What are the 14er Great Traverses

[bookerlen]

Hi all,

I know this is a basic question, but can anyone tell me what the 14er Great Traverses are? I'm sure they are out there among posts and trip reports, but I haven't been able to find any that list them all. I've heard there are the "Four Great Traverses", and then some others which are noteworthy. I'd like to know which they are so we can consider them during planning for future climbs.

Thanks

[Jim Davies]

Maroon Bells
Crestones
El Diente-Mount Wilson
Little Bear-Blanca

[Tory Wells]

http://www.justhiking.com/otherpages/traverses.htm

[bookerlen]

Jim, James,
Thanks for the list. Is there anywhere on 14ers.com which gives routes and total distance, altitude gain, and difficulty rating for each of the traverses and their respective peaks? I guess I'm looking at how do they compare with other traverses and to one another. For instance, I haven't done the Sawtooth, but how would it compare to these traverses? If there are good route descriptions and likely starting points it would help. Guys in our group, the Michigan Flatlanders, have done some class 3 and 4 climbs, but I want to be sure these aren't too difficult and ruin the enjoyment of climbing.

James, appreciate your link. Good information, and it's great to find another christian brother who loves climbing. I'll definitely use some of the information for future planning.

[hberry]

These are nothing like the Sawtooth - these are mostly class 4 traverses with lots of route finding and much greater exposure than the Sawtooth.

The mountains you climb to get to them are also much harder than Bier and Evans

[Jim Davies]

Two of them have route descriptions on this site:
Maroon Bells
El Diente-Mount Wilson
The others are described in trip reports, Roach's or Dawson's books, summitpost.org, etc. Look around...

[JA_son27]

The Sawtooth isn't even in the same league as the other traverses, I wouldn't take beginners on any of the four traverses. IMO.

[madeinus]

Off the top of my head I can think of several traverses that exceed the difficulty of the 4 great traverses, (ie. Capital to Snowmass & harvard to Yale across the rabbit ears). What makes the Wilsons, Crestones, Bells, and LB-Blanca the 4 great traverses? Are they the hardest, most exposed traverses that dont require a rope? Or the hardest traverses that stay within Class 4? As the other traverses listed above exceed Class 5. Just always been curious...

[Brad Snider]

What makes the Wilsons, Crestones, Bells, and LB-Blanca the 4 great traverses? Are they the hardest, most exposed traverses that dont require a rope? Or the hardest traverses that stay within Class 4? As the other traverses listed above exceed Class 5. Just always been curious...

Probably something to that effect. To my knowledge the the term "Four Great 14er Traverses" (referring to Bells, LB-Blanca, Wilson-El D., Crestones) was coined by Gerry Roach. He also lists a number of routes in his guidebooks as "classics", and while he has as much room as anyone to call something a "classic" or "not" or "Great"... it is still personal opinion. I think of his "classic" routes and his "Great" traverses as being in that same category of personal favorites. I did enjoy 3 of the 4 traverses (and many of his classic routes), except I was unable to do LB-Blanca which I had to bail out of b/c of weather (might try again someday). Capitol/Snowmass is a bit above my level, and I doubt it would be considered classic b/c of the loose rock anyway.

All that being said, I consider many rugged traverses on lower peaks in Colorado to be much more interesting because they are always less crowded, and usually less cairned.

[paully]

Off the top of my head I can think of several traverses that exceed the difficulty of the 4 great traverses, (ie. Capital to Snowmass & harvard to Yale across the rabbit ears). What makes the Wilsons, Crestones, Bells, and LB-Blanca the 4 great traverses? Are they the hardest, most exposed traverses that dont require a rope? Or the hardest traverses that stay within Class 4? As the other traverses listed above exceed Class 5. Just always been curious...

I don't think so, as I believe most people would consider the LB-Blanca traverse something you would want to rope up for. It is class 5, and so is the Bells traverse in my opinion (say, 5.2). I don't know anything about the two traverses you mention, but I'd say they aren't considered 'great' because the peaks aren't all that close to one another, and most people wouldn't even consider doing them. One factor is probably the aesthetics of the routes and the incredible positions you find yourself in when traversing them. I can attest to that on the two I've experienced.

[alexhenes]

I don't think you would want a rope on LB-Blanca... here are a few reasons why...

1. Not much opportunity for anchoring
2. It would cripple your pace
3. It would present more tangling/rope mgt issues than it would be worth. Would introduce risk of tripping etc.

[CO Native]

I think part of a traverse making a great category is that it saves time and/or effort compared to alternatives. For example the Crestone traverse is a lot faster and easier (energy wise) than descending to the valley below and climbing them seperately same with the Bells. However the ridge between Harvard and Columbia, or the ridge between Capitol and Snowmass take longer and more effort than to just drop into the valleys and bypass the ridge line.

Just speculation though.