Pyramid Peak Trip Report 08/16/2007

Peak(s):	Pyramid Peak - 14,029 feet
Date Posted:	08/16/2007
Date Climbed:	08/08/2007
Author:	steal

Pyramid Peak - Standard Route w/ celebrity sighting
My group consisted of my parents Paul and Sally Thielking, brother Paul Thielking, and brother-in law Paul Sams (yes, 3 Pauls). After a restless night at our condo in Snowmass Village, we got in the car and made the silent, anxiety-filled 30-minute drive to the Maroon Lake parking lot. We were all nervous about what was in store...especially humbled by Bill's route description and the trip reports we had studied. My parents and brother-in-law live in Des Moines, my brother lives in Ann Arbor, and I'm an Iowa transplant who has been in Littleton since 2000. Would a group of flatlanders be able to make it??? We summited North Maroon 2 years ago, so we were confident we could get it done. Our party arrived at 4:15 and began the highly anticipated trek at 4:25, trying to ignore the 'Deadly Bells' sign that marks the beginning of the trail. After 45 minutes of hiking under clear skies, we reached the junction of the Pyramid trail. We were lucky to see it in the dark, as my bro-in-law, mother, and myself all passed by and were fortunately saved by the astute eyes of my father and brother. There is a pile of rocks, but unfortunately it doesn't really stand out in this section of the trail, as it is an area full of rock piles that all look the same (especially in the dark). After we began hiking up this trail, we noticed headlamps above us and were reassured this was the way to go. Eventually we caught the party of 3, which happened to be Aron Ralston and 2 gentlemen that he was guiding up the mountain. Aron Ralston!!! Seeing Aron gave us a huge shot of adrenaline (reserved as it was)...it was going to be a great day! Aron offered to help us in any way possible - a very humble, helpful, and down-to-earth guy. After passing the trio, we continued up with and extra bounce in our step and eventually found ourselves in the amphitheater. This area wasn't particularly difficult, as it is marked by cairns and you can easily see where you need to go - to the base of the daunting gully that leads to the ridge. Upon reaching the gully, we donned the helmets and began the steep climb upward. This section of the hike took us 50 minutes and was impressively vertical. Fortunately, the previous night's rainfall had made the trail compact and our footing was great. We finally reached the ridge and were greeted by sunlight and amazing views of the Bells, Capitol Peak, and Snowmass Mtn. Under perfectly clear skies our spirits were high, but we knew the most difficult part of the hike was still ahead of us. After a brief rest and admiration of the views, we trudged along and eventually made it to the 'ledge', which immediately got our attention. You would have to make a major mistake to get in trouble here, but the drop off is significant and you better not have a mental lapse, as it would probably be your last (Great pictures in Rockymtnhigh69's recent trip report). Following the ledge, we came to the base of the green rock, which presented us with class 3-4 climbing for a sustained amount of time. This steepness and exposure wasn't completely overwhelming, but it is the most uncomfortable I've felt on any of the 14'ers I've done to date. A fall here would be disaster and we had to test/retest every hold and step. With my bro-in-law leading the way, we finally made it to the summit at 10:00 and were greeted by phenomenal views of the Bells, Capitol, Snowmass, Castle...it was a perfect day of clear skies and no winds. We took the obligatory pictures and eventually made our way back down at 10:20. Our celebration was tame as we all knew the task of descending the green rock could be more difficult than the ascent. To our pleasant surprise, our descent wasn't nearly as challenging as we had anticipated. Route finding was much easier as cairns were easy to spot, and we were anxious to cross paths with Aron once again. After about 15 minutes of descending, we ran into Aron and his clients. It was an honor spending a few minutes chatting with such a recognized person. We played it cool and refused to ask for a picture, although now I am kicking myself! We wished them luck and continued downward, hitting the saddle above the gully at 11:45. The rest of the descent was uneventful, especially considering we didn't see another person until we reached the main trail that leads to Crater Lake. We made it back to our car (with fashionable Iowa license plates and Sears topper) just before 2:30, making it a round-trip of 10 hours. Finally, a big congratulations to my parents...it was my father's 47th 14er, and my mother's 41st...not bad for a couple of grandparents from Iowa! Typical Iowan behavior (Bro, Bro-in-law, Mom and Dad) Dad, Me, Bro-in-law, Mom Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Pyramid Peak - Standard Route w/ celebrity sighting

