5th Great Traverse Proposal

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Kiefer
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Re: 5th Great Traverse Proposal

Post by Kiefer »

To my knowledge, staying on the ridge crest for Cap-Snow has never been done. And in my experience, it can't. The sheer number of gendarmes and spires is prohibitive. One would HAVE to drop lower down.

Is the Harvard-Columbia traverse really that long? Had no idea!
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Doctor No
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Re: 5th Great Traverse Proposal

Post by Doctor No »

Kiefer wrote:To my knowledge, staying on the ridge crest for Cap-Snow has never been done. And in my experience, it can't. The sheer number of gendarmes and spires is prohibitive. One would HAVE to drop lower down.
Talk about timing - I was just about to post your trip report:
http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=9139" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It seems like the definitive TR for the C/S ridge.
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Re: 5th Great Traverse Proposal

Post by tmathews »

nkan02 wrote:Someone recently explained to me that for the traverse to be named "great", the easiest route across has to be at least class 3. Columbia -Harvard do not fit the description. Otherwise, a fine route indeed.
This criteria would be easily satisfied by climbing directly over Rabbit Ridge (Class 5.7-ish?).
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stevevets689
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Re: 5th Great Traverse Proposal

Post by stevevets689 »

Maybe a name change is in order. How about the 4 "Classic" 14er traverses?
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Re: 5th Great Traverse Proposal

Post by Steaky »

The time I went out there, I (foolishly) took a group of sea-level people who had never been on a 14er before, let alone done a traverse. 17 hours, some crying, and crawling on their hands and knees. Almost bailed out down the Frenchman's Creek drainage, but that would have been even worse than going over the top. Summited Columbia at dusk. Could easily be considered a great traverse if you stuck to the crest of the ridge, but its technical.
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ajkagy
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Re: 5th Great Traverse Proposal

Post by ajkagy »

Kiefer wrote:To my knowledge, staying on the ridge crest for Cap-Snow has never been done. And in my experience, it can't. The sheer number of gendarmes and spires is prohibitive. One would HAVE to drop lower down.
I wouldn't be surprised if it hasn't been done, but you never know considering many never documented their adventures before the advent of the internet. Although i must say your TR is amazing and damn scary at the same time...all those monster loose blocks up there makes me never want to get close to it.
http://wanderingthemountains.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: 5th Great Traverse Proposal

Post by SnowAlien »

Terry, the easiest route on the traverse has to be Class 3+. This traverse has class 2 route.
Last edited by SnowAlien on Tue Aug 30, 2011 10:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 5th Great Traverse Proposal

Post by tmathews »

nkan02 wrote:Terry, the easiest route on the traverse has to be Class 3+.
Ah, yeah. Sorry about that! Any 13er traverses that satisfy this criteria? I would love to do some more scrambling.
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Re: 5th Great Traverse Proposal

Post by SnowAlien »

I would be curious to know why Lindsey - Blanca traverse didn't make the list. True, portions of it can be Class 2, but once you are on the Gash ridge, it is definitely more and it didn't look like there was an alternative route.
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Jim Davies
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Re: 5th Great Traverse Proposal

Post by Jim Davies »

The "great traverses" list is based on aesthetics, much like the CMC "54 14ers" list. I can't imagine why Bross-Cameron didn't make the traverse list. :)

Also, each of the "great" traverses allows the climber to readily return to the starting point without re-traversing. That rules out both Gash Ridge and Capitol-Snowmass.
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KentonB
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Re: 5th Great Traverse Proposal

Post by KentonB »

All I know is, when we did the Harvard/Columbia traverse, the sun was setting when we got to Columbia... It was a long, dark walk down that scree slope they call a trail.
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Re: 5th Great Traverse Proposal

Post by benners »

tmathews wrote:Any 13er traverses that satisfy this criteria? I would love to do some more scrambling.
There are many. Check out Dave Cooper's 50 Classic Scrambles book for a few ideas...

A few good ones that come to mind are:

Milwaukee to Pico Asilado
The Grand Traverse in the Gores
Partners Traverse
Arapahoe Traverse
Tijeras to Music
Pagoda to Chiefs Head
McHenry's to Powell
The Trinity Traverse
Apache to Navajo
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