9/12/2020 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 9/12/2020, By: Christensenje Info: Traverse over from Maroon Peak... Down climb on traverse was gnarly. Thought about throwing in the towel but felt like we mitigated the risk well. Lots of proper down climbing because of the snow and ice. Once the down climb was over, the rest of the traverse had some snow but didn't feel like the snow made it any different than doing the traverse dry. But it's still real. Snow will take maybe a week to dry off the down climb. Scariest part of the day was definitely coming down North Maroon. The crux chimney was not down climbable without a rope to repel due to snow and ice, unless you really wanted to put yourself at risk. Group coming up decided to call it quits there because they couldn't climb up. Found a spicy down climb a little to the right going down. Don't suggest it but it was that or calling for a lift off the mountain and we felt it was within our limits. Rest of the way down was pretty dry. |
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9/3/2020 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 9/4/2020, By: Paula Info: There's a little bit of ice and snow above 13,400'. It's mostly avoidable and not a problem, but there is a small amount to be careful of in the crux. |
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8/28/2020 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 8/29/2020, By: PikaSteve Info: No crowds, no smoke and no snow (yet). Aspen leaves still 99% green, but some alpine grasses and willows turning golden. Pikas busy harvesting. At 4:30am, only 8 cars in day use lot due to parking reservation system. I was alone climbing North Maroon. I passed three photographers at Maroon Lake, saw one headlamp ascending Pyramid and later met eleven climbers traversing from Maroon Peak. CFI trail from Minnehaha gulch to rock glacier was almost a paved stairway. This would have been easy to navigate by headlamp if I had left an hour earlier. Chimney was a good challenge made easier with approach shoes and helpful trip reports (thanks Daway8). Route finding above chimney was made easy with 14ers.com.photos. Didn't see any goats until descent where goat family quietly watched climbers from cliff above crossing from Second Gully to First Gully. Reached bottom of "First Gully" just as first downpour started. Rain stopped enough to make a double rainbow below rock glacier, then resumed to make a sloppy trail back to Maroon Lake where the final crux move was avoiding the moose. |
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8/7/2020 Route: Bells Traverse Posted On: 8/7/2020, By: Clint the climber Info: The traverse is a fantastic climb! All of the cruxes are on great rock and its completely dry. Overall it's a relatively easy climb with a bit of exposer. I descended the northeast ridge which is a nightmare. Imo the traverse is the better way to climb North Maroon. Just thinking about the Northeast ridge and its two gullies makes my skin crawl... |
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7/19/2020 Route: Traverse from south Posted On: 7/20/2020, By: Wild Bill Info: We took the traverse. I wouldn't have had any idea the route had it not been for Andy and Susan. Andy has done this traverse many times and made it fun and safe. The traverse is no joke and demands some physical condition. However Andy knew the route. Once on top of N. Maroon you start for the long ridge pointing towards Crater Lake. Soon the trail will direct you slightly left to a long vertical shelf. We found a set rope and dropped off here. However looking back shows a better way further along the same said ridge. This next shelf takes you a good ways along a lower ridge. I want to press the fact that once in the “gulley†you absolutely need to go directly down it. This move looks wrong but it is not. There are cairns marking left and this is a mistake, Andy made this very clear. Once you drop off the gulley until there seems no hope you will notice a large trail breaking left, make your way to this trail. Once on this trail the remainder explains itself. |
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7/1/2020 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 7/2/2020, By: Moogie737 Info: We were able to avoid the few remaining small snowfields with 2 very minor exceptions. Snow at the chimney base was easy to kick steps into. My partner and I are “older†and decided to avoid time-consuming route finding by hiring a guide from Aspen Alpine Guides. It worked out well as Ted Mahon kept us on trail the entire way. When time is of the essence and you don't have a friend to show the way on a peak like this then you “find†a friend. 14er #54 now climbed and a new friend - a great two-fer. |
