crestone needle standard route

Crestone Peak has a longer route, including the need to regain Broken Hand Pass on your way back to the trailhead. If you want to join my newsletter, subscribe below. Check the weather forecast and stay home during inclement weather. The Crestone Needle is one of the most rugged of the Colorado 14ers, with amazing opportunities for alpine technical climbing. • CHECK OUT MY BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO COLORADO 14ERS HERE. Drive 5.5 miles to the end of Colfax. How’d this all… At about 10:00 am after a sandwich at summit, with the weather holding nicely, we began our descent. Then continue up to the rib to the left. From either the lower or upper trailhead (if you have 4WD and good clearance), leave your vehicle and begin heading up the now closed road to the old upper trailhead. What I mean by that is that it has a unique geology called the Crestone Conglomerate – originally formed by massive amounts of sediment being shed into a trough, mixed with course sediment, hardened, inverted and uplifted to form the spine of the Crestone Peaks. Research your route and bring a compass & topographic map. Many a Colorado climber considers Crestone Needle to have a special place in his/her heart. 37.1 km However, what is worse, is when you are so high on what you just accomplished and are looking for an easy way down to reflect and celebrate. I'll try to make it as simple as possible by naming the two gullies "east" and "west." The standard route up the peak is a challenging Class 3 climb, following a long 7 mile approach hike. 12.5mi, Create Recommended Route or The “easiest” route is not easy – the south face, rated Class 3, Grade II. Approach the pass, which may hold snow late into the summer. I created The Next Summit to share stories, advice, history and reflections about America’s Mountain Ranges! Look to the south to see the Great Sand Dunes National park, and look north to see the rest of the Rockies. Crestone Needle as seen from nearby Humbolt Peak. We used orange construction tape tied to a rock to mark one return but there are others. We ran into a guy who climbs in his sandals and a tank top – that’s it! - The route finding is a little easier going from Peak to Needle. We then packed up camp and hiked down the 4 ½ miles to our car and drove home. Check the weather forecast and stay home during inclement weather. • Continue up the trail past the gate. The summit is located in the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness of Rio Grande National Forest, 5.0 miles (8.1 km) east by south (bearing 102°) of the Town of Crestone in Saguache County, Colorado, United States.[1][2][5]. OK this was pretty funny. The east gully … Make sure to go to the left of the broken hand pass Stop here and look back so you can easily find the trail on your descent. Without careful route finding, it’s easy to miss the exit of the West gully.” That’s the typical understatement you find in these climb reports. The Needle was first climbed by Albert Ellingwood and Eleanor Davis on July 24, 1916 via the Crestone Peak/Needle Traverse. 784.1 km Being a jerk / offensive? Your goal is to traverse into a large gully, climb a few hundred feet, cross west over a rib, and ascend a second gully to the summit ridge. NEW TO 14ERS? Climbing. To begin, I’ll say despite a myriad of successful summits before this weekend, I’m not a particularly experienced climber. Windom Peak – 4 Tries and a Fantastic Summit! Continue along a trail from the notch to reach the bottom of the East Gully. 18.1 km I created The Next Summit to share stories, advice, history and reflections about America’s Mountain Ranges! My name is Alex Derr. This used to be the old trailhead but was closed to help protect the area. 4,400 feet starting at upper 4wd TH (9,900), 12 miles starting at upper 4wd TH (9,900). NOT OKAY! Spam? Join The Next Summit Newsletter to get advice, news & stories! Please explain. Rounded stones of generally 2” to 6” diameter stick half-way out of the conglomerate making for great hand-holds and foot placements. • Alternatively, the Cottonwood Creek route begins in the San Luis Valley and approaches the Crestones from the west. Generally climbs of Crestone Peak or Crestone Needle start from a base camp at South Colony Lakes, east of the peak, accessed from the Wet Mountain Valley on the northeast side of the range. NEW TO 14ERS? Sure, I’ve done Wetterhorn and the Sawtooth Ridge, but my experience on class three and four climbs is reasonably limited. Roundtrip: The instructions in route reports say: “It’s a good idea to stop here and look back at the terrain to visualize your descent. • I have no idea how you get up and down a mountain like that in sandals nor what would happen if weather came in suddenly as it does – but he was fast and capable – up and down. Research this peak well and take your time before you go, as many have died after getting off route and missing a key gully crossing. > Mt Bierstadt> Mt Evans> Longs Peak> Pikes Peak> Grays Peak> Torreys Peak, > Quandary Peak> Mt Democrat> Mt Lincoln> Mt Cameron> Mt Bross> Mt Sherman, > Mt Elbert> Mt Massive> Mt Harvard> La Plata Peak< Mt Antero> Mt Shavano> Mt Princeton> Mt Belford> Mt Yale> Tabeguache Peak> Mt Oxford> Mt Columbia> Missouri Mountain> Mount of the Holy Cross> Huron Peak, > Blanca Peak> Crestone Peak> Crestone Needle> Kit Carson Peak> Challenger Point> Humboldt Peak> Culebra Peak> Mt Lindsey> Ellingwood Point> Little Bear Peak, > Uncompahgre PeakMt WilsonEl Diente Peak> Mt SneffelsWindom PeakMt EolusSunlight Peak> Handies PeakNorth Eolus> Redcloud PeakWilson PeakWetterhorn Peak> San Luis Peak> Sunshine Peak, Castle PeakMaroon PeakCapitol PeakSnowmass MountainConundrum PeakPyramid PeakNorth Maroon Peak. The biggest challenge isn’t the distance, but the route-finding, as it’s easy to get off track and wander into much more difficult terrain. 