Permits: National Park Backcountry Permit (for overnight)

Difficulty: Moderate

Route Name: West Ridge (standard route)

Snow Level: 5100 ft

Elevation Gain: 7500 ft

Total Miles: 16.00 mi

Gear: Standard glacier gear, crampons and pickets taken but not used.

From Trail Head to Camp: 6.0 hours
From Camp to Summit: 4.0 hours

Weather: Cloudy and windy then baking hot.

Cac, Alex and I picked up the permits at the Marblemount Ranger station midday Thursday and car camped that night at the Marble Creek Campground. Friday morning we tucked the car into the most shaded spot nearest the trailhead (per Alex’s request) and headed up the Pyramid Lake trail around 9am. The bugs were out and you can’t take the quit out of mosquito. After the lake, we chose the cairn on the left and ascended up steep trail with veggie belays and a little snow crossing to camp at the snow-free slabs at the toe of the glacier at 5,900’. Our tent was put to the test with wind gusts around 15-20 mph. Saturday morning we left camp at 8am and crossed over the pass west of Neve Peak. We roped up for the Neve Glacier though the crevasses were either tiny cracks or obviously exposed and out of the way. Trucked up the gentle but steady slope to the base of Snowfield Peak. Ditched the glacier gear at the bottom of the west ridge and walked/scrambled up to the peak by noon. A fun scramble with nice rock and amazing views. Cac and Alex played the ‘name that peak’ game as they do on every peak. On the way back to camp, we decided we were going to make a stop at Colonial Peak and B-lined it down the much steeper route which ended in a team glissade. See trip report for Colonial Peak to continue. For a long haul in, Snowfield is a worth-while climb.

Info

• Latitude: 48.63520
• Longitude: -121.13900
• Elevation: 8347ft
• PeakBagger Link