Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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highpilgrim wrote:To add to what's already been said, the rock there on Lindsey is loose and dangerous, IMO more so than Blanca. The top of Blanca, where the climbing is the most difficult (but only marginally class 2+) the rock is solid on large boulders mostly. My memory tells me it was very solid. Lindsey not so much.
And as to helmets, if you're going to keep climbing the helmet is a good investment one way or the other. And would be useful on Lindsey. Even little rocks leave big black bruises when they're bouncing down a mountain. Even if you climb safe, you can't count on everyone around you (or their dogs) doing so. Keeping your grape intact is worth the hassle of wearing the helmet IMO.
Have fun.
I would agree with much of what highpilgrim and others have said. Lindsey is definitely more loose/exposed although not that much more technical then Blanca. I would also like to stress the importance of wearing a helmet on Lindsey. Particularly if you are going to be climbing as early as the 4th of July as the freeze/thaw cycle will still be in effect and rocks may well be tumbling down on you even without the help of other climbers above you...
just my 2 cents...
kaiman
"I want to keep the mountains clean of racism, religion and politics. In the mountains this should play no role."
- Joe Stettner
"I haven't climbed Everest, skied to the poles, or sailed single-handed around the world. The goals I set out to accomplish aren't easily measured or quantified by world records or "firsts." The reasons I climb, and the climbs I do, are about more than distance or altitude, they are about breaking barriers within myself."
Thanks everyone so much for the replies. I got exactly the information I was looking for.
I'm beginning to think hard about the advice of doing the classic Bierstadt-sawtooth-Evans route on this trip instead of Lindsey. Perhaps that will prepare us for the Cat 4 route on lindsey some day.
Furthermore, I'm planning on taking helmets for Bierstadt-sawtooth-Evans and Challenger Point.
We all have snowboarding helmets. But I'm guessing these are a very bad choice for summer trips for reasons of weight. Any opinions otherwise?
Whoopi Cat
"It is the only way to get to the universe; bet everything every single step forward."
- Wayne Hale, Jr. Flight Commander, Space Shuttle Columbia.
Other than weight, your head is going to be hot with a snowboarding helmet if it is a nice day climbing in the mountains. Some days it is nice to have the extra warmth and others not.
"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." -- Calvin Coolidge
