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Base Camp
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- Statistics:
- Date Hiked: November 17, 2007
- Miles Hiked: 8.5
- Elevation Gain: 3,100'
- Hiking Partner(s): George
Barnes & Nate Stutzke
- Description:
- George, Nate, and I decided to head up to Rocky Mountain National Park
and check out the ice on the northeast face of Notchtop Mountain that
many people had been climbing over the past three weekends. We
pitched it out identically as the Summitpost page has it with four
sections of ice and one snow pitch sandwiched in the middle. I
hadn't been out doing anything for a month and the last time I swung a
tool was back in the beginning of April, so this climb was intended to
shake out the cob webs for me. In an email to Nate and George
earlier in the week I nonchalantly referred to it being quite some time
since I've had a good beat down in the mountains. Surprisingly, it
was the descent down the Flattop Trail that more than adequately
supplied my "beat down".
- We left the Bear Lake Trailhead early and made acceptable time to
Lake Helene east of Notchtop Mountain. After consulting with some
hardcore climbing experts that were on the route the previous weekend,
we knew to stay high and left at the lake to access the northeast bowl.
Above Lake Helene, we finally realized the strength of the wind and
worked our way to a small chimney that contains the low class five rock
climbing section needed to gain access to the start of the climb.
After a "quickie" jump and hump move over a chockstone in the chimney,
we did a little more scrambling before resting on a shelf to gear up and
have some awesome breakfast burritos that George's wife Abby made for
us. The wind relented here, but we watched all day as the clouds
whipped by above us and spindrift flowed down the mountain.
- George made short work of P1 (WI2) and then brought Nate and I up
together on two pitons and a nut to the right of the base of P2.
P2 (WI3+) has two vertical steps and was considered the route's crux.
George led this pitch and then Nate and I climbed it separately as it is
fairly constricted. George's anchor was built on a small cam and
two pitons he placed. From here, there is a section of snow that
you need to climb to the base of P3 where George made an anchor with
three screws. P3 (WI2) was a good warm up for me to lead.
Reportedly, there are a couple more pins to the right of the base of P4,
but with the snow accumulation, I only dug around for a short period of
time before settling on a couple of cracks to build my anchor with three
cams. Similar to P1, George and Nate followed together as there
was enough room and the climbing was easy.
- At this point, a team of two caught up to us so we told them to
continue by us. Although we lost some time, we didn't want to hold
them up since they were moving faster. In addition, we got to
witness the leader beat the hell out of P4. I'm certainly not one
to criticize because I know I'm not a even an average climber, but talk
about inefficiency. We decided to dedicate the Static X song
"Destroyer" to early season ice climbers with over zealous swings.
Anyway, after getting up P4 (WI3), I slung a boulder and then brought
George and Nate up individually. We did some scrambling to reach a
level and sheltered area to collect ourselves.
- In recent reports, there was no mention of a significant cornice, so
when George pointed it out to Nate and I we were fairly surprised.
Since we had approached in the dark, we weren't able to view it from a
distance. We stayed roped up and simply hugged the rock on the
right as we snow climbed to our exit on the Continental Divide.
Although we had completed the climb safely, we were now greeted by the
blasting wind that we had experienced on the approach of the northeast
face.
- Since it was late in the day, we didn't summit Notchtop Mountain. We packed up some gear and
trudged our way south to Flattop Mountain as the sun set and the wind
continued to blow fiercely. We stopped occasionally to make sure
everyone agreed on the direction we were heading and to see if we were
alright. After finding the trail, we picked up the pace some and
worked our way near the top of Dragon's Tail Couloir. We simiply
continued down the Flattop Mountain Trail to the Bear Lake Trailhead.
The trail hiking below tree line was unpleasant due to the icy
conditions. It seems ironic that we go out of our way to seek out
ice to climb on the side of a mountain, and it's the ice we curse on the
descent. I hit the deck four or five times, and Nate said he fell
a couple of times on some rocks and into the bushes. I think we
were more sore from the falling than actually swinging tools and kicking
ice.
- Maps:
- Click here to view a
2D map of
the area where this hike is located.
- Photographs:
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