By now I was pretty tired, partially due to the extra effort required by the snow, and partly due to the fact that I had not had much to eat. We stopped several times to rest on the way up, and about halfway up I was able to take some shots, combined here into a smaller panoramic photo:Īfter approximately three hours, we were able to reach the saddle, which joined us with the standard route. in depth in some spots, and it was quite slippery due to the 30-40 degree slopes were climbing on. None of really expected to see so much snow, but it made for a very challenging hike. Looking back towards Elbert, you can see our footprints through the snow. As we gained elevation, the trail became less and less apparent and eventually we just started hiking straight up towards Massive. The trail was covered in snow, making for a quite interesting hike. Our view back down the valley was stunning: The forecast for the day was clear skies and a high of 60, and wow the weatherman did not disappoint! We swiftly hiked up the valley and reached the turn-off for Mt. Here are some photos of the Memorial, notice a section of the helicopter is seen as well:Ī memorial cross for the victims of the Blackhawk Helicopter crash on Mount Massive, 2009. Right at the trail-head lies a memorial to the soldiers that died in a helicopter crash earlier this year on Mt. We reached the trail-head and began hiking at 7:40 AM. Massive at 6:45 and met up with two other climbers from Denver. On the way over we had good conversation, shared stories about our climbs and got to know each other. Our route took us directly up the snowy south face of Massive. Rob had his friend Brad with him and we departed for Mt. I jumped all over the opportunity and we made plans to meet at 4:15 AM on the west-side of town to car pool. Massive on Saturday and that anyone from Colorado Springs was welcome to join him. Serendipitously, a fellow climber from Colorado Springs, Rob, posted on 14'ers.com that he was going to Mt. I thought that my climbing season had ended after being snowed on in mid-September on Grays and Torreys however, I got the itch to climb again this weekend. 2nd highest in Colorado third highest mountain in the contiguous U.S.Ĩ miles round-trip via Southwest slopes route Some fun information about this great hike: