9/8/2013
On Sunday, Grace and I climbed the direct variation of the Ellingwood ledges route on Crestone Needle. It's a beautiful route on a beautiful peak, consisting of a few pitches of mid 5th class to 5.7 with one really burly move (5.8?), and lots of 3rd 4th, and low 5th class scrambling. A worthy route, and probably our last big one before the baby comes. And no, I'm not being cruel making making Grace climb at 7-months gestation - I suggested a hike, and she insisted something harder. I married the right woman!
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| Crestone Needle (L) and Humboldt peak (R). Both "14ers". One worth climbing, the other... maybe not. |
Crestone Needle is over 14k, so careful acclimatization was a must for me. I'd no interest in repeating my Longs Peak experience. We drove up to the trailhead at 8800' on Friday night and slept in the car, then approached on Saturday morning to the 12,000' South Colony lakes. We tried driving the road up to the 4WD trailhead, but one particularly rocky steep section defeated the Forester, and we parked along the road just a mile or two in from the 2WD lot. We walked the rest, and to our surprise saw two Foresters in the upper lot! We apparently need either more skill or more determination in our driving. Arriving at the lakes around noon with nothing to do was a little weird, but quite pleasant. We spent the rest of the day napping, enjoying various soups, and scouting the start of the route.
The next morning I started leading up the first pitch at 06:00, half an hour before sunrise. It's a bit of a scary start with a good fifteen or twenty feet up to the first piece of gear, but not hard. After that it was an easy cruise up the gully/open book to a headwall. I belayed out right and brought Grace up. I'm not entirely clear on where the next pitch is supposed to go. Surmounting the headwall to continue up the book looked unappealing, and harder than 5.6 so I escaped up and left onto a big grassy ledge.
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| Above the crux pitch |
Another pitch of mid 5th class climbing up a steep wall brought us to the broad blunt arete that leads to a last steep headwall before the summit. We pulled half the rope into coils and took off simul-climbing. There are any number of possible routes, and we wove our way up and a bit left. Most of it was 3rd or 4th class, but there were a few low 5th class spots. Overall, I think staying roped accelerated the climbing as I could throw in a few more pieces of gear whenever things got extra hard or exposed.
At the headwall we caught up with a party of 5 that had come up the standard ledges route, skipping our first three pitches. They were friendly, and graciously offered to let us pass, but two of the group were already heading up the first headwall pitch (a beautiful 5.6 crack), one of whom had apparently never followed a trad pitch - ever.
After much tangled rope and mangled belay commands, the leader reached the top and began bringing up his follower. I let her get half way up the pitch, then began leading up it myself. When I caught up to her, she was stuck at a blank 5.11ish wall, which the rope ran straight up. I suggested that maybe the leader had gone around on the low-5th class ledges immediately to her right, and that she should too. Soon she was up. Soon after that I hear "ROCK!" from her belayer. Something compresses my spine and almost knocks me off. It's textbook impact, squarely on top of my helmet. Rattled but OK, I make my way up the rest of the pitch. Surprised that I don't get an immediate apology I comment that my helmet did it's job. Maybe they don't know they nailed me. The girl says nothing. Her belayer only comments that "that's what helmets are for." I don't speak to them again, except to mutter a grudging thanks when they let us pass. I can accept getting hit, forgive and forget. but I want to be asked, and I want them to admit they've fucked up. Never mind.
I fire through the crux pitch, with some hesitation at a very burly bulge/overhang that feels harder than 5.7. Then we're off and running, and never see anyone from that party again.
On top we spent some time taking in the views, and chatting with Justin, a friendly guy who'd come up the standard (3rd/4th class) scramble route solo. He seemed to be looking for company, and offered to show us the way down. Happy to accept, we descended together. The scramble route was actually really fun and solid, but we were grateful to have someone who knew the way, as it's also complex. It would have been a good deal more stressful trying to find the way down on our own.
At broken hand pass we stopped for a snack, and bid Justin farewell. He was hustling back to his truck, having done the climb as a day trip. How I wish my body could manage altitude like that! Back at camp by 14:00, Grace and I enjoyed a couple last rounds of soup before heading back down to the car. Another nice guy gave us a lift the last mile down the 4WD road, and we were back to our car by 18:00.
All in all, a great trip, with a few lessons.
- Two nights at elevation seems to do the trick for me. I felt great on top (14,200'), but for a very slight headache.
- People are a mixed bag. Sometimes they help you out, sometimes they drop rocks on you without apology.
- Beginners are dangerous in the mountains, and not just because they are slow. There's no conception of how a misplaced foot could kill those below them, none of the constant vigilance that is so necessary. This is the first time I've ever been hit by a rock in 8 years of climbing, and it was NOT a pleasant experience, even though I didn't get hurt. Most of the party of 5 we encountered on the route seemed to be quite experienced and it was very nice of them to let us pass - but 13,500 on a popular alpine route is no place to be teaching someone how to belay and follow a trad route no matter who you are!
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