Snowmass-Capitol ridge

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Hiking_TheRockies
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Snowmass-Capitol ridge

Post by Hiking_TheRockies »

I know that this is most likely nowhere near possible, but I was looking at the west slopes route on Snowmass and I could not help but notice that there is a pretty prominent ridge connecting the Snowmass summit to Capitol. So, would it be possible to traverse from the summit of Snowmass all the way to Capitol's summit while staying on the ridge, and do it all in one day? I remember reading a trip report somewhere where 3 or 4 people went from Capitol to Snowmass, but it appeared that they belayed off of the ridge just past the Capitol summit, and then regained it later. Would it be possible to fully stay on the ridge without going off of it? And if it is possible, can it be done from Snowmass to Capitol or only Capitol to Snowmass?
By the way, I am just wondering if this is possible and I don't think I will ever actually try to do this ridge!
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Ptglhs
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Re: Snowmass-Capitol ridge

Post by Ptglhs »

There's a trip report on SummitPost. It goes at mid 5th class if I recall correctly. I think they spend a night bolted to the side of the cliff face in bivy sacks. I could be misremembering, and I'm too lazy to find it right now. I do know it was brutal.
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kushrocks
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Re: Snowmass-Capitol ridge

Post by kushrocks »

Send a message to Noah, Winter8000meter. He is the only one I know who has done it. He is also the best rock climber I know and for him to say how sketchy it was says a lot.
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Re: Snowmass-Capitol ridge

Post by highpilgrim »

Oldschool did it as well as part of a group of 4. There was a TR at one point...

There are some pics from the ridge in his photos but I can't get the list of TRs he did to show up. Here's one of them.

.
oldschool Cap Snowmass.jpg
oldschool Cap Snowmass.jpg (219.07 KiB) Viewed 2585 times
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CaptainSuburbia
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Re: Snowmass-Capitol ridge

Post by CaptainSuburbia »

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supranihilest
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Re: Snowmass-Capitol ridge

Post by supranihilest »

Paging Kiefer!

He's done most of it as per the report CaptainSuburbia posted and will have some info for you.
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CoHi591
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Re: Snowmass-Capitol ridge

Post by CoHi591 »

Those are some really great TRs. They're some of my favorite on the site, after of course Shermapangma.
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Re: Snowmass-Capitol ridge

Post by oldschool »

Feel free to PM me. Myself and a few others did it in 2010.

Mike
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oldschool
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Re: Snowmass-Capitol ridge

Post by oldschool »

To technically stay on the actual apex ridge the entire time would probably not be possible. We stayed on it when we could and were always very close to it during the entire traverse. We had one rappel off the summit to gain the ridge. It may be possible to eliminate that rappel.

It's loose, was thrillingly scary, and the most exciting day I've ever had in the mtns. I do think, now knowing the route, it could be done in one long day.

I'd love to go back! Anyone wanna join me?

Mike
"There's a feeling I get when I look to the West and my spirit is crying for leaving" Led Zeppelin
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justiner
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Re: Snowmass-Capitol ridge

Post by justiner »

Count me in
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oldschool
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Re: Snowmass-Capitol ridge

Post by oldschool »

justiner wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 3:19 pmCount me in
I would be honored to go with you Justin! I count my blessings that Steve Gladbach was with our Team in 2010 and to go back and have another CO legend would be incredible.

Mike
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Kiefer
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Re: Snowmass-Capitol ridge

Post by Kiefer »

oldschool wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 3:22 pm
justiner wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 3:19 pmCount me in
I would be honored to go with you Justin! I count my blessings that Steve Gladbach was with our Team in 2010 and to go back and have another CO legend would be incredible.

Mike
Funny you should mention that. I was actually planning on going back solo in late August/early Sept. Let's hit it Mike & Justin!!
Hiking_TheRockies wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 12:06 pm So, would it be possible to traverse from the summit of Snowmass all the way to Capitol's summit while staying on the ridge, and do it all in one day? Can it be done from Snowmass to Capitol or only Capitol to Snowmass?
I remember as Noah was backing up a 40+ year old piton at the rappel, I was exploring with the idea of down climbing to the ridge. I got about 15' down the face and crawled into a shallow alcove. I was going to continue to down climb but thankfully, Mike implored me NOT TO. Thankfully I listened. As I rappelled down, I got a good look at what I was about to down climb. If I remember right, Mike mentioned it might go at loose 5.6. And it was LOOSE. Not many places for pro. It was a slanted face with broken cracks.
So, climbing up to Capitol FROM Snowmass, not sure how you'd go about doing that.

Here's a page I built over at SP that Noah and I worked on. And yeah, Kush is right; Noah is a beast of a climber.
Cap/Snow Traverse
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