Elks 14ers by difficulty, your experiences

[HikerGuy]

As experienced on the way up:
Castle
Snowmass
North Maroon
Maroon
Pyramid
Capitol

As experienced on the way down:
Castle
Snowmass
Pyramid
Maroon
North Maroon
Capitol

Each done individually on standard routes. Each day was dry, clear, and not windy. Over and back over Castle for Conundrum, skipped the crappy gully, started from about 3k below on 4wd drive road. Snowmass with snow in the snowmass, ridge direct option, solid rock from that point to summit, started from Snowmass Lake. Maroon had a light dusting of snow, which actually seemed to help, especially with route finding, started from camp just before turn off for Maroon. N. Maroon and Pyramid, also started from my camp just before turn off for Maroon (Crater Lake was closed due to bears). And started from the lake campsites for Capitol. As a group, I think the Elks may be my favorite, never had an issue with rotten rock myself.

Order climbed:
Castle/Conundrum
Snowmass
Capitol
Maroon
North Maroon
Pyramid

The last three where my finishing trio, fun way to wrap it up.

[Dan_Suitor]

2007 - Castle (no summit because it was my second 14er outing and I was reading the map upside down)

Did you end up in Aspen?

[GeezerClimber]

Slightly off topic......IMO, the Elks are simply gorgeous, magnificent, inspiring and challenging. As much as I fretted beforehand about the dangers, when I was finishing up my last one (Maroon) I was really sad that there weren't more 14ers in the Elks! The scenery and exhilaration brought me to verge of tears several times. No other range has affected me to that degree. I have done Maroon twice and Castle three times. I do plan to get back to Pyramid and Snowmass. My wife made me promise I would not climb Capitol again and I don't really want to climb N. Maroon again either. So there you have it.....I'm envious of those just starting out in the Elks because I know the fabulous experiences they are about to have. BTW, I did all of 'em after turning 60.

Dave

[kaiman]

As much as I fretted beforehand about the dangers, when I was finishing up my last one (Maroon) I was really sad that there weren't more 14ers in the Elks! The scenery and exhilaration brought me to verge of tears several times. No other range has affected me to that degree.

Why stop at the 14ers? There are 52 ranked 13ers in the Elks that vary in difficulty from walk ups to Class 5, and then when your done with them you can hike/climb the other 51 12ers

In all seriousness though, the 14ers are just the tip of the iceberg and if you haven't spent any time in other parts of the Elks/West Elks you definitely should.

Kai

[fahixson]

2007 - Castle (no summit because it was my second 14er outing and I was reading the map upside down)

Did you end up in Aspen?

No, I must have had it right side up to start. When I got up to the upper basin, I kept heading towards the right and ended up at the base on the Conundrum couloir. Eventually, I turned around and saw the obvious trail heading up to the Castle northeast ridge. By the time I figured it out, the weather was starting to turn.

Every time since then, I've avoided the problem by taking the variation in the Roach northeast ridge route description and hiked SE from the end of the road and up to Point 13,780 along the northeast ridge. From there, it's just a few more steps to join up with the standard route along the ridge crest. I think this variation has better views than the standard trek to upper Montezuma basin and you avoid loose rock if most of the snow has melted or avoid all the snow fields if you're not comfortable on the snow. I really dislike that dirt/scree trail from the upper basin up to the ridge crest.

I'm still not good with maps.

[Two Headed Boy]

14ers ranked by difficulty (on this site) - Castle Peak #21 --- Conundrum #37 --- Riddle me that

[LURE]

14ers ranked by difficulty (on this site) - Castle Peak #21 --- Conundrum #37 --- Riddle me that

Maybe has a little to do with user ranking and therefore a lot subjectivity? But mostly, I would bet, Conundrum is typically ranked as a tag along peak to Castle, not it's own hike.

Edit: Those that inputted peak rankings, is that how you ranked em?

[Scott P]

Why stop at the 14ers? There are 52 ranked 13ers in the Elks that vary in difficulty from walk ups to Class 5, and then when your done with them you can hike/climb the other 51 12ers

In all seriousness though, the 14ers are just the tip of the iceberg and if you haven't spent any time in other parts of the Elks/West Elks you definitely should.

