Trico Peak - 13,321 ft. | Stuck in the Rockies

The east ridge of Trico peak — Ascending the East Ridge of Trico Peak.

Our route home from a family ski trip took us over Red Mountain Pass, so we figured we should plan a roadside tour to break up the trip. We chose to ski Trico Peak, 13,321 ft., because it offered good access and a really high start. The route starts on the Black Bear Pass jeep road, near the top of Red Mountain Pass, on the west side.

Skinning up towards the East Ridge of trico peak — Skinning along the Black Bear pass route, heading for the mountain’s east ridge.

It was easy to skin on or near the snow-covered summer jeep road. After following meandering switchbacks for about an hour, we were on the Trico’s east ridge. From there, we put our skis on our backs and hiked to the summit. The ridge isn’t technical, but we had crampons for more secure footing.

Christy nearing the summit — Christy nears the summit.

We were soon on the summit, taking in the views above Telluride to the west. It’s amazing how close some of the San Juans’ towns and roads are to each other—were it not for all the San Juan Mountains that get in the way and give the appearance that everything is far apart!

The borders of three counties come together at the summit of Trico- San Juan, Ouray, and San Miguel. It seems like the name Trico may be truncated from Tri-County? Just a thought.

Trico Peak ascent and descent routes — Trico Peak as seen from the east. Our ascent route is marked in red and the ski line is marked in blue.

Once ready for skiing, we traversed along and below the east ridge until we came to continuous fall-line snow to ski down to the valley. Due to the southerly aspect, the snow was firm and sun-affected. But it was still fun, and soon enough, we were back near the summer jeep road and following our tracks back to the car.