Peak Name: Grizzly Peak

Peak Height: 13,988'

Location: Sawatch Mountains, Colorado

Route: East Ridge

Trailhead: La Plata TH

Difficulty: Class 4

Round Trip Stats: 15 mi, 4000 ft

Date Climbed: 3/13/2016

Grizzly Peak, king of Colorado's centennial 13ers, is not a simple mountain to climb in winter. First of all, the road to the standard McNasser Gulch trailhead is closed all the way from Highway 82 (the La Plata Trailhead). In addition, any reasonable summit route has serious avalanche concerns.

Fortunately we're here trying because conditions are ridiculously good at the moment. We're able to eek out a safe path to Grizzly's east ridge, but only because smowcover is unseasnably thin. Exposed and snowy 4th class scrambling is required along the ridge unless we're willing to venture onto large suspect slopes. I try to traverse past the crux on snow and quickly find myself swimming in slush... scaring the crap out of myself and retreating to rock.