Mt Bross Winter 14er Hike Trail Guide
Mt Bross is one of the most popular 14ers in Colorado during the summer and fall months, but not so much in the spring and winter. Generally Mt Bross in the winter has very low snow levels with only 1-2 options for a summit ski. High winds usually blow snow and make for a shallow base of snow. The hike up Mt Bross is very straightforward but does have multiple options up to the summit. Since the summer trail is usually pretty hard to follow, having a map or GPS is usually helpful. Although the summit of Mt Bross is on private land, the mine owners who control this land have pretty much given up on keeping hikers out from trespassing (on the summit at least). *Please note that as of March 2023 access to the summit via this route is now considered trespassing and illegal due to a very small patches of privately owned land. This closure is expected to be indefinite.
Mt Bross Winter Hike Quick Facts
Virtual Trail Guide: Mt Bross
Mt Bross Rating: ★★ (⅖ Stars)
Distance: 6.0 Miles RT (starting from winter road closure)
Elevation Start: 11,312 ft
Highest Point: 14,177 ft
Total Elevation Gain: 3,400 ft
Estimated Time to Complete: 6-8 hours RT
Difficulty: Moderate to Difficult What does this mean?
Class: Class 2, moderate snow steepness/exposure
Season: December – May (depending on winter)
Directions to Mt Bross in the Winter
Trailhead: Kite Lake
Getting Here: First, navigate to the small town of Alma, Colorado. Once you are about half way through the town, look for a small sign that says Kite Lake. Turn here and drive past the handful of houses until the road becomes more remote. The road is dirt and usually pretty well maintained until the last mile. From the center of town, its about 6 miles from the turn to the lake. In the winter, there is a 95% chance you will not be able to drive the entire way. The standard winter closure of the road is about 1.5 miles from Kite Lake. There will be times when you have to park even farther away depending on the snow levels. You can enter Kite Lake Campground into your favorite navigational device.
Parking: In the winter when the road is closed, parking is very limited (maybe enough space for 4-6 cars with no bathroooms of any kind. Once the upper portion of the road is opened, there is much more parking and non-plumbing bathrooms.
Fees: None if the upper road is not open, $3 (cash) if it is (fee as of 2019). You generally do not have to pay this in the winter.
Summary
Camping: In the winter, camping options may be very limited and could only be sleeping in your car, depending on snow level.
Dogs: Mt Bross would not be my first choice to bring Juno on. However, it is dog friendly in terms of an overall hike. In the winter, Juno is not good off leash which is all but a requirement for a snow approach. In the drier months, the trail up Mt Bross is full of loose rock which if combined with a dog who loves to pull (Juno), would not be a great time. If you do decide to bring your dog on Mt Bross, make sure they have seasoned paws and are good around other people and dogs.
Make it a Loop: The most popular way to make Mt Bross a loop hike would be to hike the entire Decalibron (Mt Bross, Mt Lincoln, Mt Cameron, and Mt Democrat). However, if you plan on doing this in winter conditions, be sure to give yourself a solid 10-12 hours at least. The wind up on the ridge is usually very high and conditions can be variable. Still want more? Check out Mt Buckskin which is also right in the area.
Trail X Factors: The two biggest X factors for hiking Mt Bross with snow is the level of snow and where the road is closed. If there is very little snow, you will probably be able to drive much closer to the official trailhead. This will not only save you miles on your hike, but also make your hiking experience much more “summer like”. However, if you want a true winter experience of Mt Bross, your best bet is to head there early in the season (January – March) as this group of mountains are not known for their long lasting snow filled couloirs.
Hike Tip(s): Before heading out to Mt Bross in snow conditions, always check the avalanche forecast beforehand. In terms of forecast, I generally check Colorado Avalanche Information Center to see what the forecast is for the day I am hiking. Even if you do not plan on snowboarding/skiing down Mt Bross – avalanches can be triggered by hikers as well. Always know before you go and if it doesn’t look good – reschedule your hike. Once you are on the mountain, always check snow levels before committing to ski/board down them. This are can be so deceptive with its snow coverage.
The wind will often blow snow from one area to another and create the illusion of a deep snowpack, but in reality it may only be 4-6 inches deep. This area is FULL of rocks, gravel, and scree fields – you do not want to run a pair of skis or your snowboard over an area of ground unless you are 100% certain that the coverage is adequate. Trust me, I learned this lesson the hard way and it was not fun.
Best Views: Lets just cut to the chase, I personally don’t love the views on Mt Bross or in this basin in generally. Having said that, snow covering the mountains always makes them look more beautiful. When you are hiking up Mt Bross, you get solid views of neighboring mountains: Mt Democrat, Mt Cameron and Mt Buckskin. From the summit, you have decent views west but since the summit is so large and flat, they are nearly as good as some other peaks in the area. Overall, Mt Bross has decent views, but I am totally jaded by what I have seen in other parts of Colorado.
Mt Bross Winter Hike Trail Route
I took the west ridge up the summit and snowboarded down the western gully.
Gear Needed
- 14er Day Hike Packing List
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Boots (Men’s)
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Booths (Women’s)
- La Sportiva Mountaineering Boots
- Backpack
- Food & Water
- Microspikes
- Gaiters
- Mountain Axe
- Optional: Ski or Snowboard
- Optional: Crampons
- Optional: Crampon Bag
- Optional: Garmin inReach
- Optional: Hiking Poles
- Optional: Headlamp
- Optional: Garmin Fenix Watch
- Optional: Avalanche Gear: Beacon, Probe, Shovel
- Optional: Snowshoes
- Optional: Camera and Lens
- Optional: GoPro, Joby Tripod
- *Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you.