My group consisted of my parents Paul and Sally Thielking, brother Paul Thielking, and brother-in law Paul Sams (yes, 3 Pauls). After a restless night at our condo in Snowmass Village, we got in the car and made the silent, anxiety-filled 30-minute drive to the Maroon Lake parking lot. We were all nervous about what was in store...especially humbled by Bill's route description and the trip reports we had studied. My parents and brother-in-law live in Des Moines, my brother lives in Ann Arbor, and I'm an Iowa transplant who has been in Littleton since 2000. Would a group of flatlanders be able to make it??? We summited North Maroon 2 years ago, so we were confident we could get it done. Our party arrived at 4:15 and began the highly anticipated trek at 4:25, trying to ignore the 'Deadly Bells' sign that marks the beginning of the trail.

After 45 minutes of hiking under clear skies, we reached the junction of the Pyramid trail. We were lucky to see it in the dark, as my bro-in-law, mother, and myself all passed by and were fortunately saved by the astute eyes of my father and brother. There is a pile of rocks, but unfortunately it doesn't really stand out in this section of the trail, as it is an area full of rock piles that all look the same (especially in the dark). After we began hiking up this trail, we noticed headlamps above us and were reassured this was the way to go. Eventually we caught the party of 3, which happened to be Aron Ralston and 2 gentlemen that he was guiding up the mountain. Aron Ralston!!! Seeing Aron gave us a huge shot of adrenaline (reserved as it was)...it was going to be a great day! Aron offered to help us in any way possible - a very humble, helpful, and down-to-earth guy.

After passing the trio, we continued up with and extra bounce in our step and eventually found ourselves in the amphitheater. This area wasn't particularly difficult, as it is marked by cairns and you can easily see where you need to go - to the base of the daunting gully that leads to the ridge. Upon reaching the gully, we donned the helmets and began the steep climb upward. This section of the hike took us 50 minutes and was impressively vertical. Fortunately, the previous night's rainfall had made the trail compact and our footing was great. We finally reached the ridge and were greeted by sunlight and amazing views of the Bells, Capitol Peak, and Snowmass Mtn. Under perfectly clear skies our spirits were high, but we knew the most difficult part of the hike was still ahead of us.

After a brief rest and admiration of the views, we trudged along and eventually made it to the 'ledge', which immediately got our attention. You would have to make a major mistake to get in trouble here, but the drop off is significant and you better not have a mental lapse, as it would probably be your last (Great pictures in Rockymtnhigh69's recent trip report). Following the ledge, we came to the base of the green rock, which presented us with class 3-4 climbing for a sustained amount of time. This steepness and exposure wasn't completely overwhelming, but it is the most uncomfortable I've felt on any of the 14'ers I've done to date. A fall here would be disaster and we had to test/retest every hold and step. With my bro-in-law leading the way, we finally made it to the summit at 10:00 and were greeted by phenomenal views of the Bells, Capitol, Snowmass, Castle...it was a perfect day of clear skies and no winds. We took the obligatory pictures and eventually made our way back down at 10:20. Our celebration was tame as we all knew the task of descending the green rock could be more difficult than the ascent.

To our pleasant surprise, our descent wasn't nearly as challenging as we had anticipated. Route finding was much easier as cairns were easy to spot, and we were anxious to cross paths with Aron once again. After about 15 minutes of descending, we ran into Aron and his clients. It was an honor spending a few minutes chatting with such a recognized person. We played it cool and refused to ask for a picture, although now I am kicking myself! We wished them luck and continued downward, hitting the saddle above the gully at 11:45. The rest of the descent was uneventful, especially considering we didn't see another person until we reached the main trail that leads to Crater Lake. We made it back to our car (with fashionable Iowa license plates and Sears topper) just before 2:30, making it a round-trip of 10 hours. Finally, a big congratulations to my parents...it was my father's 47th 14er, and my mother's 41st...not bad for a couple of grandparents from Iowa!

Typical Iowan behavior (Bro, Bro-in-law, Mom and Dad)

Dad, Me, Bro-in-law, Mom

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

SarahT	Nice job guys! 11/30/2010 5:28pm Man, you know you've got a pretty cool family when the family outting is a climb of Pyramid Peak! I wish my parents were capable and willing to attempt such a feat. Congratulations to you all. Keep on climbing!
Ridge runner	Wow! 2/5/2011 12:22am That's pretty cool you ran into Aron Ralston. And a big congrats to you and your family for a successful summit!

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