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Unnamed 13067

Peak Condition Updates  
9/29/2024
Route: South Face via Bear Creek
Posted On: 9/30/2024, By: supranihilest
Info: I dare say a much better route than the standard north face? We first investigated this route after attempting the north face and finding it was a sheet of ice about a month ago. We then learned it's described in Derek "Furthermore" Wolfe's guidebook and decided to try it. Thanks to Patrick Murphy for tuning us into the guidebook description! We took the Snowmass Creek trail for about 3.8 miles (slightly longer than the guidebook) and left the trail, wading the creek using some found walking sticks. The creek was about knee deep. We almost immediately found a decent looking trail and said it was better than nothing - we think this is actually the trail up Bear Creek since it stayed good for a long ways paralleling the creek staying on the north side. One short section is directly above the creek and so narrow Whiley and I both slipped off and nearly fell into the creek. The trail fades out as a talus field approaches on climber's right, just meander through the forest which doesn't have a ton of deadfall. Once the talus field finally overtakes the drainage there's actually a trail through it all the way up to an open area with a waterfall on the left and overgrown slabs dead ahead. We took different routes up and down the slabs. We went basically straight up finding path of least resistance on the ascent, and traversed over the top and down some enticing-looking gullies to ascender's right (they're obvious from below) on descent. We'd recommend the former: the bushwhacking is truly heinous in this area but up the center it's shorter and more direct. There's some Class 2+/Class 3 scrambling on the slabs and some Class 3 plant pulling as well since it's so steep. The descent through this area and down the gullies took us a lot longer. This is truly the only bad part of the route and well worth it compared to the north face. Above the slabs there's some easy forest which gives way to willows in the drainage bottom. We ascended to climber's right above it and walked across stable boulders instead, finally reaching the open area where the south couloir spills out. We expected unstable, annoying rock ascending the couloir but it was a lot more stable than our nightmares. We tried sticking to larger rock which was generally more stable. I'm talking rock you could step on or lightly pull on without it really moving - vastly better than the north face mud gully. We ascended the gradually steepening couloir to a couple hundred feet below the notch where the north side gully reaches the ridge then made an ascending traverse to climber's left on now Class 2+ rock. The scrambling here was easy, surprisingly solid, and rather fun. There's an infinity of options so just pick whatever looks good. We made it to the south ridge about 75 vertical feet below the false summit and scrambled up solid, exposed Class 3 to the false summit, then across great blocks and shards of Capitol granite across the summit ridge to the true summit. Exposure is fatal here and while some of the blocks look suspect they don't move - this type of terrain always warrants caution nonetheless. All in all it's about 3-5 minutes of scrambling between summits. Views are stunning in every direction. We reversed our route down and didn't have too much trouble with loose rock descending the couloir, though we chose to traverse descender's left over the top of the slabs by the waterfall and go down the super steep, more northern (second) gully. This was a lot slower than our ascent up the middle of the slabs, as mentioned. Ascender's left side of the waterfall appears visually easier (from below) but we both figured there's a reason the trail doesn't go over there and didn't investigate. Pros to this route: * Significantly easier terrain since there's no mud/ice/snow in the couloir once it melts. The north gully really is disgusting when the snow has melted out * Doesn't require going up and over the Clark/12,894 saddle twice when coming from Moon Lake (this saddle sucks) * Better trail up Bear Creek than expected, compared to Moon Lake approach (we haven't done the Copper Creek approach) * Almost no truly bad sections, only bad section is the slabs/bushwhack * Can be done earlier in the season than the north side since it melts out sooner and melts out completely * Requires no special gear in summer/when dry except a helmet Cons: * Longer than the Moon Lake or Copper Creek approaches * Couloir ascent is much longer (~1,800 feet) vs north side (~600 feet) * No easy way to combine with other peaks, which I see as the primary draw to the Moon Lake approach 
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10 6
8/28/2024
Route: north gully from Moon Lake camp
Posted On: 8/29/2024, By: rachel
Info: From camp below Moon Lake, we ascended and descended the gully at Clark Peak/ 12894 and wrapped around talus to the base of the north-facing gully of 13067. The lower third is firm snow and ice covered with a thin mud layer. We ascended climbers left side of the gully primarily. Once at the saddle, we continued on mostly solid Class 4 ridge scramble to the summit. Upon return to the saddle, we carefully descended the center of the steep gully in mud/ loose rock until we reached the ice/ snow section then avoided the snow by going skiers-right side of the gully. We retraced the route back to camp, taking 11.5 hrs to complete. 