^^^This^^^. There are enough mountains in Colorado to keep anyone busy for a lifetime. Of course there are a lot outside Colorado as well.

[GeezerClimber]

As much as I fretted beforehand about the dangers, when I was finishing up my last one (Maroon) I was really sad that there weren't more 14ers in the Elks! The scenery and exhilaration brought me to verge of tears several times. No other range has affected me to that degree.

Why stop at the 14ers? There are 52 ranked 13ers in the Elks that vary in difficulty from walk ups to Class 5, and then when your done with them you can hike/climb the other 51 12ers

In all seriousness though, the 14ers are just the tip of the iceberg and if you haven't spent any time in other parts of the Elks/West Elks you definitely should.

Kai

I don't intend to stop. Cathedral is high on my list but finding partners is more difficult for 13ers. At age 66, I won't get to them all but that's OK. PS: Thunder Pyramid is NOT on my list!

[zdero1]

Easiest---> Hardest

Castle/Conundrun--> North Maroon ---> Pyramid ---> Snowmass --> Maroon ---> Capitol

[LAW]

IMO: Difficulty easiest to hardest is: Castle, Snowmass, S. Maroon, N. Maroon, Pyramid, Capitol. If you climb the Bells together I would say that is hardest due to route finding, exposure, steep loose rock etc., but will also say this combination is one of my favourites, due to the positions, route finding and sheer beauty from these places. I have always climbed them together with exception of North where I intended too but due to weather only bagged North my second trip up the Bells. I have always climbed them North to South as it takes so much less time from the TH (or in past a camp at Crater Lake) to reach both summits and I've always found going down south good fun except for the steep down hill from the shoulder. Best and quickest descent route on South is the SE couloir when snow conditions are good, but at a minimum, a mountaineering axe and crampons may be necessary. Just climbed these again a couple of weekends ago (N to S) and instead of downclimbing South reversed the traverse back over North. Have to say that was excellent, great fun, experiencing the traverse in both directions and so much faster than descending South's standard route. It's all about the route finding or going with someone who knows the route(s) well, it can be easy to get in big trouble here.

Castle: the Worst part is the loose rock at the hill just above the parking lot. Pretty much a walk up. Great snow climb.
Snowmass (Snowmass Creek approach): Very long as a day hike, great backpack and Snowmass Lake is a such a beautiful place to be. Worst part can be the hill above the lake, the trick is knowing where to cross from the left side of the creek to the right across/on/up solid rock and grassy benches avoiding the loose and even dangerously steep junk on the left side. A great snow climb (other than post-holing potential up to and around the Lake (depending on the snow conditions). Found a mountaineering axe useful. A number of nice options to ascend/descend the ridge to/from the summit. Depending on the route a little 3rd class climbing near the summit.
South Maroon: I've never ascended only descended the standard route. Climbing only South ascending/descending this route is a stout day, but with good route finding not overly difficult and interesting between the shoulder and the summit.
N. Maroon: With care and proper route finding a beautiful climb. When you reach the 1st sections of steep rock nearing the ridge line work ledges left and right to find the path of least resistance or climb them based on your ability. Above these sections, to the short crux pitch, the route finding is pretty straight forward on or near the ridge line to the summit.
Pyramid: A grunt, the new(ish) trail up to the amphitheatre helps, but the steep dirt trail up to the ridge is tough in both directions. From there it's pretty fun, past the notch and ledge, all the moves are cascading and short but are dirty and a little hard to find purchase. Some lead out and over the N. Face so staying more left offers a little less exposure. I find going down is almost easier than up as you can pretty much lower/drop down each section and the route seems more apparent going down.
Capitol: From the TH a long but doable day, the knife edge is bomber and great fun! Route finding is fairly straight forward on both sides of the edge (a couple of ways to get to and past K2) and the climbing is definitely not over after ou pass the knife edge.

[wildlobo71]

Geez what happened on Pyramid? Rock fall induced by another party or a goat? Typically the only real rockfall there is all the way to the back of the amphitheater, where no human being short of one with a death wish should ever venture.

A runner disregarded warnings of people below him in the gully while he descended and trundled a half dozen bread loaf size boulders down on us; one ricochet'd off my helmet top and it's impact cracked the front of my helmet that was pressed into one of the rock bands I was hugging.