Evans/sawtooth/Bierstadt traversal time

[whoopi_cat]

Hello all,

My climbing partners and I (three of us total) will be attempting the traversal of the sawtooth travelling from Bierstadt toward Evans on Monday, July the 5th. I'm interested in getting a sense of the time the traversal might take. We commonly ascend a bit faster than the 1,000 vertical feet/hour mentioned by Dawson in his guide book. But this is our first Cat. 3 experience, and I'm expecting route finding to significantly slow us down.

It seems to me that the most important time is actually the time it will take to get from the summit of Bierstadt to the relative safety of Evans's West ridge. I've carefully studied the gully leading off of this ridge. It will be our descent if we summit Evans following the sawtooth, and will serve as our bail route should the weather get bad while we're on the sawtooth.

Thanks for all comments,

Whoopi_cat

[gdthomas]

Route finding on Sawtooth Ridge is fairly straightforward. Study the route description and photos on this site. Make a mental note of the notch where you cross from the east side to the west side of the Ridge and it shouldn't take more than 1.5 hours to reach Evan's West Ridge area. Once across the Sawtooth its no more than an hour to Evans' summit. You should figure on 5 hours (plus summit time on Bierstadt) to reach Evans' summit. Early afternoon thunderstorms will likely be an issue, especially on Evans. I'd leave the TH at dawn (5-5:30am) to ensure an 11am summit of Evans.

[whoopi_cat]

I'd leave the TH at dawn (5-5:30am) to ensure an 11am summit of Evans.

Oh, rest assured friend: It'll be 4 AM with wobbly knees and instant coffee down the gullet! :D

[Nelson]

I did this climb on the 1st of June (http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepor ... ki=Include" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). I thought the traverse went slow because there was the issue of staying on the rocks or traveling on the snow with crampons. It took me over 2 hours. Climbing Bierstadt is fast and the west ridge of Evans is fast. Finding the chute back to Guanella can be a little tricky and that chute will be messy (wet) when you get there. At the bottom you have quite a bushwhack through very wet, muddy terrain and that does not go fast.

Nelson

[Rainier_Wolfcastle]

A couple of years ago CarpeDM and I did the Sawtooth and stumbled across a good trail leading back to the Guanella Pass Parking Lot. It avoids 90% of the bushwhack in the willows and much of the gully. Here is a link to a TR he posted with more details. I would highly recommend this route to finish your loop. Once you find the trail it is pretty clear and easy to stay on until the parking lot is in view.


http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepor ... ki=Include

[LAW]

I was up Bierstadt and traversed the Sawtooth Saturday (6/5/10), didn’t do the out and back to Evans, RT 3.5 hrs. There was continuous snow from just under the ridge all the way down and around to the saddle before the first tooth. It was perfect to glissade; the descent and traverse to the saddle took probably all of 10 minutes. There is no snow of any consequence on the ledges (west side of ridge) following the first tooth to the exit. No hardware and in trail runners. Pants help on the trail(s) through the willows, your feet will get wet.