Tentative Peak-Bagging Trip next Summer

“i return from korea next june. im looking at taking a nols course in late june or july, then heading to the colorado rockies for a week ,to bag some 14'ers”

“Yeah Baby! Let's do it!”

“tentatively, this trip could be the first week of august”

“C'mon, quit being so tentative.”

“assuming they let you out of the country, by then”

“they might love me so much, they decide to keep me”

“jimmy san, excellent! bring your climbing gear, we may have a couple of technical pitches on capitol!

btw, dates are not set in stone, so dont go requesting your time off. the dates of this trip will be pending the dates of a possible nols course”

“Hi Crash!!!
Hope things are well!!
See ya later.
Randall”

“Hey! I might come along and add some more peaks to my list!!!!!!”

“Crash!!!
Ya Know dude, ya might wanna talk to our mutual friend, Roamaround, as he lives in Denver and is pretty much the Rockies go to guy!!! Give him a shout!!!
See ya later.
Randall”

“I'm not sure I wanna be roped to you idiots - the odds of you guys pulling me off the mountain seem better than the odds of me falling off on my own.

I've used up all my mountain trip mulligans on my PNW trip this year. I'm not getting any visits to CO or NM. I'm really looking forward to getting back in the Rockies next year.”

“The knife edge is dramatic looking. That doesn't show the size of a climber in relation to it. I've read several accounts that said it wasn't that big of a deal. I'm more concerned about the really steep loose stuff on the other side of it.”

“every once in awhile you catch a glimpse of the guy filming it, so you get a little idea

ya know, actually seeing it, actually makes it less intimidating. takes away alot of the fear of the unknown. but in this case, thats a good thing

as far as the steep loose stuff goes, i think helmets are a must, for capitol and the needle

tj (or anyone else), do you think we'll need ice axes in august?”

“I cant believe i have to wait another 13 months for this.

aaargghhh!”

“tell me about it.”

“especially since i originally was hoping to do this a year ago”

“I'd bring a helmet for Capitol but only for the last bit. The Needle is very solid but you climb in a chute - I don't recall any rocks falling but there wasn't anybody climbing above us.

Crestone Peak may beckon us, since you want to approach from the west, and it's route is quite loose so bring the helmet for that. I thought the Peak was much more difficult than the Needle. I didn't wear a helmet but there was only one other guy on the mountain. The only time I've worn a helmet was on North Maroon, where I really needed it.”

“we're hiking out the same day that we climb the needle, so there probably wont be time to go to crestone peak. we could change the itinerary if it was really important to bag crestone, but right now bagging capitol (or at least trying) is more important to me. if we're really feeling like studs, we might be able to squeeze both in, but we'll have to be really efficient with our time”

“toe, how much more additional time are we talkin here, to add crestone peak? remember, according to roach, its class 4 from the needle to crestone”

“altho this is just a happy coincidence, approaching the needle from the west works very well with driving to the other trailheads, as they are all kind of in a line, and on the same side of the sangre de cristos”

“I like the idea of approaching from the west, since I haven't done it, it's really pretty and not crowded. The ridge between the two peaks looked really gnarly to me - I wouldn't try it without someone who's done it before, and every TR I've read used ropes. If we have to choose one, do the Needle - it's a lot of fun. You wouldn't want to do both and hike out. And we don't want to miss Capitol.

Of course Challenger & Kit Carson would fit the itinerary...”

“woohoo! roam arounds in!”

“Does that mean we crash at his place and make him drive us around?”

“the way things are right now, i will be flying in on saturday morning/afternoon, but i wouldnt be against a little forced hospitality”

“Oh dam. Didn't you send me an invite to this Crash? I thought so. Do it again if I'm welcome, If it's full then maybe I'll catch you guys another time.”

“I have no idea if I can make it, but it sounds like a great trip and at least I get to day dream about doing it.

What NOLS trip Crash?
last edited: 7/22/07 6:37:57 PM”

“im thinking maybe a 30 day absaroka trip in wyoming. if i cant get one to fit my schedule, they have many wind river courses to choose from”

“Not going! I don't do ropes.”

