Mt. Princeton snowy climbing Trip Climbing Report in snow conditions with photos by Rex

May 17th, 2004

Mount Princeton is one of the monarchs of Colorado's Sawatch Range. From Buena Vista it dominates the skyline. Access to Mt. Princeton is obtained from County Road 162 about 6 miles south of the US 24 and 285 junction. From the county road turn right onto the Mt. Princeton Road immediately across from the Mt. Princeton Hot Springs. The road is narrow and hard to squeeze past oncoming traffic. Roach's book recommends parking at 11,000 feet near some radio towers which is where we started our hike from.
For my Mt. Princeton trip report from 2002 in summer conditions, CLICK HERE

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Since your web browser does not support JavaScript, here is a non-JavaScript version of the trip report. NOTE: the slideshow above will not work with JavaScript disabled.May 17th, 2004It had been awhile since Amy and I climbed a 14er, since March when we climbed Mt. Elbert. It was time to get up to the high country again. This would be my second time up Princeton and Amy's first. I figured with the recent warm weather that we would be able to drive to the radio towers at 11,000 feet. We left Boulder on Saturday afternoon, opting to sleep in the back of the 4runner and not have to drive to the trailhead early Sunday morning. We didn't get out of Boulder until about 6 p.m. and reached the radio towers at 10 p.m. We quickly set up camp in the back of the 4runner and hit the sack. It was a very warm evening in the high country although the wind was quite gusty at times. We woke up around 6 a.m. and was hiking by 6:30. About 1/2 mile past the radio towers the road disappears under the snow, shown in the photo below.

We continued over the snow until the trail departs from the radio below Tigger Point. Heading up the slopes to the right, the trail steepens for a short ways until you gain a shoulder and begin traversing along the north side of Tigger Point. The photo below shows the route over to the ridge to Princeton's summit.

Several snow filled gullies had to be crossed and the last one required a great deal of care since the previous tracks had been blown in with snow.

The last snowfield to gain the ridge looked a little sketchy, so we opted to bypass it by climbing over it using the boulders to the side.

We gained the ridge between Tigger Point and Mt. Princeton and had an incredible view of Mt. Antero.

The photo belows shows the ridge over to Prinecton's summit. The ridge was blown free of snow for the most part. We were making good time across the ridge and quickly came to the steep section below Princeton's summit.

Amy is nearing the summit in the photo below. There was some patches of snow on route to the summit.

We reached the summit at 9:30, taking about 3 hours for the ascent. It was a little chilly on top but the views were incredible. The peaks were blanketed with white in all directions.

Mt. Yale immediately to the north commands attention from Princeton's summit although it is 1 foot lower in elevation.

We didn't stay on the summit for too long since we were getting cold. On the way back to the ridge we crossed paths with two guys who we had passed early in the morning. We chatted with them for about 10 mintues before wishing them good luck and departing. The descent was pretty unevenful and we quickly got back to the snowfields on the north side of Tigger Point. We took our time crossing these steep snow gullies and were quickly nearing the road. In the photo below, Amy is making her way down the last steeper snow slope to get back to the road.

We arrived back at the 4runner at 12:30 bringing our roundtrip hiking time to 6 hours. A little longer than the 4 hours it took me in summertime conditions. It was nice to get back up to the high country again, it had been too long. This was Amy's 30th 14er in less than a year, she's knocking them out quick. Since I've already done Princeton my count is still at 43.

For my Mt. Princeton trip report in July conditions, Click Here.

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