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October 01, 2017
~4.8 Miles, ~1,700 Gain
TH: Pioneer Lookout Point (2WD 38.4539, -107.4150 ~4.5 hours from Denver)
Max difficulty: 5.9 via Northwest Rib
Nearly 10 years ago, I bought a 4 person Walmart raft to climb Curecanti. I still managed to own the raft, in the original box, after a few moves and all these years. Finally Ryan convinced me to climb the Needle with him.
The weather forecast decided not cooperate Saturday so we ended up climbing the Carter Classic in Buena Vista on Davis Face instead ‘ it was a 60% chance of rain near Gunnison. The Carter Classic was an enjoyable climb except the cruxes were quite damp with running water making them slippery. I would recommended the route if you're in the area; however, a high clearance/4x4 vehicle is highly recommended. Once that was complete, we did a quick lap on Elephant Rock; then the rain settled in.
Second pitch on Davis Face (Photo by Ryan)
Nearing the top of Davis Face (Photo by Ryan).
For Boars Only. A side thing on Elephant Rock before the rain. Burly. (Photo by Ryan)
After the Carter Classic and a short hop over Monarch Pass, it was a wet night sleeping in the parking lot where we woke up just before sunrise and started hiking around 7 AM. An excellent trail from Pioneer Lookout leads down into the canyon to a scenic bay that feeds from Curecanti Creek.
We pulled the raft out of the box and a lightweight high volume pump and hoped that the raft would inflate after all these years. We inflated the raft, packed in the bags and started our paddle to the northwest side of the needle which took about 20 minutes. Since the raft didn't come with oars, we used an old whitewater kayak oar I had since high school. Ryan did an excellent job of chauffeuring me.
Pumping away
Preparing for voyage
Raft time. (Photo by Ryan)
Paddle away.
Curecanti above us.
Once on the northwest side of the peak, we docked our raft at the base of a large talus gully. Mountain Project suggests a few different starts to the route. Due to ominous weather, we decided not to do the direct start (which adds ~2 pitches of 5.6 climbing). The second option we couldn't figure out and ended up going to the top of the talus gully and travered left on a class 2/3 ledge to a loose dihedral.
Top of talus gully looking back at lake.
Start of first pitch; I know it's a terrible photo.
Class 2/3 ledges to the start of the route. (Photo by Ryan)
At the base of the first pitch. (Photo by Ryan)
We flaked the roped and Ryan took the first lead. From the dihedral he was able to climb up to and intersect the northwest ridge where he belayed in a nice alcove. I took the second 5.6 pitch where the climbing was relatively straight-forward and enjoyable but was very slippery in areas due to the damp lichen from the recent rains.
Second pitch.
Top of second pitch.
Looking up second pitch. (Photo by Ryan)
I belayed from a nice ledge that overlooked the base of the northwest ridge. From the top of our second pitch, we walked 100 feet left to the start of money pitches (pitch 3 & 4). took the next crux pitch (5.9) where I thought the hardest move was right off the belay with a wonky layback. The layback led to really fun crack climbing where I belayed at a decent ledge halfway up the large buttress. Ryan took pitch 4 which had the most stunning position above the lake.
Starting the third pitch. Right at the crux. (Photo by Ryan)
Higher on the third pitch. (Photo by Ryan)
Nearing the top of the third pitch.
Starting the fourth pitch.
Fourth pitch. (Photo by Ryan)
The last pitch was rumored to range from class 4 to 5.7. We decided to do a short rope simul which worked out well considering the unknown difficulty. With good route finding, we felt the last pitch was class 4 and could have been soloed.
In true tower fashion, the Curecanti's summit did not dissatisfy and has been one of the better summits I have stood on. Great exposure on both sides of the summit lead back to the lake and canyon below along with stunning and sobering views up and down canyon.
Summit block exposure.
Marsters the Great.
Good views.
Good views.
Luckily the weather decided to hold and we didn't get rained out so we were able to enjoy the summit. We located the fairly obvious bolted rappel anchors and started our series of 3 double rope rappels (last rap single rope) back to the top of the talus gully. We exercised caution as many parties have had problems pulling ropes due to ledges and trees. It should be noted NOT to use the triple bolt anchor on the second rappel but to traverse north ~20 feet to a much better bolted anchor (equipped with rings).
First rappel.
Second rappel.
Great views. (Photo by Ryan)
Rappel down. Looks like some good climbing there. (Photo by Ryan)
The last rappel led to the top of the talus gully where we descend back to our boat. A quick paddle, this time I was gondolier of our impressive ship, guided us back to the trail. Surprisingly, the uphill grind wasn't too terrible and we arrived back at the parking lot at 1 PM. The Curecanti Needle did not disappoint and was a highly enjoyable adventure climb!
Nice cruiser route on a cool peak, nice to have a laid back day of a rad peak like that
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