Capitol Peak

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 8/19/2024, By: Pcypher
Info: Climbed Capitol on Saturday. Trail is dry save for two small snow crossings (very short) on the way to K2 which could be bypassed by down climbing if you desired. Very solid knife edge which I was able to straddle, bear crawl or even stand in parts. Start early and pay attention to cairns. Short gully up and down climb were very loose. K2 was solid (up and over). Down climb of K2 on the way to Capitol was the trickiest part of the day; I found climbers left to be easier. Respect the mountain but enjoy it too. Im glad I waited for this one but overall it was an excellent peak! 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/31/2024, By: Okottke
Info: Wanted to share this from our trip up today. On our return to K2 we opted to go around Instead of over like the way we came. We had a seriously close near miss that caused a massive rock slide down the steep gully that the side trail leads you through. A large, microwave sized rock came loose when my partner was checking it. Im sure he is alive now because he was checking it before committing, but for a moment there he thought the rock was going to take him down with it. The rockfall was very significant and I worry that it degraded the already loose and dangerous part of the trail. Going up k2 seems significantly safer than around, I highly recommend going that way. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/24/2024, By: climbingyogi
Info: Not much to add to the previous CRs other than:

1) Yes, there's still snowfields to navigate between Daly saddle+ talus field, but I didn't use my spikes or axe at all (carried them though) and was able to get through them fine in the morning and afternoon. If laziness wasn't an issue, spikes would've been nice for those sections in the morning, but each one was so short.

2) The marmots here WILL steal your trekking poles. I made the mistake of stashing my poles + axe at K2 and lost a pole. First and last time I will likely ever stash gear on a mountain.

3) Be ready for a long ass day - especially if you do it in a single push from the TH like we did. No regrets though because backpacking is hard. It was just an extremely taxing day - physically and mentally.

4) This mountain should not be underestimated. We had 0% chance of rain all day and I would not want to commit to this route in anything less than perfect conditions due to the amount of time spent above treeline and in a no-fall zone.

5) Watched a group of 3 on the ridge direct route. I do think they were fast hikers + climbers in general, but the ridge direct looked way more efficient if you have good climbing skills. I would probably do ridge direct if I did Cap again.

6) I loved this mountain and this day despite it's difficulties. What an amazing experience and beautiful place. I had/still have a healthy amount of fear regarding this peak and I'm glad I waited to accumulate years of route-finding skills, scrambling skills, and testing my comfortability with exposure before attempting Cap. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/23/2024, By: dgriff
Info: We mostly took the NE Ridge but deviated a bit on a social trail to avoid dropping too much vert between the saddle and K2. Talking to some folks and looking down it looks like there is some snow but it is skirt-able if you don't want to carry spikes/ax.

Overall, the peak holds to its reputation - be ready for a long day with lots of exposer and rocks that are certainly of the elk range (looser than you'd like). The decent of K2 on the way to the summit and the ridgeline after the knife edge are the cruxes in my opinion, K2 was much nicer going back to camp. After the ridge, there are tons of cairns, just keep your eyes open for them.

Be ready for people - we thought it would be a bit quieter on a Monday (nope!) and ended up needing to wait ~15min for folks crossing the knife edge before we could continue our way down.

An incredible summit if you're ready to push it there but be ready and only attempt it if you're confident in your route finding, alpine rock skills, and ability to handle exposure. 

Route: Northeast Ridge Direct
Posted On: 7/12/2024, By: ShakyLegs18
Info: Perfect summer conditions on the NE ridge DIRECT. My companion and I ascended via the direct ridge and descended via the standard route

Pros of the direct ridge: It bypassed all snow obstacles. It provided 1-2 more hours of class 3 and a handful of class 4 climbing on a beautiful ridge that demanded no more or less climbing and route-finding skills than required by the standard route. I was surprised that the route was reasonably marked. No cairns but a decent trail throughout. We also thought the rock was more solid than anything encountered on K2 and beyond. I found it helpful to be in a good climbing rhythm with my companion as we entered into the demands of the standard route.

Cons of the direct ridge: It's more dangerous. It extends the time spent in a no-fall zone navigating class 3 and class 4 terrain by 1-2 hours on a route that already demands hours of such climbing. The direct ridge definitely requires maneuvers with exposure and increases time spent climbing terrain with little margin for error. The standard route bypasses this, though currently adds summer snow challenges.

