Crestone Needed - Standard vs. East Gully - Thoughts?

[Vermont Mike]

I had less 14er experience than you when I went up the Needle, and on the way up I took the east gully direct. If the initial steepness of the dihedral daunts you, there are Class 3 or 4 options to the right of the dihedral at the start (still steep, but great holds although a bit exposed), and then the steepness of the dihedral relents before broadening about half way up the route. I came back down the standard route, and although I didn't feel anything on the Needle was terribly exposed, the toughest move of the day IMO was crossing back over to the base of the dihedral. If you take the east gully route be sure to look for a nice ramp near the top that joins the standard route below the summit. Expect plenty of scrambling, and realize that routefinding will be much more important than on Longs.

Here's an example of the climbing about halfway up the dihedral in the east gully:



Hope this helps, maybe someone with better info will chime in. Have fun!

[highpilgrim]

There is a route to the east that does not climb the dihedral. I stayed east, avoided the difficult terrain and while steep it was solid and didn't feel that exposed. I did this route with my son who was 16 at the time and he was never anxious either. I looked at the cross over to the west couloir (but did not climb it) and felt it looked sketchier than anything we climbed on the eastern route. I have a few good pics of the east side that I will try and find and post later.

[doggler]

I've always felt that the direct line up the east gulley is A)not much more difficult and B)easier from a routefinding perspective than the standard east-to-west crossover. If you're comfortable with class 3, the dihedral et al won't pose a problem.

Of course, if it does sketch you out, simply turn west, cross the rib, problem solved.

[BKS]

I did the needle 10 years ago using the 1st Roach guide, before the detailed route info on this site. The description for the crossover said something like, "when it gets steep" switch to the other gulley. I missed the crossover and climbed the whole east gulley, waiting for it to get steeper. As others have mentioned, there is an easier option than going up the dihedral, which is directly to the right or east. I know many call this class 4 but it really didn't seem much harder or steeper than the rest of the gulley. I didn't have much experience at the time, but was never uncomfortable with the difficulty or exposure. The rock is beautiful and solid.

On the way down we thought we'd take the west gulley to see what that was like. Problem was, we didn't know what the entrance looked like and got into the wrong gulley - one or two west of the west gulley. It cliffed out, we got sketched out, I found a spot for a helicopter to land, but then we were able to go over a couple of ribs and find the base of 1st gulley. So I'm suggesting to make mention notes on the terrain in order to get into the right gulley on the way down.

Great mountain - my favorite to date.

[tmathews]

There is a route to the east that does not climb the dihedral. I stayed east, avoided the difficult terrain and while steep it was solid and didn't feel that exposed.

Brad (sartorius78, I think is his handle) climbed the Needle this way at the Spring Gathering. Jerry, Zack, and I climbed directly up the dihedral because we had crampons.

a-1497.jpg

[msmith7361]

Thanks jasayrevt for posting this, and everyone else for your thoughts!

[djkest]

Good info here. Perhaps we will do East gully direct instead of the "standard" route. We are comfortable with class 4 climbing, especially on rock. It's crazy route finding and exposure that aren't as fun. To me, it seems like the "crossover" is the sketchiest part, so avoiding that would be A-OK with me.

[highpilgrim]

I mentioned in an earlier post that I would post a couple of pics. Here they are. In summary, keep right and it will get steep but not particulary exposed, at least to me.

lower needle.jpg

middle needle.jpg

summit looking down small.jpg

[highpilgrim]

one more looking down:

looking down route.jpg

[Jim Davies]

Good info here. Perhaps we will do East gully direct instead of the "standard" route. We are comfortable with class 4 climbing, especially on rock. It's crazy route finding and exposure that aren't as fun. To me, it seems like the "crossover" is the sketchiest part, so avoiding that would be A-OK with me.

There's more exposure in the east gulley. Two years ago we watched a group come down it by accident, and they weren't at all happy about it.

EastGulley.jpg

The worst part of the crossover is the first step, so you can always make the decision on the spot which way to go.

NeedleCrossover.jpg

[tmathews]

The worst part of the crossover is the first step, so you can always make the decision on the spot which way to go.

Another part about the crossover that's bad is how many people miss it on the way back. The crossover (both ways) is the only thing about the Needle that makes it "technically" more difficult than the Peak. I'm pretty sure search and rescue have been called to pluck off folks that descended too far and found themselves cliffed out. But, yeah, the downclimb back into the east gully can be pretty daunting for the uninitiated.

[Jim Davies]

Finding it on the way down isn't too bad, IF you paid attention on the way up. There were cairns there two years ago. Also, the west gulley steepens considerably just below the crossover point. Of course, first you have to get into the west gulley at the top, which is where things went wrong for the group in my first picture.

Here's what the crossover looks like on the way down the west gulley.

CrestoneNeedle 070.jpg