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Peak(s):  Wetterhorn Peak  -  14,021 feet
Date Posted:  10/09/2016
Date Climbed:   10/08/2016
Author:  SamFletcher
 Wetterhorn: My First Class 3   

For my first fall gathering, I decided to try and climb Wetterhorn Peak. I had heard that it was a great climb and I was excited to try my hand at class 3 climbing. I found a ride to the trailhead and some climbing partners, and we set off from the Mill Creek campground at about 6:10. While the last half a mile or so to the trailhead was rough, some careful and brave driving with a Subaru Outback would get you there. Anything with higher clearance should do it pretty easily. As we were getting ready to set out, I took this picture at the trailhead. Quick word of warning: I was not paying special attention to the directions I was facing when I took all of these pictures, so any directions you see here are based on my memory, the route map, the google map with all the peaks marked, and rough guesses. Take them with a grain of salt. Also, I am not a professional (or even amateur) photographer by any stretch of the imagination. All these pictures were taken with my iPhone 6, so the quality of the images (both in resolution and in artistic merit) is not the same as an experienced photographer with a DSLR.

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The view from the trailhead


We set off from the trailhead at about 7, climbed briskly through the trees on a great trail. Soon after I caught my first glimpse of our destination, as it caught the first rays of sunrise.

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Sunrise hitting the top of Wetterhorn


Here are a couple of pictures I took along the trail.

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View from the trail #1


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View from the trail #2


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View from the trail #3


Here is a shot of Matterhorn Peak (13,590) from the trail.

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Matterhorn Peak, with the Wetterhorn-Matterhorn ridge


We continued along the well-defined trail for a couple miles, crossing several frozen streams in the process.

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One of the frozen streams


Looking south-ish from about 12,000.

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Looking south from the trail at about 12,000


I could definitely tell that it had snowed very recently, as the trail was frozen mud from the treeline to the boulder field at about 12,800. From there, the trail was increasingly snowy, and sometimes was a little confusing to navigate. I was a little bit slower than my companions, so I had to do a lot of the navigating myself. I found it helpful to look for footprints, as the trail was not very well cairned. I imagine that when there is no snow on the ground the trail would be easier to follow. I had no real difficulty, however, and a quick look around was enough to find the correct path whenever I got confused. The trail was snowiest on the north-east face of point 13117, as marked on the topo map. I did not feel the need to use traction, but it was definitely close. If there had not already been several people up and down the trail to compact the snow a little, I would probably have used my microspikes.

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The snowy trail at about 12,900


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Where we're going!


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Matterhorn Peak (left), and Uncompahgre (right)


Just before the rocky section at 13,200, I stopped to take some pictures of the snowy San Juan's to the West (the directions are very approximate).

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Looking Southwest


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Looking West


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Looking Northwest


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Putting on helmets, with "the prow" visible in the upper center

After climbing up through the yellow dirt at about 13,300, (which was still clearly identifiable, even with the snow), we stopped to put on our helmets. In the picture, you can see the rock outcropping referred to as "the prow" in the route description. The route crosses directly beneath it from left to right before it turns to the final pitch. Now it was time for what I had been looking forward to the most: the class 3 section.

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Viewing the remaining route


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Starting up on mostly class 2 terrain


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The start of the class 2+/class 3 terrain, feat. Andrew


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Looking for a route up

As we started off towards the summit, it became apparent that a little more route-finding would be necessary. There were occasional cairns to guide us, and having multiple people to go scout out potential routes was helpful as well. However, all of the rock was solid and snow-free, so the route finding was more about finding the easiest route than finding a safe route that would work. It was still good practice, and I definitely appreciated having the opportunity to try and build some skills in a relatively low-risk environment. I am confident that I could have made it up a number of the potential routes that I saw, but I generally went with the one that I thought would be the easiest or most convenient.

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Looking down on one of the first class 3 sections


From the perpective of a person new to class 3 and more exposed routes, I did not find very much of the route to be intimidating at all. The only spot I really felt the exposure was on the sloped rock ledge right before the final pitch leading to the summit. Sadly, I did not get a picture of this ledge. I thought I was taking a ton of pictures, but as I'm writing this I wish I would have taken more! We stopped to grab a quick bite to eat here, and I was definitely pretty nervous about how "steep" the ledge was. However, as soon as put on my pack and started down it, all my fear vanished. While dry, the ledge was very grippy and I had no issues walking right down it to the base of the final pitch.

