| Peak: | Maroon Peak - 14,156 feet | |
| Posted By: | sgladbach | |
| Post Date: | 03/16/2009 | Modified: 10/19/2009 |
| Date Climbed: | 03/14/2009 | |
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| Winter on Maroon Peak |
Final Winter Peak for 2009
Maroon Peak 14,156‘ March 14, 2009 Route: Bell-Cord Couloir Distance: 22.5 miles Elevation Gain: 5256’ Camp : Crater Lake, 9 miles Car to camp: 5 hours Camp to car: 4 hours From camp to the summit: 9 hours From the summit to camp: 1 hour 30 minutes Overall, it’s been a fruitful winter. In a perfect world, I’d have gotten out more often and had the opportunity to attempt a few more new peaks on my list of winter 14ers, but I didn’t do too badly. I was able to climb 6 weekends and was able to summit 5 new winter 14ers (two with new winter partners). The sixth weekend, I had a chance to climb three repeat 14ers with some novice winter partners (one of my favorite kinds of climbs). When the 2008-2009 winter officially began, the 14ers on my winter goal list were all a good distance away from Pueblo, required long approaches with a campout and, for the most part, had to be considered difficult in any season. In order to make a new summit several factors needed to align. I needed a three-day weekend, reasonable avalanche conditions, and a decent weather forecast. Most importantly, my daughters’ mother had to be available to watch them for the weekend. Considering all those qualifiers, I feel lucky to have been able to get the five new peaks. Of the five, it broke down like this: El Diente: Solo: Longest summit day and most technical rock climbing N. Maroon: w/ Mike: most technical snow, most avalanche potential, night descent Pyramid: Solo: lesser known route. Believe it or not, this was the easiest this winter Snowmass: w/ Kiefer: longest approach and worst weather And finally the subject of this report, Maroon Peak (South Maroon) : Solo: Caused the most anxiety. The anxiety surrounding a winter Maroon Peak attempt stems from a fatal accident and helicopter evacuation involving myself and 5 friends that occurred June 13, 1992. Tough I‘d had an enjoyable 1990 ascent of the route, this time four of us were swept down the Southeast Couloir; my friends Brent and Marcie Cameron perished. Emotionally, I don’t think I’ll ever completely recover from that day. It’s always been a hard reality and, I ashamed to admit, I’ve not always handled it with healthy outlets. I’ve climbed the peak 4 times since then, but I’ve never repeated a snow route. Obviously, in winter, I knew they’d all be snow routes. When I climbed the west face of Pyramid in February, I was evaluating the Southeast Couloir and the Bell-Cord Couloir on Maroon Peak. I was comparing them to the Southwest Ridge route that I knew best. The couloirs certainly looked in fine shape; the only signs of recent slide activity was sloughing from the warming rocks bordering the sides of both couloirs. After descending Pyramid peak, I contemplated climbing to the base of the Garbage Chute to dig a pit and evaluate the possibility of staying in camp an extra day to attempt Maroon. Tired from the day’s climb on Pyramid and lacking a partner with snow expertise to confirm my evaluation of the snow, I decided to sleep in the next day and have a leisurely hike out. A month larer and unable to arrange a partner, I leave Pueblo telling family that I’m going to Aspen and that I haven’t decided which peak (Castle/Conundrum or Maroon Peak) I’ll try to climb. Finally, I go for the one that I want more right now. On March 13, I returned to the Bells area with a newly built sled in tow (for those of you who’ve been following the sled-saga that has plagued my three trips to Crater Lake this winter.) At camp, I send my first SPOT message so friends and family will know which peak has received the go-ahead. After three trips, this has become a familiar (but welcome) view: 
And a familiar Camp! 
But, here’s a new sign of the imminent spring 
On each trip, the nearby (15 minutes roundtrip) Minnehaha Falls have saved time by eliminating the need to melt water. 
After setting camp, I began to break the 1 ½ miles of trail west past the Bells to reach the Bent Tree near the climber’s trail which marks the start of the South Ridge (standard ) route. But, I never made it that far. Passing by the enormous bowl under both the Southeast Couloir route and the Bell-Cord route, my eyes are again drawn to the direct and aesthetic couloirs above. By sight, the SE Couloir looks harder and has a narrow choke area, but the map and descriptions imply it is easier than the Bell-Cord. From the snow apron, the SE Couloir is left of Maroon Peak and Bell-Cord to the right 
SE Couloir 
Bell-Cord 
From Friday’s high-point, a view back to Crater Lake. Camp is in a well protected grove just behind the foreground outcrop. 
