Good first Class 3 hike?

[huffy13]

My brother and I are looking at a week in Colorado next Summer to do a few 14ers...right now we are looking at Lake City and getting Sunshine/Redcloud, Uncompaghre, San Luis and possibly Wetterhorn....my question is whether or not Wetterhorn is a good mountain to begin my journey into Class 3 territory, or is there another good starter for that level of difficulty? I've always thought Wetterhorn looked awesome and I definitely want to summit it someday. The hardest summit I have acheived thus far is Mt. Lindsey, which we got off-trail and into a little more difficult stuff than the standard route, but I was never too uncomfortable with it....We are looking at either mid-July or mid-August, so snow shouldn't be too much of an issue. We are open to adjusting our base camp location and getting other hikes in, we both just love that area and I want to take my wife there also.

[DoctorBreaks]

My brother and I are looking at a week in Colorado next Summer to do a few 14ers...right now we are looking at Lake City and getting Sunshine/Redcloud, Uncompaghre, San Luis and possibly Wetterhorn....my question is whether or not Wetterhorn is a good mountain to begin my journey into Class 3 territory, or is there another good starter for that level of difficulty? I've always thought Wetterhorn looked awesome and I definitely want to summit it someday. The hardest summit I have acheived thus far is Mt. Lindsey, which we got off-trail and into a little more difficult stuff than the standard route, but I was never too uncomfortable with it....We are looking at either mid-July or mid-August, so snow shouldn't be too much of an issue. We are open to adjusting our base camp location and getting other hikes in, we both just love that area and I want to take my wife there also.

Hey there, Wetterhorn was my second class 3. I thought it was a great introduction to class 3 climbing. I never minded the exposure, but I have heard more than a few people say it is pretty exposed. Are you afraid of heights at all?

[huffy13]

Well, heights don't bother me that much, but the exposure is kind of the wild card here since I haven't really had a good dose of it yet. Mt. Lindsey had some exposure, but I did fine on it. Exposure is such a subjective term anyway. I guess you could say that as long as the route is solid I can deal with the exposure better...just curous if maybe there is a better class 3 route (or difficult class 2, for that matter) that would give me a better gauge of what to expect. We may not even bother with Wetterhorn this go around anyways. I just want to be prepared mentally and physically in case we give it a shot.

[DoctorBreaks]

Well, heights don't bother me that much, but the exposure is kind of the wild card here since I haven't really had a good dose of it yet. Mt. Lindsey had some exposure, but I did fine on it. Exposure is such a subjective term anyway. I guess you could say that as long as the route is solid I can deal with the exposure better...just curous if maybe there is a better class 3 route (or difficult class 2, for that matter) that would give me a better gauge of what to expect. We may not even bother with Wetterhorn this go around anyways. I just want to be prepared mentally and physically in case we give it a shot.

Well in that case some of the easier class 3 routes are in the front range. Bierstadt's East Ridge, the Sawtooth to Evans, Kelso's Ridge on Torrey's. Those are a few really solid easier class 3's.

[bunny256]

Wetterhorn was my first class 3 and I think it was an excellent introduction to scrambling/exposure. The rock is great and solid, and it's really only a small amount of class 3 right below the summit. Go for it!

[sunny1]

Just reviewed Sunny1's Annals of climbing. Yep, dug into the archives.

Wetterhorn was my 1st C3 14er. It was awesome.
Not sketchy or loose, IMHO.
Sounds like a good one to put on the agenda, if you're in Lake City

[huffy13]

Cool, thanks for all the replies. DoctorBreaks, Bierstadt/Sawtooth/Evans is on my list also. Sounds like Wetterhorn is a good one...plus, the San Juans are hard to beat.

[thurs]

Wetterhorn was a few of my friend's first Class 3 hike (one of their first few 14ers in general) and they had a total blast and didn't get freaked out. Super solid.

[Tornadoman]

Wetterhorn was my wife and my first Class 3. It is the perfect introduction to scrambling/C3, imo. The summit pitch is steep, but not nearly as intense as it looks in pictures. I am sure that you will do fine. As an added bonus it is a really beautiful area!

[painless4u2]

Wetterhorn is a great mountain, but I think for a good Class 3 starter, the SW ridge of Sneffels is better. Not nearly as intimidating as the final moves on Wetterhorn, and actually a lot of fun.

[HULKHIKEGOOD]

Great stuff here, as I am also interested in this topic. Thanks for all the feedback, keeps me from asking the same questions! I have had my eye on Wetterhorn as my first C3 and I think this just solidified it. Huffy, if you need more in your group to share the experience let me know, that's the same time of year I head to the mountains.

[huffy13]

Great stuff here, as I am also interested in this topic. Thanks for all the feedback, keeps me from asking the same questions! I have had my eye on Wetterhorn as my first C3 and I think this just solidified it. Huffy, if you need more in your group to share the experience let me know, that's the same time of year I head to the mountains.

I sure will let you know...just got off the phone with my brother and we are looking at July 19-23 for a possible San Juan excursion. Mark it on your calendar!