Inspired by the one TR on this site - my friend & I set out to tackle this 13er via Copper Creek & as a snow climb up higher. We left the Snowmass Creek trail just shy of 4 miles in. The water is running rather high currently. I set a rope on my 1st crossing around sunrise (LNT - I intend to remove the rope - if it is still there - later this summer after the water levels drop, until then use it with caution please!). A bit of bushwhacking in places & a fairly solid game trail / light use trail in other places. We went up the south side of Copper on ascent & down the north; with mixed results on both. Above treeline the terrain was a mixture of talus, solid slabs, & a few snow patches. The couloir was in great shape with solid snow all the way to the ridge. We veered out of the couloir near the top - avoiding the first couple of towers along the ridge. With good route finding the climbing up here can be kept to class 3 & 4. Two bumps up top appear to be similar in height; we found the summit register on the further one (closer to Clark). So Nolan climbed this back in '92 & Kevin and Sarah were the last two to sign it last fall. The moves between the 2 points are the most exposed of the route. Fun glissades down the couloir & one of the next pitches got us back to treeline. More bushwhacking & linking game trails got us back to the creek crossing. I can't emphasize this enough - use the rope AT YOUR OWN RISK! Overall a worthy 13er if you are looking for something different in the Snowmass area. Expect 13+ miles & 4600+' of vertical gain.
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