I mainly just wanted to do a quick TR to give an idea of snow conditions on Harvard & Columbia for those looking to get out in the upcoming weeks. In an effort to get in a long 14er day in preparation for our upcoming Everest climb, my wife, Kristine, good friend, J, and dog, Kona, & I hit up Columbia last Saturday. After a cowboy camp at the winter TH around perhaps 9,000′ (3.8 miles from the summer TH of N. Cottonwood), we hit the trail around 7am. Kristine & I on snowshoes and J on his plastic mountaineering boot/AT setup we had used on Denali years ago. There was a decent broken trail all the way to treeline which was extremely helpful.
Kona crossing the 1st bridge after the summer TH
It was definitely a slog to Horn Fork Basin, but was a nice day. We broke trail over to the west rib of Columbia and made our way up.
Kona with Columbia behind
Harvard blanketed
J & Kristine making their way up Columbia’s west rib
Yale’s Silver Creek Cirque
Kristine making her way to Columbia’s south ridge
Southern Sawatch (Princeton, Yale, etc)
We gained the south ridge and headed north to Columbia’s summit
Here is a little video I took of Kristine & Kona topping out on Columbia:
Me, Kristine, & Kona on Columbia’s summit around 2pm (7 hrs after we started)…a new 14er for Kristine & Kona
Looking west on the descent
Looking back at Columbia’s west rib from Horn Fork Basin
J was the smart one and got down quick on his skis. Kristine and I and Kona got back to the truck at 7pm. All in all, a great day and good training climb (18 miles RT, approx. 5,000′, and 12 hrs RT).
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