The Loft descent of Meeker (via Dreamweaver) beta needed

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
Forum rules
  • This is a mountaineering forum, so please keep your posts on-topic. Posts do not all have to be related to the 14ers but should at least be mountaineering-related.
  • Personal attacks and confrontational behavior will result in removal from the forum at the discretion of the administrators.
  • Do not use this forum to advertise, sell photos or other products or promote a commercial website.
  • Posts will be removed at the discretion of the site administrator or moderator(s), including: Troll posts, posts pushing political views or religious beliefs, and posts with the purpose of instigating conflict within the forum.
    For more details, please see the Terms of Use you agreed to when joining the forum.
Post Reply
sailgreatlakes
Posts: 3
Joined: 6/2/2020
14ers: 16 
13ers: 10
Trip Reports (0)
 

The Loft descent of Meeker (via Dreamweaver) beta needed

Post by sailgreatlakes »

Hey all, experienced climber (rock, ice, and snow) heading up to do Dreamweaver with another very experienced climber and mountaineer. Thing is we have both never done Meeker or descended via the loft route. I know from lots of reading in guidebooks and online that there are the "ledges" that gate keep the loft and that successful navigation down the ledges is required for descending via Loft route. I just can't seem to find any solid beta for them. I hear that when ascending the first ramp, which can start left or right, it begins around 12.8k ft. Then there is a second ramp that goes right or left etc... Width and location of ramps varies by account. Does anyone have reliable beta about navigating the ledges via the ramps? A gpx file would be great, but even some pictures with a route line or the ramps marked/overlayed would be extremely helpful. I just want to make sure we aren't wasting time getting down the loft when the snow starts to get soft as the morning heads towards afternoon.

Thanks!
User avatar
Dave B
Posts: 2390
Joined: 6/14/2010
Trip Reports (9)
 

Re: The Loft descent of Meeker (via Dreamweaver) beta needed

Post by Dave B »

Just go down Iron Gates, super straight forward and views are way better.
Make wilderness less accessible.
Aphelion
Posts: 166
Joined: 10/22/2017
14ers: 58  17 
13ers: 48
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: The Loft descent of Meeker (via Dreamweaver) beta needed

Post by Aphelion »

I was on Dreamweaver a couple weeks ago and came down the loft, all ledges were completely snow-covered, and probably are still now. You'll likely just have to pick the easiest line angling down towards the couloir from the southeast side of the Loft. Look up the loft route description here for a better idea. It's not a complicated area.
User avatar
jfm3
Posts: 271
Joined: 8/2/2016
14ers: 58 
13ers: 24
Trip Reports (12)
 
Contact:

Re: The Loft descent of Meeker (via Dreamweaver) beta needed

Post by jfm3 »

Recent condition reports (both on and off this website) show consistent snow starting at the Chasm Lake crossing all the way up to the col. From the pictures I've seen there is a very clear path of crampon & axe tracks above and below the ledge exit. It's also fairly easy to find when you're up there. The ledge exit is between cliffs, so there's really only one way to go. I will be climbing Meeker via the Loft (up and down) tomorrow so I might see you up there.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/2596507" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamie.mothersbaugh.3rd/
Garmin inReach Map: https://share.garmin.com/jfmiii
User avatar
angry
Posts: 662
Joined: 10/5/2017
14ers: 58  45 
13ers: 231 8
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: The Loft descent of Meeker (via Dreamweaver) beta needed

Post by angry »

I went up Meeker via Dreamweaver in 2019 having never been on the route before and descended the loft. No issue route finding. I thought it was pretty easy and intuitive.
sailgreatlakes
Posts: 3
Joined: 6/2/2020
14ers: 16 
13ers: 10
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: The Loft descent of Meeker (via Dreamweaver) beta needed

Post by sailgreatlakes »

Sounds good, thanks for all the replies. I figured we would be able to follow tracks and that the ledges might be intuitive, but I just wanted to have a good sense of what was going on before heading up there. Confident in our ability to route find. Stay safe out there everyone!
User avatar
coopereitel
Posts: 69
Joined: 8/5/2019
14ers: 58  4  1 
13ers: 45 7 4
Trip Reports (2)
 

Re: The Loft descent of Meeker (via Dreamweaver) beta needed

Post by coopereitel »

When we ascended the loft on Sunday there were good tracks up the ledges . Pretty straightforward, nice bootpack
TheRealRooster
Posts: 107
Joined: 2/18/2016
14ers: 6  2 
13ers: 3 1
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: The Loft descent of Meeker (via Dreamweaver) beta needed

Post by TheRealRooster »

Don't know when you were planning on climbing, so this may be too late to be helpful. Regardless, may help someone down the line.

