Peak Condition Update | Ellingwood Point

Peak:	Ellingwood Point
Route:	North Ridge via South Zapata Creek
Range:	Sangre de Cristo
Posted By:	Cranfillpe
Date of Info:	7/11/2019
Date Posted:	7/12/2019

Details
I hiked up to S Zapata Lake on Wednesday afternoon then camped. On Thursday I summited Ellingwood Point and Blanca then retraced my route back to the car. Conditions for traverse at bottom, and under Blanca Peak. Why are we not talking about the mosquitos on the approach??? Maybe this is typical, but they were SWARMING from the trailhead to the lake. Didn't let up until I was ascending C2. It's possible I'm just ornery, but I do not want to understate this. These were some of the worst mosquitos I've ever experienced. Biting me through my clothes, right on my face, in my shorts (how???), despite my constantly being slathered in bugspray. The approach was dry. C2 has a few hundred feet of snow coverage. (see pics) The couloir, prior to the snow coverage, is pretty loose, and contains scree of all sizes, from "ball-bearings," to refrigerator-sized rocks. The snowy section at top went great at 6am. It could theoretically be done with microspikes instead of crampons (ice ax REQUIRED) but that would involve some brutal kick-stepping and balls of steel as a fall would probably be catastrophic. With crampons and ice ax, it was golden. I had been a bit concerned at first due to very warm conditions the night before. It was not ~quite~ a rock-solid freeze, but I had no slippage whatsoever with crampons and ice ax. From the top of C2, the route to Ellingwood summit is completely dry. Last several hundred feet are WORLD CLASS. Great exposure and easy scrambling. Glissade down upper section was brilliant at 11:30am. Consider traversing down to the lower snowfield (see pics; yellow is the descent) then glissading another 100' or so vertical towards the lake. --- The traverse to Blanca Peak -can be- completely dry. I was not very diligent about following the official "route." Fro what I saw, it is not much better than taking off and finding ones own way. On the return to Ellingwood, I followed much of the ridge proper. I think I gained the ridge prior to the recommended gulley as I found some class 4 moves and maybe one or two easy 5s. Lots and lots of flexibility - B lines, C lines, etc.. This traverse was definitely the highlight of my hike.

Details

I hiked up to S Zapata Lake on Wednesday afternoon then camped. On Thursday I summited Ellingwood Point and Blanca then retraced my route back to the car. Conditions for traverse at bottom, and under Blanca Peak.

Why are we not talking about the mosquitos on the approach??? Maybe this is typical, but they were SWARMING from the trailhead to the lake. Didn't let up until I was ascending C2. It's possible I'm just ornery, but I do not want to understate this. These were some of the worst mosquitos I've ever experienced. Biting me through my clothes, right on my face, in my shorts (how???), despite my constantly being slathered in bugspray.

The approach was dry.

C2 has a few hundred feet of snow coverage. (see pics) The couloir, prior to the snow coverage, is pretty loose, and contains scree of all sizes, from "ball-bearings," to refrigerator-sized rocks. The snowy section at top went great at 6am. It could theoretically be done with microspikes instead of crampons (ice ax REQUIRED) but that would involve some brutal kick-stepping and balls of steel as a fall would probably be catastrophic. With crampons and ice ax, it was golden. I had been a bit concerned at first due to very warm conditions the night before. It was not ~quite~ a rock-solid freeze, but I had no slippage whatsoever with crampons and ice ax.

From the top of C2, the route to Ellingwood summit is completely dry. Last several hundred feet are WORLD CLASS. Great exposure and easy scrambling.

Glissade down upper section was brilliant at 11:30am. Consider traversing down to the lower snowfield (see pics; yellow is the descent) then glissading another 100' or so vertical towards the lake.

---

The traverse to Blanca Peak -can be- completely dry. I was not very diligent about following the official "route." Fro what I saw, it is not much better than taking off and finding ones own way. On the return to Ellingwood, I followed much of the ridge proper. I think I gained the ridge prior to the recommended gulley as I found some class 4 moves and maybe one or two easy 5s. Lots and lots of flexibility - B lines, C lines, etc.. This traverse was definitely the highlight of my hike.

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