Maroon Bells Traverse and Snowmass Mountain Trip Report
Day 1
Maroon Bells Traverse
Trail: Ascent of South Ridge on Maroon Peak & Descent of North Maroon Via Northeast Ridge II, Class 4/5 , 9.4 miles, 4850 ft elevation gain
What can I say about this trip? WOW comes to mind. I spent much of this summer thinking about the Maroon Bells traverse, reading trip reports, practicing allot of 4th and 5th class climbing, and making damn sure I felt ready for it. Now the traverse has come and gone and I am left very satisfied with the whole experience.
My climbing partner of the summer, Brian, had previously done both of the Bells individually and we had decided that his knowledge of the route would make for an easier and safer trip. We set down the weekend of August 14th-15th as our target date and after successfully climbing Capitol and Pyramid decided everything was a go.
Brian and I left Boulder on Friday night at 5:30 and headed out to the Bells parking area. Arriving at 10:00 we donned our packs and headed in to campsite #8 where we met with Rick and Taehee (two 14erworld members from Washington) who had asked to join us. We quickly settled down for the night as we had a 4:30 AM start planned. I ended up getting about 2 and a half hours of sleep because a mouse kept running over my face. I usually like to sleep sans tent because of the beautiful night sky view it affords but the mouse has me reconsidering this method.
At 4:00 AM my watch alarm went off and I awoke. I had a quick cup of coffee and a couple of hardboiled eggs Jen had made for me. By 4:30 we were all set and headed out for Maroon Peak. The walk was beautiful and passed in that typical predawn-haze fashion. Just as the sun was coming up we were turning up the slopes towards Maroon peak. I think Pyramid had a much steeper approach but the Bells approach seemed to last a whole lot longer. Here is a picture of the terrain encountered.
The climb took some time but we eventually gained the ridge. At this point we headed through the convoluted approach towards Maroon Peak's south side. I'd imagine that it would have taken quite a bit longer if Brian hadn't known the route already. The approach consisted of a series of ledge traverses, gully climbs, and general scrambling. I would say most of the approach at this point was unrelenting class 2+ and class 3 but the exposure was pretty minimal (word of caution, minimal is a subjective definition). After an hour or so we found ourselves just beneath the summit and made our way up quite quickly. Everyone had been doing very well and we were all in good spirits as we summated Maroon Peak. Here are pictures of us at the top.
Rick and Taehee
Brian and Jared
From the top we could see the traverse ahead of us, it looked long and daunting but also like a of allot of fun. There was a guide from Aspen who was kind enough to tell us the route. Below is a picture of the traverse.
Here is a close up of people on the first climb for perspective.
I guess experience or sleep deprivation has made me grumpy. We passed a rather large group of people coming up without helmets and this really annoyed me. Given the ease with which rocks would start moving on this mountain I found this really idiotic. I mentioned to them that they might not want to walk in a single line because of the rock fall danger. One man said 'Oh we have helmets we just aren't wearing them'. That seemed like really bad judgment to me but oh well, it's their skull not mine. I moved away to avoid the group at that point before continuing on.
The beginning of the traverse (and all the rest) was unrelenting 3rd class on pretty nasty rock. I was very careful to check my holds and took my time. Here is a picture of Rick and Taehee during the initial part.
The climb continued on and we were blessed with a beautiful day so we took our time across. For anyone interested in the traverse I should say that the route finding is super easy. If you make a wrong turn you will know very quickly. If you find yourself cliffed out just turn around and try again. It would be almost impossible to go the wrong way as long as some caution is exercised.
We all continued along the traverse until we came to the crux. The crux was about 30 or 40 feet of up climbing. I have to say that I disagree with Roach here. This is not class 4, the holds may be good and the climb relatively easy but it is a low class 5 climb.
I usually carry about 40 pounds in my pack and the pack is actually a backpacking pack so I was a little hesitant about making any moves which pushed my back out in it. Fortunately the guide from before was up top and hauled it up for me in about 30 seconds. Brian moved quickly up a route to the left of the standard crux and I followed immediately behind. From the top we hauled up Rick and Taehee's packs and they speed their way up the rock to meet us. (check out http://home.comcast.net/~jaredjen/elk.html#emp for a picture from the crux). I think the real crux (for us at least) of the route came immediately after this point. After moving for a short while we came to another wall which had no obvious ascent. Brian, Rick and Taehee choose to climb one face while I opted for another. The climbing here was, In my opinion, low class 5.
After these to climbs the rest of the traverse went smoothly. We headed up, over, and around anything in our way. There were still some class 4 moves and the entire way was class 3 but nothing as serious as the two pitches before. The traverse ended with a rather direct but easy climb to the top of North Maroon.
Our ascent of North Maroon went smoothly and we all spent quite some time chatting. Taehee is an internal medicine doctor and Rick composes music. I am an astrophysics PhD student and Brian is a wildlife biology student. The eclectic nature of the group made it fun to have everyone around. Rick and Taehee were really neat people. Taehee had climbed Rainer and both she and Rick come to Colorado to climb all of the time. Like many other people I have met on 14erworld I hope to see them again someday. I hope Brian and I were good company for these two.
After a time we all headed down. The climb down was pretty straightforward but was also very steep with allot of class 3 moves. After some time we arrived at the dihedral crux. This mountain has made me decide to climb with a much smaller pack. The one I carry is just to cumbersome for any real moves as it tends to throw me backwards. The dihedral really wasn't that bad it just required some thought.
After this point we descended down a steep system of ledges http://home.comcast.net/~jaredjen/elk.html#enmp . This route had some of the nicest views and scenery I have seen. Even if you aren't a climber I'd recommend getting out to the Bells area just for the views. Brian and I sat on a long rock ledge for awhile just soaking in the scenery while Rick and Taehee climbed down towards us. Allot of people seem not to like the descent off North Maroon but I thought it was a blast, It has great scenery and allot of cool easy moves.