When I climbed Dreamweaver a few years back and descended the Loft, we had a little bit of trouble route finding on the way down. Probably a combination of not enough homework on my part and my partner bonking, thus not being in great shape to explore much to find the right line. We ended up downclimbing the gut of the Loft with some guys who knew the area and rapping the cliffs. There was a solid, but very exposed, existing rap station skier's right as you got to the cliffs. Not a super long rap, but a 30m rope was not enough - a single 60m would do it easily. From there, you're below the ramps you're speaking of and it's an easy glissade or boot ski down. The ramps were super obvious from below, but weren't as obvious to me from above! Just another option to note.

I'd be remiss not to emphasize how exposed that rap station could be though. To be honest, there were a handful of "slip, you lose" moves on icy rocks to get to it, and the snow getting down to it is relatively steep as well. Choose wisely, move safely, and it's likely that the ramps are the standard descent for good reason.
sailgreatlakes
Posts: 3
Joined: 6/2/2020
14ers: 16 
13ers: 10
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: The Loft descent of Meeker (via Dreamweaver) beta needed

Post by sailgreatlakes »

TheRealRooster wrote: Sat Jun 12, 2021 7:51 am Don't know when you were planning on climbing, so this may be too late to be helpful. Regardless, may help someone down the line.

When I climbed Dreamweaver a few years back and descended the Loft, we had a little bit of trouble route finding on the way down. Probably a combination of not enough homework on my part and my partner bonking, thus not being in great shape to explore much to find the right line. We ended up downclimbing the gut of the Loft with some guys who knew the area and rapping the cliffs. There was a solid, but very exposed, existing rap station skier's right as you got to the cliffs. Not a super long rap, but a 30m rope was not enough - a single 60m would do it easily. From there, you're below the ramps you're speaking of and it's an easy glissade or boot ski down. The ramps were super obvious from below, but weren't as obvious to me from above! Just another option to note.

I'd be remiss not to emphasize how exposed that rap station could be though. To be honest, there were a handful of "slip, you lose" moves on icy rocks to get to it, and the snow getting down to it is relatively steep as well. Choose wisely, move safely, and it's likely that the ramps are the standard descent for good reason.
Appreciate the info! My partner and I climbed Dreamweaver yesterday morning. Glad we got an early start as there were parties lining up below us. We had some great beta on getting to the ramps from above and were able to find the traverse down quite easily because of that, but if you didn't have that beta it could be kind of difficult to find from above. I agree. We were also lucky that when we traversed at 9:15 the snow was perfect. Consolidated with great purchase for crampons and tools, while still being soft but not where we were worried about wet slides yet. I definitely would not have wanted to be making the traverse an hour later, though.

That's great to know about the anchors! When we got to the bottom we remarked that there were several areas we would have been fine rapping if we felt we couldn't find a safe route down, whether bad route finding or bad snow. We had brought a few bail pieces along if we needed them, and had a 60 meter rope so things could have worked out in a myriad of fashions, but we didn't need to rap. Our plan was, if we couldn't find a safe way down, to just go ahead and reverse back through the iron gates.

Dreamweaver was still in, but will be gone in a week I'm sure. Great route! Next time maybe we will link it up with the rappel into the notch and then climb the Stairway up to longs for a mega day :)
TheRealRooster
Posts: 107
Joined: 2/18/2016
14ers: 6  2 
13ers: 3 1
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: The Loft descent of Meeker (via Dreamweaver) beta needed

Post by TheRealRooster »

sailgreatlakes wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 8:11 am
Appreciate the info! My partner and I climbed Dreamweaver yesterday morning. Glad we got an early start as there were parties lining up below us. We had some great beta on getting to the ramps from above and were able to find the traverse down quite easily because of that, but if you didn't have that beta it could be kind of difficult to find from above. I agree. We were also lucky that when we traversed at 9:15 the snow was perfect. Consolidated with great purchase for crampons and tools, while still being soft but not where we were worried about wet slides yet. I definitely would not have wanted to be making the traverse an hour later, though.

That's great to know about the anchors! When we got to the bottom we remarked that there were several areas we would have been fine rapping if we felt we couldn't find a safe route down, whether bad route finding or bad snow. We had brought a few bail pieces along if we needed them, and had a 60 meter rope so things could have worked out in a myriad of fashions, but we didn't need to rap. Our plan was, if we couldn't find a safe way down, to just go ahead and reverse back through the iron gates.

Dreamweaver was still in, but will be gone in a week I'm sure. Great route! Next time maybe we will link it up with the rappel into the notch and then climb the Stairway up to longs for a mega day :)
Glad you guys had a good day and had no issues route finding! Honestly would have made for a much more pleasant day when I was there had we simply known where the line was and headed on down, but all's well that ends well.
Post Reply