5,841' Down The next day we did Humboldt Peak. If you kept going up the East gully it quickly turns into a Class 4+ much more challenging climb. New to 14ers? We’d seen what looked like a break in the daily storms and a change in wind direction from the northwest (that had been bringing in all the smoke from the 82 fires in Oregon and Washington) to wind from the south typical of the summer monsoons. Bring a buddy on your first ascent, preferably someone experienced. The pass is a good place to look at the route ahead and check the weather. Most of the warnings (as shown earlier with the orange ribbon and clothing markers) are about how to exit the West gully to cross to the East gully. Look for a narrow dihedral, which is the easiest place to cross the gully and climb the rib to the left to cross into the west gully, which brings you to the summit. The actual toughest part is the next move Rick P. needs to make above – reaching around the protruding rock face to only slight finger-holds – it seemed to us it was the one place on the whole mountain there wasn’t a good hold – and at a critical juncture. There are plenty of warnings, but apparently plenty of people who still get fooled. This is a great place to camp if you’re doing the climb as an overnight trip. In spring months there may be sections of snow where crampons and an ice axe are highly advised. Then it ascends a long gully on the northwest side of Crestone Peak, which involves some rockfall danger (hence a climbing helmet is suggested). Thanks! 3,505' Up The Crestone Needle is also on one side of the infamous Crestone Traverse, which links the mountain to Crestone Peak across a dangerous class five route. NEW TO 14ERS? • However, Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle are more commonly climbed separately. My name is Alex Derr. Climb the gully for about 300 feet before it narrows and deepens. You should have solid rock here, but you may have a few exposed moments. Check Out my 14er Beginners Guide Here to Get Started! The standard route up the peak is a challenging Class 3 climb, following a long 7 mile approach hike. Unfortunately though, the standard route of the Crestone Needle is tough in its own right so we had a bit of hiking still to do. The elevation of Crestone East Peak includes an adjustment of +1.762 metres (5.78 ft) from, The elevation of Crestone Peak includes an adjustment of +1.760 m (5.77 ft) from, List of mountain peaks of the United States, Iron Mountain (Costilla/Huerfano Counties), The 124 highest major summits of greater North America, Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Crestone_Peak&oldid=868221425, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 10 November 2018, at 20:17. > Mt Bierstadt> Mt Evans> Longs Peak> Pikes Peak> Grays Peak> Torreys Peak, > Quandary Peak> Mt Democrat> Mt Lincoln> Mt Cameron> Mt Bross> Mt Sherman, > Mt Elbert> Mt Massive> Mt Harvard> La Plata Peak< Mt Antero> Mt Shavano> Mt Princeton> Mt Belford> Mt Yale> Tabeguache Peak> Mt Oxford> Mt Columbia> Missouri Mountain> Mount of the Holy Cross> Huron Peak, > Blanca Peak> Crestone Peak> Crestone Needle> Kit Carson Peak> Challenger Point> Humboldt Peak> Culebra Peak> Mt Lindsey> Ellingwood Point> Little Bear Peak, > Uncompahgre PeakMt WilsonEl Diente Peak> Mt SneffelsWindom PeakMt EolusSunlight Peak> Handies PeakNorth Eolus> Redcloud PeakWilson PeakWetterhorn Peak> San Luis Peak> Sunshine Peak, Castle PeakMaroon PeakCapitol PeakSnowmass MountainConundrum PeakPyramid PeakNorth Maroon Peak. Exposure:  lots Keep your eyes on the prize! Also note in the picture of him you can see the rocks sticking out of the conglomerate – that’s what you climb on – and he does it in sandals! Trail. 3,505' Down 4,166' Down Drive 4.5 miles and turn right on Colfax Lane. Taken from a short distance to the east of the pass, 8 is a view of the remaining route up the south face. There’s just about no way without a marker on return down the West gully you’d see the correct place on the side wall you just start climbing up to get over to the rib. It takes significant time & resources to maintain my blog. The view from the summit is spectacular, with valleys straddling either side of the mighty Sangre de Christo range. We climbed the whole route up to Broken Hand Pass in darkness, arriving at the top of the Pass just at daybreak at about 6:15am. 3,740' Up Begin up the west gully, which you’ll climb for 400 feet or so to reach just below the summit. 1269.18 m Up Be sure you don’t sleep too close to the water, and watch out for signs with restoration areas. This climb involves a lot of Class 3 rock climbing and careful route finding. Took east gully the whole way. But there’s another key place – namely right near the summit when you down climb the steep summit approach – if you go too far (easy to to), you see what you think is the top of the West gully, but it’s actually the top of the East gully – heading down that gets you into a loose and Class 4 down climb which even those who ascend that way, don’t want to do.

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