The route down from here consisted of allot of steep climbing on solid dirt and I was fortunate enough to snap a couple pictures of mountain goats.
Once past the grassy ledges we crossed over a Talus field, trekked to and across a stream , picked up the regular casual trail, and returned to camp.
We packed up, said our goodbyes to Rick and Taehee and headed for the parking lot. Brian and I were pretty beat and we sat at one of the picnic tables with a couple Coronas we had brought, trying to decide if we wanted to try for Snowmass or not. We decided to give it a go but first headed to Aspen for a couple of burgers. The drive to Snowmass was pretty long and we ended up taking a 4WD road, in the dark to the trailhead. We were pretty sure we had found the wrong one but as luck would have it we had arrived at the right place. I was to tired to do anything and passed out in the drivers seat of the truck. Brian set up a mat and sleeping bag on the grass nearby. I am pretty sure we both thought we'd wake up and go home in the morning due to our utter exhaustion. As it turns out we decided to go for it.
I want to add my 2 cents about the traverse. I think this was the toughest thing I have done in Colorado. The rock was god awful and only luck prevented one I kicked from hitting Taehee (who was wearing a helmet). The hiking was steep and unrelenting and the route finding through Maroon Peak was non-trivial. There was exposure, unrelenting class 3, some class 4, and some entirely unavoidable class 5. If the weather ever turned while you were on either peak or the traverse things could go bad quickly. Having said that I think it was not supremely difficult. As long as you are fit, comfortable free-handing low class 5, wear a helmet, and have a healthy respect for the weather and the quality of the rock then I'd recommend trying it. Of course I'd recommend trying it once you have built up to where you are confident about it and also when you have a confident partner. I would not try this one solo for the first time. Treat this route with respect and it will be an awesome experience.
Day 2
Snowmass Mountain
Trail: Ascent of Ridge II (S ridge) Descent via West Face II, Class 3, 9.4 miles, 4400 ft elevation gain
After a grueling day on the Maroon Bells neither Brian nor myself woke up until 6:00 A.M. I think we both figured we would be too tired to do the route and wanted sleep more than an alpine start. After waking up I wandered over to Brian and we decided that we would give it a go but turn back if either of us was to wasted or if the weather turned.
Just before setting off a Toyota truck pulled into the parking lot and out came a man and a woman who said they were headed for some 12'er in the area. They informed us how nice the route we were planning was. I don't remember how it came up but it turned out that the woman was Jennifer Roach. That was pretty cool, she has done all of the 14'ers and 13er's and most of the 12'ers. I was glad to meet a Colorado icon.
The hike began with a series of switchbacks leading out of the Lead King Basin. I think that the trail gains a thousand or so feet on these but it was very gradual. After exiting the basin we made our way up past Geneva Lake (you can see the trail in the picture below). We hiked on and left the main trail at the next little lake.
The real climbing starts after you make your way over a rock field to the base of the first gully on Snowmass. We entered the gully which was a very steep climb. To gain the ridge we basically used 3rd class moves to straddle the right wall the entire way up. The middle of the gully had way too many loose rocks for safety.
At the top of the gully the famous S-Ridge began. Brian had previously attempted Snowmass from the other side and wanted to try the ridge this time. This ridge was stunning. It certainly is my favorite ridge climb to date. It is unrelenting class 3 and very long. Almost every step is some form of move and the views to the left were fabulous and steep. I would suggest this route to anyone who likes ridge climbs. I should note that we gained the ridge at 9:50 and summated at 11:15.
As the climb went on the clouds started building ominously. Both Brian and I were a little concerned about this and when we popped out just below the summit we noticed just how thick they were getting. We agreed that it would be worse to try to retreat down the ridge than to summit and retreat down the West Face Gully. We skipped some small portions of the ridge and hiked through a gully to make up for time. Once the ridge became solid enough again we quickly climbed it to the summit. Since this was my last Elk range 14'er I actually signed the summit log. That is my first summit log signature ever, the next will be when I finish the 14er's.
Here is a view from the summit of the LONG S-Ridge. After taking some time to rest and eat we started down the gully below the summit. Brian and I were dog dead tired at this point but moved quickly and carefully so as to be away before any weather started. The whole climb up to the summit and down the gully was 3rd class and many areas had BAD rock so exercise a good deal of caution here. In some places large slabs even creaked when yanked.
We made our way down the steep and unpleasant gully often having to maneuver on our behinds down steep slabs. At the gullies bottom we reached a cliff over which a stream fell. We figured Roach wouldn't be trying to kill us o there must be a real exit.
There was. It turned out that you just contour over to the right and make your way down a series of beautiful grassy ledges to the base of the mountain. In the picture below you can see the grassy patch we came off of and the gully to the right we descended. The walk back to the upper lake was really annoying because every rock shot out from under us like ball bearings. We had to carefully make our way across the loose talus.
Once back on the trail we made good time back to the car. We stopped to chat with the occasional hiker and arrived back at the car near 3:00. This trip could be done much more quickly but the fact that we made it after the Bells impressed me. There is some perverse perseverance in many climbers and that helped us through the day.
Back at the truck we hung out for awhile and had the remaining Corona's. We drove back the 4WD road in the opposite direction to get back into Marble. Word of advice, the road is really high clearance 4WD.
We got back to Boulder at around 9:00 and Brian made his way home to Fort Collins. It was a great weekend. The traverse was simply the most fun I have had on a mountain (second is Capitol Peak) and the S Ridge was the coolest ridge climb I have done. Any climbers out there should make a point to do both of these.