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Base Camp
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- Statistics:
- Date Hiked: May 9, 2009
- Miles Hiked: 7.6
- Elevation Gain: 4,450'
- Hiking Partner(s): Brian Kooienga
and Kevin Smith
- Description:
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Kevin has been talking about climbing the north
face of North Maroon Peak for several years and was determined to
attempt the route this spring. I don't think the north face gets
climbed very often except for extreme skiers. I wasn't too excited
about the climb but decided to tag along after seeing a great forecast
and reading a recent trip report on Teton Gravity Research.
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We left Denver (CO) Friday morning at 9:00 am.
After a quick sandwich at a deli in Carbondale (CO), we made our way up
the Maroon Creek Road to the gate closure near the T-Lazy-7 Guest Ranch.
We quickly finished packing and started the 6 mile climb up the rest of
the Maroon Creek Road on mountain bikes with 40-50 pound backpacks.
Fortunately, the road was melted out all the way to the Maroon Creek
Trailhead which we reached after 50 minutes. We took a quick break
to prepare for the backpack in while enjoying the views of the Maroon
Bells. It took another 50 minutes to reach Crater Lake without the
need for snowshoes. We set our bivys up in a flat sheltered area
and began melting snow for water. Kevin dug out a snow bench and
cooking area. We prepared our packs for the next day, hydrated,
and took a few photos. I ate an MRE, Kevin had ramen noodles, and
Brian ate a sandwich. As the sun fell behind the mountains, we
crawled in our sleeping bags and went to bed relatively early.
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The alarm went off at 3:30 am, and we were on the
trail by 4:00 am. The climb to the Minnehaha Creek crossing went
quickly. Snow condition were perfect neve, so we strapped on our
crampons for the rest of the approach. The sun rose during the
hike to the base of the north face and the day was beginning to look
promising. The north face of North Maroon Peak is somewhat
challenging as far as snow climbs go. Not only is the steepness
sustained throughout the entire 1,600' climb, the route zig-zags up the
face as opposed to a usual straight forward couloir climb. We
crossed below the looming north face to a snow ramp on the far right
side of the peak.
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After gaining a few hundred feet, you begin the
first of two long traverses. We turned left for a traverse across
a long steep snowfield above the lowest major cliff band also known as
Miner's Ski Jump. Once back in the center of the face, we climbed
straight up a shallow couloir until we reached a couple of short rock
steps. At this point, we made a short traverse left around the
rock steps and then back right to the center of the face. After a
couple more hundred feet, we were on another large snowfield on the
upper section of the face below the Punk Rock Band. This is where
the second long traverse is encountered. We angled left towards
the northeast ridge and the standard route's crux move.
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Since snow had filled in sections of the northeast
ridge, we were able to gain the upper ridge above the crux by circling
around to the east. The final few hundred feet to the summit were
the easiest of the entire face. The approach from Crater Lake to
the base of the route was 2.5 hours and the north face took us another
2.5 hours to climb. This was the first time Kevin climbed North
Maroon Peak. We ate, drank, took photos, and briefly contemplated
going down the northwest ridge route. However, none of us were
familiar with the route and I felt our boot pack would provide us a safe
descent. We didn't stay on the summit long and started down.
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This route is likely the longest, most sustained
snow climb any of us had ever done. Gerry Roach states that the
1,600' face averages 47 degrees. It was an unrelenting climb that
required constant focus and attention the entire time. Our kicked
steps did provide a good descent "ladder"; however, we down-climbed face
in for approximately 1,200' of the face. The exposure is
continuous
and one mistake would likely be one too many. For those familiar
with Longs Peak, we compared it to the initial traverse of a snow-filled
Broadway but only lasting for 4 hours with no protection. The
three of us were glad to be back in the valley below the face after a
fairly intense climb.
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We caught several good glissades back down to
Minnehaha Creek and were packing up our camp at Crater Lake after a
round trip time of 8 hours and 15 minutes. We quickly hiked out to
Maroon Lake and jumped on our bikes for a speedy ride of 11.5 minutes
back down to the road closure. The beers were cold and our spirits
were high. We drove to Glenwood Springs (CO) for a late lunch at
the Glenwood Canyon Brewing Company. The drive home went smoothly
and we were back in Denver (CO) by 6:30 pm. It was a successful
climb and a good trip. We were glad to avoid making it a
triathlon, because adding a swim to our hike and bike would have
required an avalanche or a dip in chilly Maroon Lake.
- Maps:
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Click
here to view a
map of the area where this hike is located.
- Photographs:
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www.
just
hiking
.com
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