“mg, i only sent out 3 or 4 invites. youre welcome to join, however.

there are a lot of people who i would like to invite on this trip. the people i invited met two qualifications:

a) theyre some of my favorite people
b) i dont hike with them nearly enough

you met the first qualification, but ive hiked with you several times. ive had enough :-)”

“I didn't mean to invite myself, but I swore you invited me at some point, then I couldn't sign up cause it's a private trip.”

“a bad-ass 360 degree panorama shot from k2 (colorado). scroll to the right to see capitol peak

http://www.rexheadd.com/summitpans/full/k2SummitPan.html
last edited: 7/29/07 7:33:57 PM”

“holy shlt! I think I just did something involuntary...

That is unbelievable dude! I'm breathless just looking at that. Wow.”

“the knife edge video?

im looking at that day as "if i get to k2: success! anything past that is bonus"”

“

my rule of thumb is this... no matter how EASY a traverse is, if the likelihood that a fall will be fatal is significant then break out the rope. it only has to happen once. can't wait.”

“holy shnikes that guy tightroping it in the middle is giving me the heebe jeebs”

“wow. is that an effect of the camera, or is the horizon really that curved from a 14000 foot vantage? surely thats a camera effect”

“We'll have to take some pictures like that to make ourselves look more heroic than we really are.

I maintain that there are no technical climbs on this itinerary, so a person should not be discouraged because they "don't do ropes." Like CB said, climb to K2, and if the rest of Capitol freaks you out, call it good enough and enjoy the view.”

“i hear you. in my case i have a wife, three kids, and nothing to prove to anyone. i would agree that technical skill is not required to accomplish an obstacle like this, but technical skill is required should you desire to accomplish it safely. while this may not be more than 4th class terrain, a fall from this section would almost certainly be fatal. i don't even debate roping up in such situations. for me it's automatic... built into my climber dna.

the way i look at it is this. i know how to approach the technical aspects required to make such a traverse reasonably safe. what excuse would i have for not doing so? if someone fell and i didn't at least offer them a chance for a safe traverse how would i feel for the rest of my life? besides, i get a kick out of all the gear and technical details so it actually makes it more fun for me.
last edited: 8/26/07 10:59:31 AM”

“oh, yeah, and i get a kick out of the people in that picture traversing unroped (the dude tightrope walking!) on that edge while wearing helmets. it does look like he has a harness on, doesn't it?
last edited: 8/26/07 11:04:41 AM”

“...and as if i haven't posted enough about this trip today, capital peak would be the major draw for me on this trip. i would ask we consider changing the agenda when we are there if we get a window of good weather and bag capital peak if it looks like the conditions are right. the class 1/2/3 stuff can easily be done in less than optimal conditions. just a thought.”

“thats a possibility, altho i really want to try not to do that. at the least, i would want to get at least one of the others in first. i dont want to start with capitol”

“"what excuse would i have for not doing so?"

My concern is reliable anchors. Elk Range peaks are mostly red dirt and loose rock. If there aren't good anchors, I don't wanna be roped up to someone else who falls off. It's not like you could do an ice ax arrest up there. We'll have to assess the risks when we get there.

Most people don't have trouble with the knife edge cause it's pretty solid, but it's much looser past that.”

“i think that jimmy san is only planning on roping up for the knife edge

defineitely, if you would feel more comfortable not roping up, then i trust your judgement, as you have done some 14'ers. i wont decide until until i am there”

“a fall off the northwest side looks 99.9% fatal

off the southeast side, i dunno, 50-50, depending on how far you fell”

“i should not have used the term "rope up". my bad. i'll be carrying basic rescue gear (in case someone gets hurt) and gear for a safe traverse anywhere the risk of a fall would be severe. i don't mind the added weight even if the gear is never used. like i said, even though i could easily accomplish a traverse, i won't do so unless i can accomplish it safely. for me it's not enough to just make it to the other side and back. besides, setting anchors and playing with all that gear is fun.”

“jimmy, youre going to fall”

“i fall all the time. it's part of climbing. sometimes you have to throw yourself off the rock so you fall correctly. i am not afraid of falling. i am afraid of serious injury and death.”

“Awesome pic. I think it was taken using a fish eye lense and hence, the exaggerated curvature of the earth..”

“i dont really care for the effect. would rather just see a more natural representation”