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9/6/2021
Route: North couloir
Posted On: 9/6/2021, By: tdawg012
Info: No snow, stayed on climbers left on way up couloir on somewhat solid rock. Saddle to summit was fun and airy. Descended couloir (climbers right) and followed Mike Garratts route around northeast face of 12903 back to camp at moon lake. 
7/18/2021
Route: Moon Lake
Posted On: 7/18/2021, By: hr011242
Info: Coolie has coverage to the top and the snow was great today. Axe and crampons definitely recommended. PM for more details or route pics! 
8
10/6/2019
Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 10/7/2019, By: Chicago Transplant
Info: The north gully is still very full of snow, and the apron blocks easy access to the lower flanks of the gully or slopes above. The snow is ice hard and even the very small low angle section I crossed was difficult to gain traction on. Above this I went up a small loose gully/ramp system to bypass the lower cliff. The north slopes above this were a mix of loose rock, 3rd class dirt/mud and a few steep class 3 (maybe a few spots of 4) rock bands that had enough solid rock to feel safer than the dirt. I don't recommend this route in these conditions, and probably should have turned around. The south side of the ridge has much more enjoyable terrain and the summit pitch is solid, fun, exposed class 3. I recommend waiting for spring snow and climbing with axe/crampons or exploring the south gully route (1800' of talus) from Bear Creek - which is the Pierre Lakes approach. FYI, there is a better approach to bypass 12903 than the talus gully others have used. Where the Moon Lake trail crosses the creek in a meadow at ~10,400, head up the Moon Lake trail on the east side of the creek, leaving it and going up the grass/open tree gully higher up near around 10,700 or so. We found a switchbacking trail even higher up this gully that led to the PT12903/PT11865 saddle. Contour grass and talus to the base of the gully that crosses PT12903's east ridge that accesses this peak. 1: Overview from approach 2: Looking down my gully/ramp to access the mountain 3: Looking down the north slopes 4: The south side of the ridge 
1
7/2/2017
Route: East Ridge from Copper Creek
Posted On: 7/4/2017, By: TakeMeToYourSummit
Info: Inspired by the one TR on this site - my friend & I set out to tackle this 13er via Copper Creek & as a snow climb up higher. We left the Snowmass Creek trail just shy of 4 miles in. The water is running rather high currently. I set a rope on my 1st crossing around sunrise (LNT - I intend to remove the rope - if it is still there - later this summer after the water levels drop, until then use it with caution please!). A bit of bushwhacking in places & a fairly solid game trail / light use trail in other places. We went up the south side of Copper on ascent & down the north; with mixed results on both. Above treeline the terrain was a mixture of talus, solid slabs, & a few snow patches. The couloir was in great shape with solid snow all the way to the ridge. We veered out of the couloir near the top - avoiding the first couple of towers along the ridge. With good route finding the climbing up here can be kept to class 3 & 4. Two bumps up top appear to be similar in height; we found the summit register on the further one (closer to Clark). So Nolan climbed this back in '92 & Kevin and Sarah were the last two to sign it last fall. The moves between the 2 points are the most exposed of the route. Fun glissades down the couloir & one of the next pitches got us back to treeline. More bushwhacking & linking game trails got us back to the creek crossing. I can't emphasize this enough - use the rope AT YOUR OWN RISK! Overall a worthy 13er if you are looking for something different in the Snowmass area. Expect 13+ miles & 4600+' of vertical gain.