Quandary Peak West Ridge 14er Hike Guide

Quandary Peak West Ridge is the non-standard and more technical route to gain the immensely popular 14er. Trail conditions range from rock fields to packed dirt to Class 3 rock scrambling. This route is only recommended for those with solid Class 3 hiking experience and good route finding skills. If this is your first time hiking a 14er or high elevation mountain in general, I would not recommend this route. Warnings aside, Quandary Peak West Ridge is a very fun alternative to the standard (and somewhat boring) route up Quandary.

Quandary Peak West Ridge Quick Facts

Virtual Trail Guide: Quandary Peak West Ridge

Quandary Peak West Ridge Rating: ★★★★ (4/5 Stars)

Distance: 9 miles RT (About 4.5 miles to summit, 3.5 miles down East Slopes) 

Elevation Start: 10,800 ft

Highest Point: 14,265 ft

Total Elevation Gain: 3,700 ft

Estimated Time to Complete: 8-10 Hours RT (depending on season)

Difficulty: Difficult –  What does this mean?

Class: Class 3 – What does this mean?

Season: July – October (Expect snow outside of this period)

Check the Weather Forecast

Directions to Quandary Peak West Ridge

Trailhead: Blue Lakes Trailhead

Getting Here: Quandary Peak is most commonly accessed through the ski town of Breckenridge. Take I-70 to exit 203 and follow this road straight until you reach Breck. Once through the town, continue on for about 8.8 miles until you reach Blue Lakes Road (County Road 850). Continue on County Road 850 for about 2 miles until you reach the reservoir/dam. In the winter, access to this road shuts off after about a half mile or so. You can enter in Blue Lakes Trailhead into your favorite navigational device.

Fees: None

Parking: There is a small parking lot at Blue Lakes trailhead which can fit about 10-15 cars. Unlike the massively popular standard trail, Quandary Peak West Ridge will generally be less busy. However, still plan on the lot filling up on most summer weekends, so get there early. There are no bathrooms at this trailhead, but if you need to go, the parking lot at the beginning of the road has a couple of porter potties. As of 8/1/21, there is no reservation required to use this TH. As of 2022, there is no reservation or fee required to hike this route.

Summary

Camping: Camping near Quandary Peak West Ridge is somewhat difficult since almost all of the land around the mountain is private. You can camp along the trail or in your car at the trailhead, but camping options are not great. Be sure to check with the Forest Service for any restrictions or bans.

Dogs: I would not recommend bringing a dog up Quandary Peak West Ridge during any time of year. We hiked during the winter and having a dog would have been down right irresponsible. From the looks of the trail, summer conditions would not be much better because there is so much loose gravel and rocks.  

Make it a Loop: Quandary Peak West Ridge is an out and back hike, but I would recommend hiking down the standard route (east ridge) which would make a loop. To do this, you will need 2 cars, get a ride back up to the Blue Lakes TH or walk those extra 2 miles on the road to reach your car again. In terms of other mountains, the Blue Lakes TH is a great spot for all kinds of hikes in the area (Fletcher Mountain, Atlantic Peak, Pacific Peak etc. etc.)

Trail X Factors: Trail Conditions & Route Finding (Winter)

The trail up Quandary West Ridge is not maintained by the US Forest Service and therefore, not an “official” trail. We hiked up in the winter, so we could not see the true “trail”. However, even with snow on top of the trail, we could tell that trail conditions were very poor in sections. I would argue that we were lucky to have snow to grip on going up some of the steep gullies instead of dealing with the loose rock and dirt that sits underneath.

In terms of route finding, don’t expect any signage outside of the trailhead one. If you do your research beforehand, the trail is fairly straightforward. However, if there is snow on the trail, it could be easy to lose. If you plan on hiking during the winter, you absolutely need to have solid route finding skills, especially if you don’t have another set of tracks to follow.

Hike Tip(s): I have two main tips for this hike, both involving the route up the mountain. I think it’s safe to assume that many people reading my site have some hiking experience, but for those who do not, be sure to know what Class 3 hiking is before heading up Quandary Peak West Ridge. I don’t want to harp, but I think there are better options for an introduction to Class 3 hiking than this route. Class 3 hiking is a very small portion of this route (only about a ½ mile or so) but its very close to the summit and would be a real shame to make it all that way and be forced to turn around.

For all hikers, I would recommend hiking down the East Ridge (standard route) instead of going back down the West Ridge. It’s certainly possible to go back down the West Ridge, but trail conditions going down the standard route are much better (and faster).

Best Views: Views on Quandary Peak West Ridge are the best on the ridgeline. Views of neighboring Mt Fletcher, Pacific Peak, Atlantic Peak and the Decalibron are really nice. Since we hiked during the winter, the snow covered peaks surrounded us in almost all directions which was incredibly beautiful. In terms of the summit of Quandary, I feel that the best views are west/north.

