Climbing Recommendation for End of February 2026 (alpine mixed routes)

Nick.Battaglia · 2026-02-18T02:02:25Z

Hello,

Utah based climber here looking to make a trip to a volcano for a winter ascent of some ice and rock route. Can anyone suggest something that might be in right now that has WI3 or steeper ice. I am not familiar with the current conditions out there but am aware your winter like ours has been very warm with little precip (seem good for alpine ice). For example I was looking at dragontail peak and the triple colouirs route with the thought that it might be in early, but have no idea. The current summit temp is in the negatives so perhaps not. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Nick

5039871358

JasonG · 2026-02-18T03:10:45Z

Looks like the weather is getting active so hard to say if you'll find anything to do on a big peak in 10 days. I'd bring skis, just in case, and check back in next week.

Michael Telstad · 2026-02-18T16:05:37Z

TL;DR - It's forecasted to snow continuously for the foreseeable future, so unless you're coming here to ski, I recommend staying home or going elsewhere.

The gist of the season so far is that north faces above 6,500ft are in great shape. Everything below that is out or unreliable. Access is hard because so many roads washed out in the storm, Cascade River Road somehow being the exception.

Dragontail and most other routes in the Enchantments are notably NOT in this season. The north side of Stuart is however in great shape.

Before it started snowing again, The NE ice couloir on Eldorado was reportedly in phenomenal condition.

All of this is dependent on a warm dry spell leading into a cold high pressure system allowing for the snowpack to solidify. If you don't see this, it's not worth it.

Edited yesterday at 04:05 PM by Michael Telstad