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6/12/2020 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 6/12/2020, By: Coloradokid_ Info: Boulder field still has a good amount of snow, can avoid 90% of snow in both gulleys. Once gaining the ridge snow was pretty consistent all the way to the summit. Class 4 chimney was still holding quite a bit of snow. Lots of ice in the early AM, snow was deteriorating by 8 AM on the decent. Edit* sorry the pics are kinda out of order |
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10/6/2019 Route: Bells Traverse Posted On: 10/7/2019, By: austinpavlas Info: Completed the Bells Traverse on 10/6. The traverse was very fun but the difficulty is over hyped. The descent down North Maroon was by far the most difficult part of the day. The Northwest Ridge was icy, snowy, and extremely slick. Be cautious as this side of the mountain is the in the shade all day and the current snow/ice will likely remain. |
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9/28/2019 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 9/28/2019, By: noexit33 Info: Route was mostly dry and not as windy as I was expecting it to be. Starting around the chimney section there was a light dusting of snow but it was fairly warm and melting fast. Wet shoes made that part a bit more exciting but managed to get up and down OK. Got to the TH at 5 AM and it was mostly full with photographers who had their cameras lined up on tripods about 6 inches apart. Aspens are about 70% yellow and it was super pretty. |
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9/21/2019 Route: Bells Traverse Posted On: 9/22/2019, By: MC.Ikema Info: Northeast Ridge - small patches of mostly avoidable snow hiding in the shadows of North Maroon's north face. The fixed rope at the top of the chimney is gone. Bells Traverse (Maroon to N. Maroon) - small patches of snow hiding in the shadows of Maroon's north face during the descent off the summit to the top of the Bell Cord. No snow encountered from the top of Bell Cord to the summit of North Maroon. |
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9/5/2019 Route: Bells Traverse Posted On: 9/6/2019, By: CoHi591 Info: The Bells Traverse was absolutely incredible. Decently cairned. I found the second of the "three major difficulties" to be the most intense because of the exposure, but the climbing was better than I expected. As long as you're paying attention you can find solid rock. There were spots where we were making mid-class 5 moves but there were probably easier ways around those spots if you look for them. It took us 1:45 between summits. Getting down N. maroon was the most tedious part of the day. There is a pretty clear ramp between gullies that we used, and only one short area that took some poking around to get past a little cliff and relocate the trail. Having a GPS was helpful. Left car at 4:20, took a leisurely pace on trail, ridge at 7 am, South summit 8:50-9:00, North summit at 10:45, and then a long 3 hours back to the car. |
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8/24/2019 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 8/25/2019, By: DevonK Info: I summited the morning of 8/24. Follow the cairns. Halfway up the second gully you lose the cairns and have to pick your line. I went up the left side for the most part climbing up cracks that were never more difficult than class 4. Someone hung a rope in the chimney. I didn't use it climbing up but it gave me some peace of mind down climbing. The descent took me as long as the ascent so make sure to stay focused the whole way down. |
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8/12/2019 Route: Bells Traverse Posted On: 8/14/2019, By: Shattuck311 Info: Summer conditions with only a few steps on snow while descending North Maroon after the traverse. Beautiful time to be up high as the valleys are lush and green. |
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8/10/2019 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 8/10/2019, By: hellmanm Info: Pretty much summer conditions. The class 3 bypass is wet and involves traversing a small snowfield that requires an ice axe. Go in expecting to climb the chimney. |
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8/1/2019 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 8/2/2019, By: Tacocat Climbing Info: Started from the trailhead at around 4:45am. Weather reports were good, but there was some clouds that gave me a bit of a scare. I ended up deciding that the clouds were ok, they didnt look too menacing, and decided to continue. The snow that may have previously covered the trail after the chimney is melted enough that I never touched it. Brought my axe and micro spikes but never used either of them. Summer conditions! Had the whole peak to myself which was pretty nice! Roundtrip time was 6hours 15minutes. Video of the hike: https://youtu.be/2GOFkVXito0 |
