Gore Crest Traverse: request for history

[Ek893range]

Ive always been fascinated by the Gore Range beyond any other mountains in the state. For a while Ive thought of traversing the main spine (crest) of the range and finally did it last month. My personal definition of the crest runs from Eagles Nest to Sneva Peak, though this seems to be a topic of debate (https://14ers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=61179). The route we did remained on the crest of the ridge with no bypasses of more than 100 ft. We allowed ourselves to descend off the ridge for water and camping, but had to re-ascend right back to the exact point where we left off before continuing. (https://peaksforfreaks.blogspot.com/202 ... verse.html)

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List of all established technical sections (class 4 and harder along the Gore Crest): Eagles Nest to Powell Traverse (5.4), Peak C NW Ridge (5.4), Ripsaw Ridge (5.0), The Saw (5.6), Jigsaw (cl. 4), Rockinghorse Ridge (5.0), Partner Traverse (5.2), Gore Grand Traverse (cl.4), Zodiac Traverse (N-S, 5.eight)

List of less established technical sections: The Spice Factory (ridge between East Partner, W, X Prime (5.6)), Climber's Point Ridge (ridge just east of Climber's Point (5.6)), Messy Ridge Traverse (ridge between Sleet and Hail peaks (5.4))
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Im wondering if any others who are more knowledgeable on the history of climbing in the Gore have any more stories and reports on traversing along the Gore Crest. Please post them here for a more complete history. So far I have:

(1990s) Robert Porter: Over a series of 5-6 trips within a few years, traversed every section of ridge along the Gore Crest in segments. He went solo and had a rope and gear which he placed on the technical sections. Porter's main goal was to traverse every section of ridge along the Summit County line. He was likely the first person to ever complete every section of the Gore Crest.

(1997-2000) Bill Briggs: Traversed large sections of the northern Gore Crest (https://web.archive.org/web/20071022135 ... aNumber=65)

(2010s) Brandon Chalk: Traversed several technical sections of the Gore Crest (listed above), including the scary ones like Climber's Point Ridge and the Messy Ridge Traverse (http://brandonandkristine.com/colorado- ... then-snow/)

(2010s) Jacek Czyz: Traversed every section of the Gore Crest in a series of trips, including some of them in winter! He also soloed the Zodiacs (https://www.peakbagger.com/climber/clim ... x?cid=2670)

(2010s-20s) Alex Henes: Traversed all or most of the technical sections of the Gore Crest (listed above) over a series of trips (https://www.merelyafleshwound.com/)

(2020) Dewey brothers: Traversed from Eagles Nest to Buffalo but skipped some technical sections (Eagles Nest to Powell, The Saw, Rockinghorse, Partner Traverse, Spice Factory, Climber's Point Ridge, Messy Ridge, Zodiac). This marked the first known route which connected the Gore end-to-end in one push (https://fastestknowntime.com/route/naa- ... nd-tour-co)

[Jorts]

Nice work! That's a heck of a project. If you haven't already, reach out to Gore Galore or go to one of the Summit libraries and check out a copy of "Mountaineering in the Gore Range". As Stan Moore said of Joe Kramarsic, "Joe's forgotten more about the Gore Range than most of us know."

[Monster5]

Great work on it. I'm glad you've put some research into it, and established your criteria transparently.

I think you've got it for published and known point to point efforts. Kramarsic even weighed in on the 2022 thread, and perhaps dug up more? Records prior to 2015ish are likely sparse as it used to be anathema to talk about the Gore. Now, "don't talk about the Gore" is mostly said in jest.

I would probably separate the categories as follows based on intended goals: 1) point to point range traverse and 2) peak to peak ridge traverse segments. The former goal is quite different from the latter, and would only confuse this post.

For dedicated point to point efforts or completions from one end of the high peaks to the other: Briggs, Porter, Deweys, likely Jacek (?), and yourselves? I'm not sure it's fair to compare Briggs though as I thought his objective was to go as far as he could in a single push sans bivy. The technical difficulty was well below his ability.

For peak to peak ridge traversing, several more have covered the terrain with the usual caveats and nuance. Off the top of my head, I can think of several more members here to add to Alex Henes and Brandon Chalk, though they have the most complete modern beta out there. As the objective is more discrete peak to peak, there are likely ho-hum sections of the ridge skipped with all.

I've never heard of the Spice Factory or Messy Ridge monikers. Are those just blog things or do they show up in more established records?

[Jorts]

I've never heard of the Spice Factory or Messy Ridge monikers. Are those just blog things or do they show up in more established records?

Right? I assumed “Messy Ridge” just meant part of the Precipitation Traverse. And some friends and I just casually referred to East Partner to W as the Punchbuggy Traverse (VW). I’ve done many of the sections you listed above. Seems like some of the ratings might be a little inflated unless you were deliberately striving to make 5th class moves by staying exactly on the ridge proper. Like on Rockinghorse (photo) I messed around on the knife edge of U but there was an easy 4th cl bypass.

IMG_1055.jpeg

[Ek893range]

Great work on it. I'm glad you've put some research into it, and established your criteria transparently.

