Download Agreement, Release, and Acknowledgement of Risk:
You (the person requesting this file download) fully understand mountain climbing ("Activity") involves risks and dangers of serious bodily injury, including permanent disability, paralysis, and death ("Risks") and you fully accept and assume all such risks and all responsibility for losses, costs, and damages you incur as a result of your participation in this Activity.
You acknowledge that information in the file you have chosen to download may not be accurate and may contain errors. You agree to assume all risks when using this information and agree to release and discharge 14ers.com, 14ers Inc. and the author(s) of such information (collectively, the "Released Parties").
You hereby discharge the Released Parties from all damages, actions, claims and liabilities of any nature, specifically including, but not limited to, damages, actions, claims and liabilities arising from or related to the negligence of the Released Parties. You further agree to indemnify, hold harmless and defend 14ers.com, 14ers Inc. and each of the other Released Parties from and against any loss, damage, liability and expense, including costs and attorney fees, incurred by 14ers.com, 14ers Inc. or any of the other Released Parties as a result of you using information provided on the 14ers.com or 14ers Inc. websites.
You have read this agreement, fully understand its terms and intend it to be a complete and unconditional release of all liability to the greatest extent allowed by law and agree that if any portion of this agreement is held to be invalid the balance, notwithstanding, shall continue in full force and effect.
By clicking "OK" you agree to these terms. If you DO NOT agree, click "Cancel"...
We Came, We Saw, We Partied! - La Plata Winter Route
Peak: La Plata 14,336' Distance: ~8mi (plus distance getting almost to East La Plata) Elev Gain: 4200' (plus elev gain/loss on traverse attempt) Time: 9:00 (6:45am - 3:45pm): Summited La Plata @ 11:15AM (4:30 to summit), Spent total of 1:30 on summit and traverse, 3:00 to descend Technical Gear: Trekking Poles, Microspikes (I used snowshoes on way up, others didn't) Travelers: Geojed (Jed), Matt Lemke, jswiftcervelo (Josh) Wildlife (other than the climbers ): None
Just getting there can be the hardest part
Matt, Josh, Pete and I met at the T-Rex parking lot at 3AM and headed up slippery I-70 in Matt's car. 5mi up the road, after being passed by a couple of cars and unsuccessfully trying to wash/wipe the windshield off we discovered that Matt's car was out of washer fluid! Which is a terrible condition to be in on snowy/slushy/salty/wet roads with semi's and other cars passing you. So we stopped in Idaho Springs and refilled the washer fluid. It still took a while for the air to work its way out of the system, but traffic was lighter and we just had to make sure no one passed us and we didn't pass anyone and we were golden! The road on the other side of the Eisenhower Tunnel was especially slick w/ snow so we drove at 30mph down the hill. All this snow didn't portend well for the weather conditions for our climb of La Plata but as we drove over Fremont Pass and down into Leadville the clouds/snow completely cleared up and we started the hike under clear, starry skies. The slick roads pushed our start time from 5:45am to 6:45am which was good so we didn't wake up Natalie! When we got to the TH several other cars were already there and people were getting ready to hike. Natalie (nkan02) was there too and we all geared up quickly and set off on the trail.
Let the Party Begin!
I decided to wear snowshoes because I'm lazy and I like the freedom of not having to worry/think so much about stepping exactly on the boot pack or you will posthole. Matt, Josh and I were the speedy ones of the day and Pete hiked with Natalie. We made short work of the flat section and then we came to where the trench splits. The left trench had pink surveying tape along it but the right trench stayed more in the gully. We deliberated for a second about which trench to take, and we decided to take the RIGHT trench that headed up the gully. I'm glad we did as we never saw the other trench with the pink surveyors tape again and I'm not sure where exactly it goes. Josh surmised that maybe it goes towards the Ellingwood Ridge route? Anyways, the trench was very easy to follow as it wound its way up the gully alternating between mellow and steep. I led and "re-broke" slightly the mostly-broken trench because I was the only one of the three of us wearing snowshoes. We quickly got to treeline and up to the base of the gully that accesses the NW ridge of La Plata.
From here we gawked at the gorgeous North Face of Sayres BM while we stashed our snowshoes.
From the stash point we headed up the very loose slope being wary of rocks that "look" stable but are more than willing to roll at the touch of your boot. I gained the solid rock ASAP and once I did it was an easy/safe scramble to the ridge.
From the ridge we had great views up La Plata Gulch
Across to the short in stature but tall in beauty PT12,610 with East Garfield and Grizzly Peak A in the background.
Good views of Elbert and Bull Hill were also to be had looking north.
We headed up La Plata's NW ridge staying along the rock/snow edge.
Fantastic views of the Ellingwood Ridge accompanied us along the way.
Towards the top Josh got tired of waiting for us slowpokes so he went all Lance Armstrong to our Jan Ullrich and powered away like a machine to the summit, which we reached around 11:15AM. It was sunny and quite pleasant on the summit with a 10mph WNW wind that was easy to hide from while we snacked and refueled. A possible second objective for the day was to attempt Sayres BM's East Ridge. The views we had of it from La Plata's summit showed too much snow and not enough exposed rock, and weren't encouraging enough to have to lose 1500ft just to get a better look at the conditions.
I had seen a checkbox on the peak lists for "East La Plata" so I proposed traversing to it as a consolation prize for not getting Sayres BM. We headed across and enjoyed some really fun Class 3/4 scrambling to the last notch right before the climb up to East La Plata. Here we were faced with a 20ft cliff that had a 6-12" ledge on a perfectly vertical face we would have to traverse for 5ft or so to get down to the notch. The only other way we could see was to descend about 50ft or so on very loose and very steep snowy scree to get around this obstacle. So we decided to turn around and head back to La Plata's summit.
We enjoyed the scrambling a second time as we headed back.
We made it back to La Plata's summit around 12:30pm, fully expecting to see others arriving "fashionably late" to the summit party we had planned.
When we arrived back at the summit no one else had arrived yet. So we hung out for 15min or so waiting for people to come up but no one came. So we decided to head down at 12:45pm and we would see them on the descent. 5mins down we ran into the first group of 5 others heading up (incl Natalie and Pete), then there were more, and more, and more. We counted 15-16 others as we descended (Iman86, Silverlynx, SurfNTurf, Grover to name some others). We thought about forming a conga line but everyone was too spread out! also we thought maybe we were violating "fire code" with this many people on the peak at one time.
Matt, Josh and I cruised down the ridge (with images of "meatball marinara" dancing in our heads) and made it back to the car around 3:45pm. A great day, w/ great climbing partners, and fun time partying with everyone on La Plata.
Here are some pics taken by SurfNTurf (Jeff) and Natalie (Nkan02):
Caution: The information contained in this report may not be accurate and should not be the only resource used in preparation for your climb. Failure to have the necessary experience, physical conditioning, supplies or equipment can result in injury or death. 14ers.com and the author(s) of this report provide no warranties, either express or implied, that the information provided is accurate or reliable. By using the information provided, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless 14ers.com and the report author(s) with respect to any claims and demands against them, including any attorney fees and expenses. Please read the 14ers.com Safety and Disclaimer pages for more information.
Please respect private property: 14ers.com supports the rights of private landowners to determine how and by whom their land will be used. In Colorado, it is your responsibility to determine if land is private and to obtain the appropriate permission before entering the property.