the pair of climbers in front of me turned back. No real inherent dangers other than the cold.
I've also summitted Quandary's West Ridge twice in the summer of 2003. The West Ridge is an awesome route and the pools below the ridge are gorgeous. If you want to avoid the crowds and do some fun Class 3 scrambling, this is the route. It was my wife's first Class 3 route and she didn't appreciate it at the time, but since then it has been a great memory.
Route Climbed: East Ridge Date Climbed: March 5, 2005
After nearly a year of frustration over turning back from (what turned out to be) above the 14k' contour, we were back and armed to the teeth this time. Took the direct route from the old TH up to tree line and thence to the ridge. Amy was dragging and turned back around 13,000'. Nathan and I continued up the ridge marvelling at what a leg-burner it is. Made the summit around 1:15 and spend a glorious 45 minutes relaxing in the quiet windlessness. Good views and it's nice to finally put Quandary's summit behind me. Some snow and wind on the way down, but arrived at the car at 4:30.
Route Climbed: Quandary Trail Date Climbed: February 27, 2005
After two months without any significant climbs, I finally climbed another 14er. The trip up Quandary was great. We had a late start at 10:30 and made the round trip in 6 hours. The conditions were fairly rough with constant snow and wind. At times the visibility was down to a few feet. However, we were lucky and it cleared up for about 30 minutes while we were on the ridge at 13000+, so we had a few great views.
We also had a companion on our tip. Horton the Quandary Dog. His tag gave an address on Blue Lake road. We tried to get him to stay at the trailhead, but he followed us all the way to the top and had no problems whatsoever.
Route Climbed: Standard Date Climbed: February 20, 2005
Varying weather and trail conditions made for a wonderful adventure. 6 skiers fought the wind to summit after us, I saw 2 of them enjoying the downhill benefits of their efforts. I was envious! :) Overall, incredible day!
umbra alta - Jun 21, 2005 3:34 pm
Route Climbed: West Ridge Date Climbed: September 2004Did the West Ridge from Blue Lakes side. We parked at the snow closure due to our descent of the East Ridge route--no snow in Cristo Couloir for a glissade in September. Boo. Looking forward to Inwood Arete, summer 2005.
Foxy Long Bottoms - Jun 20, 2005 1:37 pm
Route Climbed: East Ridge and Inwood Date Climbed: 2/03 and 8/04Did the east ridge in the winter. . .fun, eneventful slogg.
Got totally lost on Inwood. Made it to the knife edge, soloed up a chimney and cut left. . .from there it was nothing but scary choss climbing to the top. Nice to top out as the sun was going down. We were greated by mountain goats.
mdavenport2 - May 25, 2005 9:57 pm
Route Climbed: East Ridge Date Climbed: July 14, 1998My first mountain climb. Didn't know what to expect, but been hooked on climbing ever since.
bds670 - May 24, 2005 11:16 pm
Route Climbed: Cattle Route (East Ridge) Date Climbed: March 2000My first 14er! Ski decent was great!
ktiffany22 - May 15, 2005 9:55 pm
Route Climbed: East Slopes Date Climbed: June 6, 2004An absolutely gorgeous day to hike, followed by the most amazing site at the summit!! A well-versed "mountain" man at the summit gave us a verbal "tour" of our surroundings- counting out & naming 30 14ers that we could clearly see from the top!!! We even had a little fun on the way down:-) We had met 3 other people at the top, & we decided to head down the backside- by glasading on trash bags! ...at a very fast rate might I add:-) Do this hike, it's incredible!
Bill562 - May 11, 2005 3:29 pm
Route Climbed: East Ridge Date Climbed: May 10, 2005He is back and this time he is pissed!
Bagged it this time. The weather window was perfect after less than a perfect weekend - blue skies with periods of total windlessness. I wished I started earlier which would have reduced the postholing on descent (to my waist with snowshoes).
The views from the summit were stupendous in all directions. Did not see a soul all day except for the ptarmigan. Car to car - 7 hours 45 minutes.
DharmaBum1984 - May 8, 2005 1:28 am
Route Climbed: East Ridge Date Climbed: Winter/Spring 2004I used this mountain to train for the Himalayas, hiking it with a big pack several times. In the winter, when the hordes of people aren't on it, this hike is a lot of fun. I climbed it at night with a full moon once, which was very cool (and cold). Overall an excellent hike, mellow but sustained.
Ed F - Apr 28, 2005 11:35 am
Route Climbed: East Ridge Date Climbed: April 20, 2005Skinned and skied the east ridge. Continuous snow all the way. Went from car to car without clicking out of the skis.
