Kit Carson Peak Trip Report 09/14/2011

Peak(s):	Kit Carson Peak - 14,167 feet Challenger Point - 14,086 feet
Date Posted:	09/14/2011
Modified:	09/15/2011
Date Climbed:	09/10/2011
Author:	Gruff

The Prow - Kit Carson Peak and Challenger Point
Date: September 9-10, 2011 Route: The Prow via Spanish Creek Trailhead Descent Route: Kit Carson's East Ridge to South Couloir back to Spanish Creek Total Mileage: ~10.5 miles Total Elevation Gain: ~6,100 ft. Rack: Set of stoppers, 1 small blue metolius master cam, bd cams from #.3 to #2, with doubles of .4 and .5, several long slings ______________________________________________________________________________ This was the trip I had been jonesing for all summer. I convinced my climbing partner, Curtis, to get a hall pass for the weekend to take on The Prow. This was no small feat because 1) he despises long hikes and 2) he was still mentally ruined from the epically long day we spent a year ago climbing the North Pillar of Crestone Peak. We took a half day off from work on Friday and headed down to the Spanish Creek Trailhead. To get to the trailhead you do have to cross private property owned by the Crestone Mountain Zen Center. I decided to call the center prior to our trip to request permission to cross their land. They were extremely nice people and asked us to stop in and say hello when we arrived. Starting the hike into Spanish Creek from the Crestone Mountain Zen Center. We started hiking from the trailhead at about 4:30pm. Based on beta from others on this site I was super paranoid about the approach and all of the creek crossings. Over time though it seems that the crossings and trail have become more prominent because we had no route finding issues. There are 6 main creek crossings in total with the final crossing leaving you on the North side of the creek. Fortunately, mosquitoes were a non-issue too. We found a good campsite at around 11,000 ft. Most people probably camp higher up, but it was 7pm and the sun was going down quickly. Our camp for the night at ~11,000 ft. Looking down to the San Luis valley from camp. The next morning we started hiking at ~6:15am. Temps at the time were hovering in the thirties. We got to the base of The Prow at about 8:15am. Looking down to Spanish Creek drainage from base of The Prow With bricks of ice for hands, we decided to rope up on the pitch below the 5.8 crux pitch. The task at hand. The first of 6 pitches on The Prow. The climbing that ensued was classic knob pulling on perfect conglomerate rock. The style of climbing is similar to what you would find on the Third or First Flatiron. Make sure you are confident on 5.6 terrain. Huge run outs are mandatory on this climb, as gear placements are scarce. We averaged about 3 to 4 pieces of gear per 60m to 70m pitch. Zee crux! Looking up the route just after the 5.8 crux. The essence of The Prow! After topping out on The Prow (at ~12:15pm), we dropped our gear and headed for the summit of Challenger Point. Topping out on The Prow. Special thanks to Terry Mathews for taking and providing us with this photo Hangin Ten on The Prow View of Crestone Peak Veiw of Challenger Point from The Prow. Back to our gear, we decided to take on the direct summit pitch to Kit Carson that you see immediately in front of you as you top out on The Prow. This pitch goes at about 5.5 and is similar in style to the rest of The Prow. Side profile of Kit Carson. The left angling ridge is the final pitch to the summit. The final pitch to the summit of Kit Carson. Pic taken from top of The Prow Sidewalk in the sky to Kit Carson's summit Coiling the rope after topping out. We descended the East Ridge off of Kit Carson's summit to the South Couloir. The South Couloir starts off with fun scree surfing then quickly turns into a choss pile with several class 4 downclimbs. We arrived back in the upper valley of Spanish Creek at about 3:00pm where we ran into a group of 5 climbers from NM who were attempting The Prow the next day. They were kind enough to offer up a swig of their whiskey which we gladly accepted. It provided the extra warmth in our bellies we needed to get back down to the car. Thanks guys and I hope your climb was successful! The red/green alternating lines show our pitches approximately. 7 total including final summit pitch Side profile of The Prow looking West from the South Couloir. We packed up camp and headed back down the valley. The next 2 hours were a mind numbing blur, but we made it back to the car at 6:30pm, cracked open a beer, and toasted to a phenomenal climb. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

The Prow - Kit Carson Peak and Challenger Point

Date: September 9-10, 2011
Route: The Prow via Spanish Creek Trailhead
Descent Route: Kit Carson's East Ridge to South Couloir back to Spanish Creek
Total Mileage: ~10.5 miles
Total Elevation Gain: ~6,100 ft.
Rack: Set of stoppers, 1 small blue metolius master cam, bd cams from #.3 to #2, with doubles of .4 and .5, several long slings
______________________________________________________________________________

This was the trip I had been jonesing for all summer. I convinced my climbing partner, Curtis, to get a hall pass for the weekend to take on The Prow. This was no small feat because 1) he despises long hikes and 2) he was still mentally ruined from the epically long day we spent a year ago climbing the North Pillar of Crestone Peak.