We went up and over K2 on the ascent. We attempted the bypass on the return and regretted it. We ended up returning to the top of K2 anyways.

We managed to navigate the snowfields on the descent with spikes and poles. The snow was soft enough to kick-in but consolidated enough to prevent postholing most of the time.

The best advice I have has been said repeatedly: test every rock and then test it again. There's lots of great hand and foot holds available to navigate all obstacles but plenty of loose junk, too.

Wildflowers are in full bloom. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/10/2024, By: mountainlover153
Info: Smooth sailing to the lake. You'll cross some high/fast running streams, but all have some way to get across (logs, rocks). One log section is a little interesting because it's not secure and will wobble as you cross it. Have fun with that!

Route is clear to the saddle with snow after to K2. Several people slipped, fell, and slid crossing the snowfields. Those who didn't have an axe indicated they wished they had brought one. Bring an axe. They're light, and it will give you better safety.

I chose to take a middle line from saddle to Daly, which did traverse the snowfields. Snow is quite slick/wet/slushy-ice right now due to poor freezes. Spikes and axe are sufficient to ensure safety, don't rush it. You can also take a higher line and avoid the snow but I found that less efficient with more loose rock. If you follow existing kicked steps, you will have decent time/traction and balance.

I felt the route was as advertised. If you enjoy major exposure, hard sustained climbing with several hours of continuous no-fall terrain, you'll love it. If you are a normal person, it's intense, and whether you find it hard or not, it is certainly the hardest 14er due to the sustained nature of exposed climbing - so if you've done other Class 4s...this is harder. The knife has some sections that are easy to traverse the side of. Personally I found other sections much harder to traverse so I straddled for those elements. There are a couple sections of the knife where the rock is smooth on both sides, and depending on your height, you sort of need to "lunge" to reach the next good hold spot to grab with your hands. I found that to be the hardest and most nerve-wracking part of the climb. If you're tall with long limbs, the knife is easier.

The route after the knife is where I expected to have the most concern based on beta from others and the route description. At present, the route is very well cairned, and the cairns are generally accurate and good if you can spot them and follow them. There are some loose rocks in spots but on the cairned route, less than you may be expecting, making for faster and slightly safer climbing. About 200-300 vertical feet from the summit, you'll reach a couple locations where you can choose a ledge line and go over a small notch before ascending right, or, ascend immediately directly right before the notch. On ascent, my group went through the notch, on the descent direct down before that notch. The climbing is harder if you go directly up before the notch move (medium to hard 4th class), but the rock is good. Make a mental note after exiting the knife of how the exit looks. Many folks indicated that they didn't do this, and missed the turn on descent and traversed below the knife. I didn't have this issue and was looking out for it. Also - there are two extra knives before and after the main one. Be prepared for that.

As I am a mere mortal, it took me about 30 mins from camp to the saddle, an hour and 15ish from saddle to K2, and 90 minutes from K2 to the summit - which was fast for me. I expected 2 hours from K2 to the summit (my partner was a lot faster so I had to work to keep up). I'm not trying to break any records though. On descent, summit to K2 took about the same time...a little less to the knife, and more time on the knife itself, which I found to be harder going back than going up and I straddled most of it. Fast evolving relationship!

Went over k2 on way back. There is a route around, but it looked sketchy. The rock on K2 is C4, but it is good if you choose a good line.

Glissaded down a good ways. Some folks stayed on the rock ridge longer. Worked fine for me. Fun game of chutes and ladders. If you want to stay clear of most snow, cairns follow the ridge proper down to a point where you can traverse below it without doing anything beyond difficult 2. Technically, you'd be better off with crampons than spikes with this type of snow and ice. But no one I saw brought that gear. Do bring the axe!! Please. You won't die if you fall but you'll get banged up - I saw several people with multiple bandages on hands, arms, etc.