Brian Kalet - Apr 7, 2005 5:10 pm Date Climbed: Jul 14, 2004
Climbed ThriceJuly 14, 2004: West Ridge (ascent), East Ridge (descent)
April 16, 2006: West Ridge from Fletcher Mountain (ascent), Cristo Couloir (ski descent)
June 17, 2012: East Ridge (ascent & descent)
James C - Apr 4, 2005 7:12 pm
Route Climbed: Mt. Quandary Trail Date Climbed: April 2, 2005Fun in the snow. There were a lto of skiers, and having to climg down the normal way made me a little jeolus. Easy climb, the final push had a lot more false summits that I hoped for. Summit has a good view of Holy Cross, Massive, Elbert, La Plata, etc
easleygone - Apr 4, 2005 1:52 am
Route Climbed: East Ridge Date Climbed: Aug 1995What can I say. I came by to check it out about
lunch time that day and just took off and climbed
it on the spur- of- the- moment! I've never had a
14er go down that easy!!
alpine master - Apr 3, 2005 11:39 pm
Route Climbed: East Slopes Date Climbed: Jan 29 2003I didn’t start hiking until 10:00am thinking it would only be a 5.5 mi. hike. I had to start hiking back by the road, which added two miles. It was a pretty easy trail for the most part. When I got past tree line I started to post hole a bit. I took my time and talked quit a bit to other hikers when I was stopped. The last two miles were boring and straightforward. I think I summited around 1:30 or 2:00. On the way back I traversed out to the east face. I tried to glissade but the snow was too soft. I did find some good spots here and there. When I got down into the trees I took another trail thinking it was a short cut. The trail shortly disappeared into just a couple of ski tracks. I was lost. Using my GPS I found a snow covered backcountry road and found my way back to the truck. I ended up coming back from the west instead of the north. Overall it was a boring hike but sometimes that’s good. It took a total of about 8 hours.
Old Ickabod - Mar 30, 2005 6:35 pm
Route Climbed: East Ridge & West Ridge 2X Date Climbed: December 2004What a great mountain! Solo Trip - The winds on this trip were howling and the pair of climbers in front of me turned back. No real inherent dangers other than the cold.
I've also summitted Quandary's West Ridge twice in the summer of 2003. The West Ridge is an awesome route and the pools below the ridge are gorgeous. If you want to avoid the crowds and do some fun Class 3 scrambling, this is the route. It was my wife's first Class 3 route and she didn't appreciate it at the time, but since then it has been a great memory.
altitude14er - Mar 20, 2005 7:54 pm
Route Climbed: McCullough Gulch Trailhead Date Climbed: 07/21/2003The summit provided astounding views
Matthew William Orr - Mar 12, 2005 1:21 am
Route Climbed: East Ridge Date Climbed: October 2004good view
bigwilly - Mar 11, 2005 4:19 pm
Route Climbed: Quandary trail Date Climbed: July 2003My second fourteener and the only on i've climbed with my entire family. Great summit views, but lots of people.
CharlesD - Mar 7, 2005 2:27 pm
Route Climbed: East Ridge Date Climbed: March 5, 2005After nearly a year of frustration over turning back from (what turned out to be) above the 14k' contour, we were back and armed to the teeth this time. Took the direct route from the old TH up to tree line and thence to the ridge. Amy was dragging and turned back around 13,000'. Nathan and I continued up the ridge marvelling at what a leg-burner it is. Made the summit around 1:15 and spend a glorious 45 minutes relaxing in the quiet windlessness. Good views and it's nice to finally put Quandary's summit behind me. Some snow and wind on the way down, but arrived at the car at 4:30.
Asphazell - Mar 1, 2005 12:29 pm
Route Climbed: Quandary Trail Date Climbed: February 2004Beautiful day but also exhausting breaking trail in waist deep snow up to timberline. Wanted my snowboard for the knee-cracking descent!
georgbetsy - Feb 27, 2005 4:59 pm
Route Climbed: Quandary Trail Date Climbed: February 27, 2005After two months without any significant climbs, I finally climbed another 14er. The trip up Quandary was great. We had a late start at 10:30 and made the round trip in 6 hours. The conditions were fairly rough with constant snow and wind. At times the visibility was down to a few feet. However, we were lucky and it cleared up for about 30 minutes while we were on the ridge at 13000+, so we had a few great views.
We also had a companion on our tip. Horton the Quandary Dog. His tag gave an address on Blue Lake road. We tried to get him to stay at the trailhead, but he followed us all the way to the top and had no problems whatsoever.
Natasha - Feb 22, 2005 4:09 pm
Route Climbed: Standard Date Climbed: February 20, 2005Varying weather and trail conditions made for a wonderful adventure. 6 skiers fought the wind to summit after us, I saw 2 of them enjoying the downhill benefits of their efforts. I was envious! :) Overall, incredible day!