We took a half day off from work on Friday and headed down to the Spanish Creek Trailhead. To get to the trailhead you do have to cross private property owned by the Crestone Mountain Zen Center. I decided to call the center prior to our trip to request permission to cross their land. They were extremely nice people and asked us to stop in and say hello when we arrived.

Starting the hike into Spanish Creek from the Crestone Mountain Zen Center.

We started hiking from the trailhead at about 4:30pm. Based on beta from others on this site I was super paranoid about the approach and all of the creek crossings. Over time though it seems that the crossings and trail have become more prominent because we had no route finding issues. There are 6 main creek crossings in total with the final crossing leaving you on the North side of the creek. Fortunately, mosquitoes were a non-issue too.

We found a good campsite at around 11,000 ft. Most people probably camp higher up, but it was 7pm and the sun was going down quickly.

Looking down to the San Luis valley from camp.

The next morning we started hiking at ~6:15am. Temps at the time were hovering in the thirties. We got to the base of The Prow at about 8:15am.

Looking down to Spanish Creek drainage from base of The Prow

With bricks of ice for hands, we decided to rope up on the pitch below the 5.8 crux pitch.

The task at hand. The first of 6 pitches on The Prow.

The climbing that ensued was classic knob pulling on perfect conglomerate rock. The style of climbing is similar to what you would find on the Third or First Flatiron. Make sure you are confident on 5.6 terrain. Huge run outs are mandatory on this climb, as gear placements are scarce. We averaged about 3 to 4 pieces of gear per 60m to 70m pitch.

Looking up the route just after the 5.8 crux.

After topping out on The Prow (at ~12:15pm), we dropped our gear and headed for the summit of Challenger Point.

Topping out on The Prow. Special thanks to Terry Mathews for taking and providing us with this photo

Back to our gear, we decided to take on the direct summit pitch to Kit Carson that you see immediately in front of you as you top out on The Prow. This pitch goes at about 5.5 and is similar in style to the rest of The Prow.

Side profile of Kit Carson. The left angling ridge is the final pitch to the summit.

The final pitch to the summit of Kit Carson. Pic taken from top of The Prow

Sidewalk in the sky to Kit Carson's summit

We descended the East Ridge off of Kit Carson's summit to the South Couloir. The South Couloir starts off with fun scree surfing then quickly turns into a choss pile with several class 4 downclimbs. We arrived back in the upper valley of Spanish Creek at about 3:00pm where we ran into a group of 5 climbers from NM who were attempting The Prow the next day. They were kind enough to offer up a swig of their whiskey which we gladly accepted. It provided the extra warmth in our bellies we needed to get back down to the car. Thanks guys and I hope your climb was successful!

The red/green alternating lines show our pitches approximately. 7 total including final summit pitch

Side profile of The Prow looking West from the South Couloir.

We packed up camp and headed back down the valley. The next 2 hours were a mind numbing blur, but we made it back to the car at 6:30pm, cracked open a beer, and toasted to a phenomenal climb.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

mattpayne11	sweet 9/15/2011 2:41am Consider me impressed! Nicely done! I always thought that route looked super bomber. Good work!
14erFred	Dynamite adventure! 9/15/2011 4:54am A great TR about a fabulous adventure! Beautiful photos of this spectacular side of KC. Congratulations on pulling one off! The Prow rules! Glad you guys had such a wonderful time on this backcountry classic climb. Climb on, dudes...
jesse	Wow 9/15/2011 9:07am What a great way to bag these two peaks good work on the sporting finish for KC!
CincyBearcats	Nice work! 9/15/2011 2:50pm Great photos. Thanks for sharing.
Wish I lived in CO	Wow, Wow, and Wow 9/15/2011 4:01pm I can only dream of something like that. Great read though and great pics. Thanks for sharing on this advanced route on my favorite peak to date.
djkest	Kit Carson- in style 9/15/2011 8:10pm Cool trip report. Nice pics and a cool climbing partner as well.
kullpeak	Great Trip! 9/16/2011 12:55am That was a great trip report! I climbed Kit Carson the next day (in the clouds from 12,000 feet up...) and saw your name on the register - along with number 50! While I took an easier approach - that was number 50 for me as well! Thanks for the cool photos!
TomPierce	Nice report! Now, about that crux.... 9/16/2011 1:34am ...I thought I read over on mountainproject that there'd been a flake that collapsed or something like that, making the crux harder than 5.8. Sounds like you guys still thought it was a 5.8 route? That aside, nice report and photos, thanks for putting it up. -Tom
Gruff	re: Nice report! Now, about that crux.... 9/16/2011 2:41pm The crux was really one solid 5.8 move that is essentially a big pull up on jugs with small foot holds. Then you move your feet up onto good ledges and move left. After the crux is where you get your first piece of gear. This is right off a huge belay ledge so you can have your belayer spot you. We also made it easier for the leader by only carrying one pack which the second always carried. kullpeak - congrats on #50!
crossfitter	Excellent! 9/17/2011 2:39am This gives way better information on this route than anything I've found, and eases my concerns over the runouts and crux move a ton. You should consider submitting some/all of this to mountainproject and/or summitpost.

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