The best advice to sum up: the route beats all other 14er standard routes. If you find all other routes easy, this may be easy for you. If you don't, expect a challenging and long climb. Give this mountain respect: it has killed a lot of people. It does not care about your speed or your grit. It's an exhilarating feeling to get to the summit and the views are spectacular for the entire experience...from the wildflowers on the approach to the airy views of the elks from the top. Prepare, know the route, know the weather, and have fun. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/9/2024, By: rivrrapids
Info: Only thing to note is snowfields in basin after Daly saddle. Used axe for balance but no traction. Did in trail runners. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/13/2024, By: jway2952
Info: What a great climb! Intermittent snow is present on the east side of the mountain from the saddle until K2. Mountaineering boots and crampons may have made this more efficient to ascend/descend, but ultimately one can avoid the snow and having scrambling shoes was nice on the technical terrain. Just be prepared to slip a bit if you choose to go directly over snow (microspikes were pretty useless). Did a little glissading on the way down, but I wish I had just stuck to the rocks since I kept going too low and they weren't very continuous. The climb itself is much more straightforward than expected and the ridge isn't too hard. Made it up from Camp 9 in about 2:45 and down in about 1:45 with another 2 hours on the approach each way. Great 24 hours in the mountains! 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/9/2024, By: jway2952
Info: What a great climb! Intermittent snow is present on the east side of the mountain from the saddle until K2. Mountaineering boots and crampons may have made this more efficient to ascend/descend, but ultimately one can avoid the snow and having scrambling shoes was nice on the technical terrain. Just be prepared to slip a bit if you choose to go directly over snow (microspikes were pretty useless). Did a little glissading on the way down, but I wish I had just stuck to the rocks since I kept going too low and they weren't very continuous. The climb itself is much more straightforward than expected and the ridge isn't too hard. Made it up from Camp 9 in about 2:45 and down in about 1:45 with another 2 hours on the approach each way. Great 24 hours in the mountains! 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/5/2024, By: Swerner
Info: What an incredible day! I'll try to be helpful instead of just gushing about how great it was.

Ditch Trail up to the lake has a few creek crossings without rocks/logs, one got to mid-thigh and fast-moving. Right before the lake is a small amount of snow, but I was fine in trail runners.

No snow up to the saddle with Mt. Daly. After the saddle, there's a LOT of snow up to just below K2. Snow was very hard on the ascent and made for basically a staircase up with spikes on trail runners. Had an axe, didn't use it outside of moral support. Stashed snow gear a bit before K2.

Went up and over K2, a nice warmup technical section. From there, basically zero snow. The ridge was a lot of fun, and made it up to the summit at about 8:30, starting at 4:40 (we're fast on non-technical parts). Heading back down, had a minor routefinding mishap and somehow traversed below the knife edge by about 20 feet. It felt less sketchy than the knife edge, but I can't in good conscience recommend it since it was an accident. Had minor difficulty on routefinding back up K2, so be observant on the way out so you can find your way back.

Down after K2 had a series of excellent glissades. Used the axe there and wouldn't glissade without it. There are a series of snowed over gullies after that, and those are steep enough that you wouldn't want to slide. Spikes plus trail runners had a lot of sliding, so I had to anchor in on the axe very carefully. I'd recommend at least one of (axe, mountaineering boots) for this section, but trail runners made the rock section very easy with some smears.

Total of 8-10 summited today, which was way less than I expected for the 4th of July. Incredibly beautiful adventure, easily my new favorite 14er! A nice combo of backpacking skills, snow travel skills, and technical climbing skills. And avalanche-debris icebergs in the lake were the cherry on top! 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/23/2024, By: Rg15
Info: I thought long and hard beforehand about which I loathe more: giving up vert (creek trail) or cold water (ditch trail). I decided both are equally awful but the ditch trail would probably be faster. Seriously muddy for the first few miles. The creek crossing is about knee deep and fairly swift. Poles were quite helpful here. Be careful if you decide to go this way. Some snow on the way up to the lake, but nothing terribly inconvenient. The switchbacks up to the Daly Saddle are mostly snow free. Past the saddle, there is near total snow coverage until a couple hundred ft below K2. I used crampons and an axe for the gully crossings right after the saddle. Beyond K2, the route is basically in summer conditions. Snow complicates some obstacles on the upper East Face, but it is almost completely avoidable with careful route-finding. Made the summit a bit after 10:00 AM, and started back down after a couple minutes, not wanting to push my luck with any afternoon storms. Plenty of fun glissading in the basin back below K2. One of my favorite mountains, but be seriously careful up there. The rock on the last several hundred ft is even more horrendously loose than I remembered. 