Nervous stomach and all, I decide to climb to the base of the Garbage Chute to evaluate the snow. I know the Colorado Avalanche Information Center has rated the day with Aspen’s most favorable conditions of the year (literally). Low avalanche danger is predicted on all aspects and elevations (except, of course, the aspect I’ll spend most of the day climbing, the E and NE facing areas above timberline. Here the danger is rated moderate. That is, natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered avalanches possible). With identical weather and slightly lower temperatures predicted, tomorrow’s ratings are likely to be the same. Visually, things look good and a small pit at the base of the Chute appears to support predictions. The snow is a little softer than I’d like, but it is 3:00 in the afternoon. There are signs of afternoon sloughing from the adjacent cliffs). I’m still not willing to make a final decision, but I return to camp and devise a plan. I set the alarm for 1AM and hit the trail at 2:00AM. I’ll try to use frozen snow to summit one of the couloirs and be ready to descend before things get too warm. I’ll have plenty of time to decide which couloir to climb. By 2:30AM I’ve reached the fan of apron and have begun to climb. I skip the Garbage Chute and skirt to the right around the basal cliffs through a wide gully that I couldn’t see from the base on yesterday afternoon’s reconnaissance. Above the Garbage Chute, The shin-deep snow is softer than I had expected and the going was quite slow. Without conscious decision, I find myself drawn further and further right toward the Bell-Cord. I had made a decision, but I can’t pinpoint when or why. The mind (at least mine ) is weird. As soon as I entered the Bell-Cord proper, I sent a SPOT message. Now, some people know which route I‘m atempting. I was running behind schedule; it was 6AM. 5:30AM on the Bell-Cord 
An 8AM close-up of the upper couloir 
I found the Bell-Cord to be a thoroughly enjoyable route. It was much easier than I thought it would be. At about 45 degrees it is not overly steep, but VERY sustained. The deep kick-stepping remained slow and tedious, but the snow quality never differed. At 9:00, I send a message from the Maroon/ N. Maroon saddle. The Bell-Cord saddle East view 
View west from the saddle 
The climb to the summit was much harder than I had remembered from my one summer traverse from Maroon Peak to the North Bell. I attempted once to remove my crampons and scramble, but it was too scary. I opted to wear them to the summit and let the rocks from the mixed climb chew up the expensive aluminum as much as the mountain wanted. At 11AM, after 9 hours, I was able to summit. I sent a SPOT message. I was about 2 hours slower than I had hoped. The good news (besides the summit!) is that my working mittens, though warm on the inside, are frozen solid. I won’t stay long. “Hanging out" at and off of the summit 
A view of Snowmass for Kiefer who (last Saturday) climbed it, but never saw it. 
The imposing west face of Pyramid. Had I seen the full route it from this angle before climbing it last month, I’d not have that one behind me. The couloir that defines the bottom half of the route to the is the one on the far left. 
The astute viewer can pick out Uncompahgre, Wetterhorn, Coxcomb and Precipice 
A foreshortened view of the climb from the Bell-cord saddle to North Maroon. Anyone unwilling to give props to Aaron Ralston? 
Capitol 
Cathedral, Castleabra, Conundrum, Castle (Next Winter?) 
Another view Southwest 
A trot to a view point down the south ridge made me feel grateful. The standard route and its upper portion from the SE Gully looked much more difficult than my route today. I’m almost certain that I would not have summited had I chosen the standard route. Maybe I could have reached the top from the Southeast Gully col, but it wouldn’t have been easy and I’d have been much later. At 11:15AM, I left the summit and returned to the Bell-Cord saddle by 11:55. It took 20 minutes (with breaks and traverses) to glissade 3000’ to my snowshoe stash. The snow was a perfect balance. It had softness for controlled speed and steering, but was stiff enough to self arrest on a dime. What a ride. Arriving at camp at 12:45PM, I broke things down and was pulling out a little over an hour later. The 9-mile trip to the car took a little under 4 hours including a stop at the T-Lazy 7’s Maroon Lake warming hut for a quart of spiced cider. Of course, I traveled too fast in my plastics on the well-packed road and got pretty deep blisters on the ball of each foot (though I had stopped to put on mole-skin). They hurt a lot today, but I have two weeks or more before I’ll get a chance to hike again and my difficult peaks are over for a while. The best part of the descent was meeting two of the nicest women that you’ll ever encounter. Annie was skiing to Maroon Lake and her friend Amanda Boxtel was just behind. Amanda is co-founder of Challenge Aspen (a non-profit for the physically challenged who wish to enjoy the outdoors and skiing.) http://www.amandaboxtel.com/ Amanda gushed over my climb (“You went all the way up there? What’s your name? That’s amazing!!!......”) as if I were the in the category with Dawson, Ralston and Davenport. She was heaping such praise I couldn’t help but blush. All this amazement for my physical prowess while she nonchalantly sat in a specialized X-country ski chair having skied up several miles up to her meditation viewpoint of the Bells while using only arm-power. I’ve seen paraplegic downhill skiers, but I had no idea there were people strong enough, physically and mentally, to ski miles uphill without the use of half their muscles. There can’t be many. What an amazing person to make you feel so special while you know that you’re the one actually in the presence a far more elite athlete. Her able-bodied friend Annie was equally as gracious and delightful. It was such a blessing to meet them. Of course once they finished their meditation, they turned downhill and beat my socks off getting to the car. Well, I’m closing these reports for winter 2008-2009. Now that I won’t be so goal-driven for 9 months, I hope to climb with more of you while you work on your goals. Please post for partners for all peaks and I’ll try to tag along when I have open weekends. I enjoy meeting new climbers. Steve Thumbnails for uploaded photos: 
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