My Trip to Mt Bross in the Winter: May 2019
*Note* I am well aware that May is not the winter, but the conditions I had on this hike were identical to what you would experience during the winter. During the spring of 2019, I had been eyeing at attempt at the Decalibron for several weeks. There was one day that I actually was on my way to the trailhead, but decided to turn around because the weather conditions were so poor. In retrospect, that turned out to be a great decision as I heard winds were in the 60-70 mph range. On this day however, the weather looked great and the snow conditions seemed optimal. I arrived to the Kite Lake Road shutoff around 6AM and was surprised to see 3 other cars already at the “trailhead”. The sun was already starting to rise so I decided to waste no time before hitting the trail. The area was still caked in snow, a rare sight for the middle of May, so I knew that I had to get off the snow before it warmed up too much.
My plan was to hike up Mt Bross first, then work my way over to Mt Democrat and snowboard down the southern slopes of Mt Democrat after completing the Decalbiron. I walked on the trail for about 100 yards before realizing that I had to use snowshoes. This was a real bummer because I knew that once I was forced to use them, my chances of completing the entire Decalibron in a reasonable amount of time was out the window. Sure, daylight was not an issue, but breaking trail in snowshoes is very slow going and tiresome. If I wanted to be descending Mt Democrat at a safe hour, I would need to get on my horse and move very quickly.
As I hiked towards Kite Lake and the start of Mt Bross, I followed a set of snowshoe prints and ski trails on and off until the tracks appeared to go towards Mt Democrat. I scoured the area and took a look at my GPS to determine which route up the western slopes of Bross would make the most sense. It had been a long time since I had there without snow, but I remembered the general direction I needed to travel. After departing the previous track I was following, I was now forced to break my own trail. With each step, I would sink into the snow: in some areas, 3-5 inches and in others, I would sink knee deep. I was trying to read the snow as best as I could, but each step was a frustrating with unknown conditions. After a while, I reached the base of Mt Bross and once again made a decision. It appeared as though the standard trail went right, but I decided to go straight up the ridge of Mt Bross since it appeared to be more direct and have a steadier elevation gain.
The beginning of the ridge was very steep and my snowshoes could barely stick into the snow. In other areas, the snow was so soft that I sunk knee deep and when I tried to step out of that hole, I would just fall into another one forcing myself to crawl on my knees to find a more solid patch of snow. It was around this point that I completely abandoned any thoughts of completely the entire Decalibron. I had met another hiker, Sebastian, at trailhead and he ended up catching me about halfway up the ridge of Mt Bross. We chatted a bit about “how much fun” we were having as we continued up the ridge. Near the top of the western ridge of Mt Bross, the snow started to become very inconsistent. In areas, it was knee deep and in others in it was windblown and you could see rocks. I began eyeing the line I wanted to snowboard on the way down and Sebastian made a comment about how thin it was in areas and to be careful. More on that later….
We reached the false summit of Mt Bross and could see another group or two near the real summit. After another few minutes of hiking, we reached the true summit. If you have never been on the summit of Mt Bross, it’s nothing to write home about. It’s basically a pile of rocks in the middle of a flat area the size of a football field. Like many days on Mt Bross, it was a wind factory with gusts easily in the 30-40mph range. The fresh snow from a few days before was being blown by the wind like it was falling fresh from the sky. Our summit time was short since the weather was so crappy. Sebastian I and parted ways and started the descent down Mt Bross.
During the 2018/2019 I had a handful of awesome snowboard days in the backcountry, unfortunately, Mt Bross was not one of them. I had to hike a bit from the summit to find snow that was suitable to snowboard in, at least I thought it was. Remember that comment Sebastian had made earlier in the day about snow coverage? Well, I found that out the hard way. When I first strapped on my board, I quickly realized that the snow was not deep enough. Instead of taking off the board, like any normal human, I decided to ride down a bit further. Big mistake. After about 200 yards of terrible snowboarding, I hit a massive patch of rocks and went head over heels into the rocks and snow. The bottom of my board was scratched to hell and to make matters worse, I had lost a Gopro into the snow. I tried looking for it, but the wind kept blowing the snow back into the areas I had previously cleared. It was a lost cause and I was super bummed.
I unstrapped my board and decided to descend a bit before picking a new line on Mt Bross to snowboard down. Here, the snow was much deeper and provided and adequate base to descend. Even though the snow conditions were solid, my board was so scratched from running over the rocks that turns were quite hard to make for a bit. Eventually, I figured it out and was able to snowboard from ¾ up Mt Bross to about 200 yards from the start of the trail. The snow coverage was great and honestly, the weather was basically perfect. All in all, my time on Mt Bross was basically what I expected: a lot of hard work for a little bit of fun. It takes a certain type of person to hike year round and while the trips are not always fun 100% of the time, they make you grow as a person and the mountains always teach you new lessons.
Overall, I was a bit disappointed that I was not able to accomplish my initial plans of hiking the entire Decalibron and I was so bummed about losing a camera and scratching my board. However, all things considered, things could have been a lot worse. Mt Bross presents a moderate hiking experience in the winter and in terms of snowboard/ski descent would be equivalent of riding a blue square in most areas. The video below provides more details on my trip up Mt Bross, be sure to check it out!