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The crux pitch from below


The final pitch was definitely the most sustained class 3 section of the climb, was pretty intimidating from the bottom. For reference, I was holding my phone at about a 45 degree angle to get this shot. I kept my focus on the next move I was going to make though, which helped a lot. I did not have time to think about what would happen if I slipped or a rock was loose and I fell, because I was too busy looking at my foot placement, testing handholds, and of course actually climbing. I had a lot of fun on this final pitch, and I really enjoyed added excitement and challenge due to the climbing being at over 13,900. Before I knew it, I was scrambling up the last few feet and I was at the summit!

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The crux pitch from above


The views that greeted me from the summit were incredible. To the West, Mt. Sneffels loomed tantalizingly (I didn't get a picture of this either). Southwest and further out, the Wilson/El Diente group were visible in the distance. Directly south, Sunshine, Redcloud, and Handies were snow covered and serene.

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On the summit looking South (possibly, I'm terrible at directions)


In the East, Uncompahgre dominated the view, with Matterhorn peak sitting between us and it.

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Matterhorn Peak (bottom left), and Uncompahgre (left of center) from the summit


To the North, there weren't a whole lot of mountains, but the views were still stunning.

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On the summit looking just West of North


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On the summit looking just East of North


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Summit selfie with the Wilson group (maybe?) in the background


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Mark on the downclimb of the crux pitch


After admiring the views for a bit and having a bite to eat, we started back down the mountain. Down-climbing was very intimidating at first, as I walked over to the cairn on the summit that marked the route I used to ascend. However, I found that as the actual route came into view, it wasn't nearly as bad as the views over the edge made it seem. With careful foot placement and being mindful of rock fall danger, we slowly descended back to the point where we put on our helmets.

A little father down the ridge, I turned back and snapped this final shot of the summit. With the class 3 section now completed, I reflected on my experience. For me, the scrambling did not really feel that much different from the class 2 section on the top of Bierstadt; it definitely came pretty naturally to me. Going up, it boiled down to looking at the path I was going to take, and making sure I could see a way that I could get up. With the dry, solid rock on Wetterhorn, this was not a very challenging task. It was also made easier by the experiece I have in rock climbing an bouldering, even though almost all of it was indoors. The ability to look at a route from the bottom and visualize how I was going to make the moves on a gym route definitely came in handy for the type of route finding I did on Wetterhorn. The experience with climbing and falling on lead routes also helped me with the exposure, and the fear of falling in general. With almost all of the route on Wetterhorn being inside gullys or large "chimney" type sections, the exposure was very manageable for me. Going down, I spent most of my time on the class sections facing away from the rock, staying low, and carefully lowering my feet while holding on with my hands. While slow and more tiring than walking down stairs, I never felt out of my comfort zone. The downclimbing was probably the most "new" part of the experience for me, but again focusing on what I was doing next kept me too busy to really look at or think about what would happen if I fell. All in all, climbing Wetterhorn with some experienced climbers was a great entrance into class 3 terrain for me, and I would definitely recommend the same to anyone looking to get into class 3 as well.

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Where we were! "The prow" is clearly visible here, just below and to the left of the summit


The rest of the route down consisted of walking on the trail, which by this point had melted was very muddy. I would definitely recommend wearing shoes that can get muddy to hike this route in early summer or late fall, as the mud went on for miles. It was a beautiful day, and we took our time on the way down to enjoy it. After a very leisurely hike, we made it back to the trailhead a little after 2, having summited at about 10:45. Overall, it was a great hike despite the muddy trail, and the weather was beautiful. This climb was a great way to cap off my first summer of seriously climbing 14ers, and I can't wait to see what next summer will bring!



Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
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Comments or Questions
Jay521
User
Nice..
10/10/2016 11:37am
Nice first report on one of my very favorite mountains - hope to see more from you!


ThatOneGuy
User
Congrats on Class 3
10/10/2016 6:37pm
Yo Sam!! It was great hiking with you buddy. Good job on your fist class 3. You kicked ass. Let me know if you have any interest in other class 3 or 4. Id be happy to do some repeats. Awesome trip report too. I really need to start posting these things.


Marmot72
User
Welcome!
10/10/2016 8:45pm
Wetterhorn was my first scrambling fourteener route, and it got me hooked. I think you might be, too. Welcome to the club! Enjoy!


Trotter
User
good report and fun hike
10/11/2016 1:15pm
hey sam let me know your email, ill shoot you a few pictures from the climb. got some good ones of you


JosephG
Congrats!
10/26/2016 9:42pm
Congrats on your first C3. Wetterhorn is a fun one. It only gets better from here.



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