I think you've got it for published and known point to point efforts. Kramarsic even weighed in on the 2022 thread, and perhaps dug up more? Records prior to 2015ish are likely sparse as it used to be anathema to talk about the Gore. Now, "don't talk about the Gore" is mostly said in jest.

I would probably separate the categories as follows based on intended goals: 1) point to point range traverse and 2) peak to peak ridge traverse segments. The former goal is quite different from the latter, and would only confuse this post.

For dedicated point to point efforts or completions from one end of the high peaks to the other: Briggs, Porter, Deweys, likely Jacek (?), and yourselves? I'm not sure it's fair to compare Briggs though as I thought his objective was to go as far as he could in a single push sans bivy. The technical difficulty was well below his ability.

For peak to peak ridge traversing, several more have covered the terrain with the usual caveats and nuance. Off the top of my head, I can think of several more members here to add to Alex Henes and Brandon Chalk, though they have the most complete modern beta out there. As the objective is more discrete peak to peak, there are likely ho-hum sections of the ridge skipped with all.

I've never heard of the Spice Factory or Messy Ridge monikers. Are those just blog things or do they show up in more established records?

Spice Factory was referred to here: https://www.merelyafleshwound.com/mount ... r-x-prime/

Messy Ridge is referred to in several places. The namesake peak along the ridge is here, between Sleet and Hail: https://peakbagger.com/Peak.aspx?pid=-57383

Ratings reflect the max difficulty move we had to make for a particular section. We religiously stayed on the spine of the ridge, going over every possible bump and tower unless something harder than 5.8 forced us to go around, which at worst made us bypass 100 ft from the crest. This is fairly arbitrary of course. We just picked a metric and chose how to play the game.

Every section is displayed here on this map. If any of them are wrong, please feel free to comment with a correction:
https://caltopo.com/m/5vdudm1

[gore galore]

I have climbed many of the Gore Range crests solo back in the day when only maps were the information source and have much of the pre internet peak and ridge history, corresponding with a number of climbers who made the initial forays in the 1930s and 1940s and 1950s but it is too much to reply to a post. I am finding though that internet names are becoming applied without realizing the historical names in the Gore Range. "Messy Ridge" is a recent and non-historical name for the ridge from Snow, Sleet, and Hail, and continuing to 12,715, Silverthorne, and Rain as it is known as the Postman's Traverse named by Stan Wagon who also named Sleet Peak when he and Bill Briggs made the traverse in the 1990s. The name comes from the informal motto of the Post Office, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." When I did the traverse from Sleet to Rain, I had my sleeping bag for the night below Silverthorne fulfilling the motto part of "nor gloom of night" but failing for the "swift completion" part for completing the traverse. The Precipitation Traverse is not a historical name either but something later in time.

The Spice Factory also appears to be an internet name for East Partner to Pt 12,710 (X-Prime). The first known climbers to do the ridge traverse from 12,710 to Peak W short of EP occurred in 1998. They "used a rope in one spot on the ridge." This is one of the lesser-known ridge traverses in the Gore. When I did the traverse a few years later, I had to drop down from the ridge near W probably where they used the rope. I returned later to the saddle from W and did the ridge to EP.

[alexhenes]

Amazing work on the traverse Eric... super impressive!!! Nice trip report as well... what an adventure!

As far as 'Spice Factory' goes yeah... in my trip report https://www.merelyafleshwound.com/mount ... r-x-prime/ we referenced the ridge between W and X-Prime the 'Spice Factory'. Just a fun thing no claim to an official name or anything. To add to the fun... among friends... you become a member of the 'Spice Boyz' if you do the traverse.... along with a 'Spice' name and all.... I'm 'Old Spice'

I started referencing the ridge between V and W as Punch Buggy... a great name I picked up from Brent.

The Gore is an incredible range with plenty of mystery and lore. Nicknames are given to so many features as there are few official names. I think it's fun for locals to continue to add to the lore of the Gore!

[Jorts]

As far as 'Spice Factory' goes yeah... in my trip report https://www.merelyafleshwound.com/mount ... r-x-prime/ we referenced the ridge between W and X-Prime the 'Spice Factory'. Just a fun thing no claim to an official name or anything. To add to the fun... among friends... you become a member of the 'Spice Boyz' if you do the traverse.... along with a 'Spice' name and all.... I'm 'Old Spice'

HAHA. Thought I needed to go back to the Gore just to finish the letters but now I need to go back to gain a Spice name too.

[alexhenes]

Jorts » Tue Jul 07, 2026 1:31 pm

HAHA. Thought I needed to go back to the Gore just to finish the letters but now I need to go back to gain a Spice name too.

Your Spice Name (Yinzer Spice) awaits... let us know how you do!

On another note... there are many 'significant' features that have yet to be named... ridges, towers, couloirs etc.

In the Gore some features have multiple names... Silver Pick Couloir aka Silver Dollar Couloir. Others have disputed names... Pink Peak vs. East Red.

In the 'modern era' it seems locals have names for much of this stuff... or come up with it as we go.

Not always but blogs and trip reports often trump published books in both legitimacy and cost.

Moving forward do we have a generally accepted method or process for naming features that were not addressed by the pioneers?