Quandary Peak West Ridge Hike Route

Gear Needed

• 14er Day Hike Packing List
• Men’s Trail Runners
• Women’s Trail Runners
• La Sportiva Trango Hiking Boots (Men’s)
• La Sportiva Trango Hiking Booths (Women’s)
• Backpack
• Food & Water
• Optional: Garmin inReach
• Optional: Hiking Poles
• Optional: Headlamp
• Optional: Garmin Fenix Watch
• Optional: Camera and Lens
• Optional: GoPro, Joby Tripod
• Optional: Climbing Helmet
• Optional: Mountain Axe
• Optional: Crampons
• Optional: Crampon Bag
• Optional: La Sportiva Mountaineering Boots
• Optional: Microspikes
• Optional: Snowshoes
• Optional: Gaiters
• *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 Quandary Peak West Ridge : October 2018

Snow came early in 2018 which slammed the brakes on my initial hiking plans for the remainder of the season. However, I am pretty used to the unpredictable Colorado weather and had some backup hikes up my sleeve, one of which was Quandary Peak. I have hiked Quandary Peak in the past, but never up the west side. Since I had first hiked Quandary Peak in 2016, I had picked up LOTS of hiking experience in Colorado and was ready to tackle the west ridge, in the winter.

Two friends and I got to the trailhead around 7AM and were the only people in the area. We hit the trail soon after and realized after about 20 minutes that we were going to be breaking trail up Quandary Peak West Ridge. At first, this was not a problem, we knew the general direction of the trail and worked our way up to the first basin below the ridge line. However, after a while, we realized that the snow consistency was all over the place. Even in the crisp morning air, the snow was crusty in places allowing us to float above it and soft as fresh snowflakes in others sinking us knee deep with each step. This lovely action is known as postholing and is every hiker’s worst nightmare.

As we worked into the basin, we reached a point where the summer trail went left but we decided to stay right which kept us on top of the rocks. Although rock hopping was not ideal, at least it allowed us to have some consistency in our path. We continued through the massive rock field and eventually reached our first gully of the day. This section would lead us up to the upper basin. As we hiked towards the gully, we all could hear running water underneath and did our best to avoid it, but unfortunately, all three of us fell in soaking our feet in ice cold water. Waterproof boots and gaiters are great things to have, but when the water goes above them both, you are SOL. This is where things started to go downhill for us.

Wet feet and all, we continued up the gully, staying to the left side in order to avoid any rock/ice fall or avalanche danger. We climbed up the Class 2/low 3 rock and reached the upper basin which greeted us with more of the same conditions: variable snow and rock fields. At this point, we had been hiking for about 2 hours. Originally, we had expected to complete the ENTIRE Quandary Peak West Ridge hike in 6 hours. Spoiler: that was not going to happen. We were all pretty frustrated and starting to get physically drained from all the type 2 postholing magic. Completely without a trail, we picked the safest line up to the ridge and worked up towards it. After what seemed like an eternity, we were finally on the lower section of the ridge and ready to be at the top.

Unfortunately for us, we had a long ass way to go. As we hiked over to the north (left) side of the Quandary Peak West Ridge route, we discovered that the snow over here was a lot softer. We were now forced to break trail through 6 inches to 2 feet of snow depending on how wind blown it was. We rotated who would “break trail” but even with the shared responsibility, were all mentally toast. We continued up the ridge and finally reached the last section and where the true Class 3 hiking began. There were some sketchy sections where crampons and mountain axe were needed, but route finding was fairly straightforward. The toughest obstacle was finding our way through the deep blown snow cornices. The cornices were soft, but made it impossible to tell where the slope of the mountain began. We hugged the rock walls of Quandary West Ridge as close as we could.

As we climbed up one section of rock, we could now see the summit only about a quarter mile away and the crux of our route, a 30 foot Class 3 wall. The issue was that we still had about 2 towers of climbing to go and had officially lost the route. We were on the south side of the ridge and were believed to be cliffed out. I climbed up a sketchy class 3/4 section of rock in hopes to see what the other side offered. It was absolutely awful. The north side was completely impassable without rope. Another hiker in our group decided to scope out the south side some more and luckily found a way to the crux of the route.

After a somewhat sketchy crossing above a snow filled gully, we began our way up the crux of the route up Quandary West Ridge: a class 3 wall. The rock was covered with snow, but luckily offered several solid holds. All three of us made it up and now all that separated us from the summit was 200-300 yards of thigh deep snow on a narrow ridge. Normally, I think all three of us would have been more cautious in this section. This wind blown snow could have easily had nothing underneath it and one wrong step could have sent us barreling down the mountain. However, we were all mentally and physically toast, so our testing of the snow was more like a couple of swings of a mountain axe and stepping into the deep white powder.

When we reached the summit of Quandary Peak all three of us felt relieved and accomplished. We were so happy to be done breaking trail and thrilled to have the well traveled east ridge trail back down the mountain. It was now 4PM, we had now spent about 9 hours on the mountain. We thought we would be done in 6, tops. We arranged a ride back up to our cars at the Blue Lakes TH (HUGE SHOUTOUT Jackie and Lizbeth) and borderline jogged down the mountain. We took our last steps out of the woods and onto the dirt road and I would describe our mental state as a bowl of noodles.

Quandary Peak West Ridge in the winter was quite a long day on the mountain. I think the day was more challenging than “normal” because of the fresh/soft snow and because we had to break trail. I’m aware that this route is not heavily traveled, but there were sections that could have been a lot faster if we didn’t have to stop and route find. I would be curious to hike Quandary Peak West Ridge in summer conditions to compare, but after this day on the mountain, might not be for a while.

Quandary Peak West Ridge Virtual Trail Guide