Search trip reports
P7060690.jpg

Trip Report    

Basic Glacier Climb - Snowfield Peak/Neve Glacier

Really fun, airy scramble with incredible views.

Sujay Kawale Sujay Kawale
July 10, 2025
  • Road suitable for all vehicles
    • The route is in great shape. Crevasses have begun opening up, and there are lots of them on the Neve Glacier. I expect with the warmup this week that some snow bridges will have formed requiring careful navigation.
    • The boulder field you have to traverse getting to Colonial Basin has patches of snow. Navigating the boulder field might be a bit tricky as the snow melts.
    • Water source available at both campsites. Colonial Basin camps are next to a tarn, and there is running water by sites at Colonial-Neve col.
    • The campsites at Colonial were extremely windy most of the time we were there, especially in the evening. The campsites at the col seem to be much better sheltered.
    • Bugs were swarming on the hike in, but not bad at the campsites (probably due to the wind).

THE APPROACH

The approach is relentlessly steep and overgrown, with some scramble sections and veggie belay. Not a true bushwhack, though. I've seen way worse. It took us over 7 hours, we took it slow.

P7050144.jpg

P7050151.jpg

Continuous snow started around 5500 feet, where we switched to boots. The route to the basin is fairly obvious to follow - traverse the boulder field and aim right above the big waterfall. The campsites are on the rocky ridge right in the middle of the frame. The snow patches covering the boulder field will melt out pretty quick making this section potentially difficult before the snow is all gone.

P7050160.jpg

We camped at the basin. There are three large sites, and a couple more that are smaller and slope-y.

P7050395.jpg

THE CLIMB

We started from camp at 5:30 am the next day. The route goes along the rocky ridge from camp, and then you descend down onto the glacier. We traversed the slope a bit higher than the group in this picture just to allow for a longer runway in case someone were to fall.

P7050476.JPG

We took about an hour on the glacier. Pretty straightforward, no visible crevasses at this point.

P7060497-Pano.jpg

P7060509.jpg

Descending from the col down to the Neve Glacier is a bit steep, and there was one section that required some scramble moves.

P7060554.jpg

The Neve Glacier is looong, and there are many crevasses we passed. They are mostly barely visible and still filled in, but some snow bridges are starting to form, which will require careful navigating after this week's warmup.

P7060578.jpg

We dropped some gear at the base of the summit pyramid, and started hiking up to the scramble. It is an easy (but steep) hike up to an obvious notch (below), and this is where you need to decide which way to go. P7060584.jpg

The easier option is to go straight through the notch, down climb a bit and then ascend a scree gully. We opted to traverse left from the notch, and this is way nicer section to scramble. It is quite exposed though, but never very difficult. I highly recommend this option! The views are spectacular! 

P7060627 2.jpg

After traversing this section, you climb towards the right up the blocky section below.P7060639.jpg

Then you meet up with the route that went straight through the notch, for the final scramble section, and to panoramic summit views!

P7060650.jpg

On the down climb, we opted for the direct route since the route we went up would be a bit hairy for a down-climb. This is the direct section looking down towards the notch.

Screenshot 2025-07-10 at 9.04.51 AM.png

The descent was pretty straightforward. Travel times are below.

  • Saturday:
  • 9:45 am: left TH
  • 5:15 pm: arrived at camp
  • Hiking time (TH to camp): 7h30min
  • Sunday:
  • 5:30 am: Left camp
  • 6 am: started on Colonial glacier
  • 7 am: at the col
  • 9:00 am: at the scramble
  • 10:00 am: at the summit
  • 11 am: left summit
  • 1 pm: at the col
  • 2:15 pm: back at camp
    • Summary:
    • Camp to Col: 1hr 30min
    • Col to summit: 3hr
    • At summit: 1h
    • Summit to Col: 2hr
    • Col to camp: 1hr 15 min
    • Total time (Camp - Snowfield summit - Camp): 8hr 45min
  • Monday:
  • 8:30 am - left camp
  • 12:30 pm - at Pyramid Lake
  • 1:45 - back at the cars
  • Summary: 5 hrs 15 min hiking time (camp to TH)