Route: Secret Chutes
Posted On: 5/28/2024, By: aksean22
Info: Climbed and skied off the summit of Capitol Peak yesterday with Ben (akcasey12) and Hayes (to cool for social media). Started from the Snowmass Trailhead. Patchy snow starts around 10,000' but was mostly short or avoidable. Continuous snow starts after a large field about 4 miles in at 10,500', flotation is needed past that. Camped at Moon lake Sunday night and got a very early start Monday morning.

Instead of taking the knife edge, we opted to climb up our intended ski line, known as the Secret Chute. This connects to the standard route from Prairie Lakes basin near the end of the Northeast ridge before the final 400' of climbing, directly opposite of "death gully" on the Capitol Lake side. To get there, we skinned up towards K2 to 13,200', then skied the One-in-a-Million couloir in the dark and were at the base of the Secret Chutes by first light. The climbing was steep and it was nice to have two tools, but we did not need to break out the rope. (Note: this route only works in the the spring with supportive snow. It would be a chossy mess with significant overhead hazards in the summer, or wallowing in sugar snow in serious avy terrain mid winter. Skiers only ;) )

The last 400' of climbing is quite exposed, but the snow was consolidated and supportive. We stayed on the East face snow instead of taking ridge direct. We summited just before 8am and stayed just long enough to transition. The sun was already heating things up and realistically we would have preferred to be dropping in at 7:30. A few steep turns and one long left facing traverse back to the Secret Chute.

A 60m rope was just long enough to make it through the steepest and narrowest section at the top. Hayes decided he was "feeling good" and skied it clean from the ridge (which goes at 60 degrees with a mandatory straight-line) needless to say I was impressed. Excellent powder the rest of the way down. A quick booter back up One in a Million, sweet corn all the way back to snow line and an enjoyable walk back to the car. Found some mystery snowshoe tracks on the way back that belonged to daway8, who we met in the parking lot. As he said, timing is super important right now. Very happy to have that one knocked out, especially in such good conditions! 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 5/27/2024, By: daway8
Info: Attempted Capitol as a day hike from Snowmass Creek TH via Moon Lake starting at midnight. Trail was totally dry to start with but the stream crossing at 1.5mi was raging pretty good. No easy to get across with dry feet so brought water shoes which only added 1lbs. Very invigorating at 1am. Not much snow until about 10k but crazy amounts of snow by the time you reach Moon Lake. Trail starts off very easy to follow but then turns into bushwhacking chaos where I picked the wrong way, staying up to the right instead of down near the stream and wasted a ton of time and energy.
Reached the base of K2, where the Moon Lake route meets the standard route, at 9am only to have a small avalanche come down straight at me. I had time to sprint out of the way - it was just a cluster of rollerballs - but it was already crazy hot so I knew there would be more to come. Earlier saw a rock the size of a large boot that had rolled down a crazy distance, then rolled uphill 20 feet before turning and rolling down further. The marks in the snow from it tumbling were a foot or two apart meaning it must have come down fast. Didn't want to be up there when those missiles started launching so bailed with a successful recon of this winter route for Capitol. Looks like best as an early winter route before avy danger spikes. Met 3 guys who camped at the lake and successfully skied from the summit, going East Face to Secret Chute. They may do their own post but moral of the story is 9am is far too late to be heading for the summit right now.
Will add pictures later. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 12/23/2023, By: Will_E
Info: Got Capitol yesterday in pretty good conditions. As expected, it was the sketchiest thing I've done, I wouldn't have figured out how to get up that ridge without my hero Screesurfer leading the way. I went up on Tuesday and put in a trench to Moon Lake. Screesurfer, McQueen and I started around midnight Thursday night, Brad had the same feeling I did last year after seeing Capitol from K2 and turned back. Long, hard day, 10:37 up, 7:23 down. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 10/10/2023, By: niemeier314
Info: Summited on 10/8. I was able to manage with microspikes but I really wished I had an ice ax for K2. I wouldn't recommend traversing around K2 without ice ax and crampons. If not, I'd vote for climbing up/down K2 which was doable with microspikes. With microspikes, you should be prepared to do plenty of downclimbing 4th class terrain with them on. Knife's edge was basically free of snow.