Peak Climbed: Mount Adams

Peak Height: 13,931'

Route: East Ridge

Difficulty: Class 3

Location: Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado

Trailhead: Horn Creek

Mileage & Gain: 12 mi & 4,800 ft

Date Climbed: January 14, 2018

Mount Adams is a centennial thirteener in the heart of the Sangre de Cristos. It's typically climbed from Willow Creek to the west, but given how many times I've slogged up and down that valley I decided long ago that the Horn Creek approach, though slightly longer, would be my choice for a winter ascent.

Dom and I enjoyed a curiously windless day (which happens almost never in this range in winter) and the East Ridge proved to be a fun little scramble. The ridge turns technical at the very end and this part is avoided by traversing onto the east face, which could be problematic with more snow. The ridge may need to be tackled head on in that case.