Ryan Levander

Hiking Mount Quandary in the Winter

Leave a Comment / Adventure, Hiking / By
Published on: December 25, 2018
Categorized in: Adventure, Hiking
Read Time: 2 minutes

Mount Quandary is one of my favorite Colorado hikes to do in the Winter. It just so happens to be a 14’er, which makes it all that much more epic.

Some reasons why I think it remains one of the best Winter 14’ers to summit are:

  • Proximity to Denver (Less than a 2-hour drive from Denver)
  • Very close to Breckenridge (Which makes for a great burger and brew afterward (you have to hit “Breckenridge Brewery” – and I usually have brought my computer with to work from a coffee shop in the afternoon. “The Crown” is my favorite)
  • A fairly “quick hike” if you are in decent shape (Perfect challenge – its not Longs Peak, nor do I want it to be in the Winter Time. Should plan for 3-6 hours round trip depending on your fitness level and your snowshoe expertise…1 hour if you are skinning up, skiing down 🤪)
  • You’re pretty much guaranteed to see at least one mountain goat (I’m 5/5)

This video pretty well sums up Yury, Artem, and my descent shortly after summiting Quandary on Winter Solstice (12.21.18):

[wvideo id=”d65jz10lst”][/wvideo]

We took the East Ridge Route, yet I only have data for 2 miles as my phone died after that:

Click on photo for lightbox viewing with caption (all photos taken by Ryan with iPhone and edited in Adobe Lightroom)

Yury deciding it's "Go Time" with the snowshoes from Costco. Damn you Costco...
Yury deciding it’s “Go Time” with the snowshoes from Costco. Damn you Costco…
Artem looking good in his ugly Christmas sweater!
Artem looking good in his ugly Christmas sweater!
Yury and Artem strategize ways to stay alive.
Yury and Artem strategize ways to stay alive.
Artem trying to get water out of the camelback - but it was frozen! :(
Artem trying to get water out of the camelback – but it was frozen! 🙁
Yury and Artem from a distance - looking at up at the final false summits of Quandary.
Yury and Artem from a distance – looking at up at the final false summits of Quandary.
We made it!! Summit of Mount Quandary - 12.21.18
We made it!! Summit of Mount Quandary – 12.21.18
Panorama with Artem taking quick whisky shot break.
Panorama with Artem taking quick whisky shot break.
Artem and I close to summiting in 2017. Very windy that day.
Artem and I close to summiting in 2017. Very windy that day.
Mountain Goats all along the ridge-line.
Mountain Goats all along the ridge-line.
Josiah with Titan IPA and Mountain Goat in background.
Josiah with Titan IPA and Mountain Goat in background.
Me with mountain goat and Titan IPA in hand.
Me with mountain goat and Titan IPA in hand.
Saw so many mountain goats that day.
Saw so many mountain goats that day.
Mountain goat walking right by me.
Mountain goat walking right by me.
Mountain goat giving me the look.
Mountain goat giving me the look.
Hannah and her first 14'er in March of 2017 - Plenty of Mountain Goats in the background.
Hannah and her first 14’er in March of 2017 – Plenty of Mountain Goats in the background.
Anthony and I almost summiting in March of 2018.
Anthony and I almost summiting in March of 2018.
Richard and I summiting in March of 2016 on a sunny Colorado day.
Richard and I summiting in March of 2016 on a sunny Colorado day.

Photos by Ryan Levander are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Video I made and uploaded to YouTube (all taken with Ryan’s iPhone 7 and edited in Adobe Premiere Pro)

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