Lindsey NW Gulley vs Others

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greenonion
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Lindsey NW Gulley vs Others

Post by greenonion »

Wondering how Lindsey’s NW gully on the standard route compares to Sneffel’s gully leading to the v notch, or to Needle’s gullys. Or however you would like to describe Lindsey’s NW gully as it tis these days.
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Re: Lindsey NW Gulley vs Others

Post by cottonmountaineering »

gully is not safe without snow imo just do the ridge
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Re: Lindsey NW Gulley vs Others

Post by Reg0928 »

Never been in the gully but I'll give another vote to the ridge. It's a fun route
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denvermikey
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Re: Lindsey NW Gulley vs Others

Post by denvermikey »

I went up the ridge and down the gulley. Loved the ridge and regretted the gulley :evil: . That was years ago and it may have just gotten worse since then.
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Re: Lindsey NW Gulley vs Others

Post by nmjameswilson »

denvermikey wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 5:09 pm I went up the ridge and down the gulley. Loved the ridge and regretted the gulley :evil: . That was years ago and it may have just gotten worse since then.
OP - I am doing this Sunday and decided on the ridge too. From what I have heard it is much worse then Sneffels.

@denvermikey - Do you suggest going back down the ridge due to your experience?
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Re: Lindsey NW Gulley vs Others

Post by jrs1965 »

I've done both routes up and down. IMO, the gully is fun, but it's death trap if there's anyone above you on the ridge.
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Re: Lindsey NW Gulley vs Others

Post by bigredmachine »

The ridge is obviously more fun, but the gulley is fine, I’d stick to the edges.
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Re: Lindsey NW Gulley vs Others

Post by Cruiser »

I preferred the ridge but didn't find the gully to be particularly bad to climb or descend. I wouldn't want to be in there with another party high above me but I recall there being room to get out of the gut and onto the edges through most of its length. Further, the gully is relatively short. So it's not too much of an imposition to descend one at a time if you're not in much traffic.
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Re: Lindsey NW Gulley vs Others

Post by MaxmimumMills4 »

I did the ridge up and the gully down and thought that was the best option that day. The crux of the ridge would have been a bit tough to downclimb once more people showed up later in the day. Unfortunately the gully is a fantastic place to scree surf which has really degraded the gully section. This is a picture during the downclimb - the section where my friend is standing is obviously solid and you can hang to the climbers right on the way up to stay on relatively solid rock but this isn’t always guaranteed and some sections on the way up are just going to be a nasty slog.
F07CD6BE-2B38-45FC-8891-EEBAABCC4D63.jpeg
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Re: Lindsey NW Gulley vs Others

Post by yaktoleft13 »

Stay out of the gully. That's where I had my closest call ever when a party above knocked a couple of microwave sized blocks down, missing us by 10 feet. The gully may be fine if no one's on the ridge above you, but spoiler alert: it's a 14er. There WILL be other groups on the mountain and on the ridge above you.

Go ridge up, ridge down.
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Re: Lindsey NW Gulley vs Others

Post by denvermikey »

nmjameswilson wrote: Fri Jul 30, 2021 5:54 am
denvermikey wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 5:09 pm I went up the ridge and down the gulley. Loved the ridge and regretted the gulley :evil: . That was years ago and it may have just gotten worse since then.
OP - I am doing this Sunday and decided on the ridge too. From what I have heard it is much worse then Sneffels.

@denvermikey - Do you suggest going back down the ridge due to your experience?
As long as you are comfortable down-climbing solid class 3/4 then I would do the ridge both ways.
BTW, have you checked the forecast for Sunday?
"Every man dies, not every man really lives" - William Wallace
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"In the end it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years" - Abraham Lincoln
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"Climb mountains not so the world can see you, but so you can see the world." - David McCullough Jr.
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Re: Lindsey NW Gulley vs Others

Post by Jorts »

There are some braided trails up there that make it easy to get off ridge on the down climb. I intended to go down the ridge and landed in the gully coming down but stuck to the left side (climbers right) and it was not particularly worse than Sneffels or any other loose, steep gully.
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