14ers.com • Trip Report - Winter Fun on the Divide

Peak(s):	PT 13,300 A - 13,300 feet PT 13,180 C - 13,180 feet PT 13,155 - 13,155 feet
Date Posted:	01/29/2014
Date Climbed:	01/26/2014
Author:	Boggy B
Additional Members:	Kylie

Winter Fun on the Divide
Miles: 11.5 Gain: 4578' Time: 12:45 The weekend prior to this trip, our plan was much the same: Drive to Creede and sleep at the trailhead Friday night, climb the three unnamed 13ers southwest of San Luis Peak on Saturday, and then play on some area ice on Sunday. A pointless traffic jam on Hwy 285 made us late getting to the trailhead, so we slept in and climbed ice on Saturday, and on Sunday we tried for the peaks. Upon reaching the summit of UN 13300 (listed as UN 13285 here), we found the upper part of its northeast ridge covered by nearly impenetrable snow. Having left our crampons, we investigated a gully to the north as a potential bypass but encountered similar conditions about 150' down. We concluded it would be unwise to continue our effort given the committing and largely unknown terrain ahead. A few steps into our descent we began formulating a plan to return the next weekend and take advantage of our snowshoe trench--this time with crampons and rope--to see the job through. A trench is born This Friday again we were late getting to the trailhead, so we slept in and climbed ice on Saturday, again leaving the peaks for Sunday. Melody Bell spitefully informed us it was 4 am already, and we departed Allen's Crossing under clear, calm skies at 4:45. Untouched by new snow, our trench from last week--which Kylie broke almost exclusively--reduced our time to treeline by nearly two hours. Pre-dawn colors Alpenglow First light We continued to UN 13300, welcoming sunrise as we gained its broad shoulder. Reaching the summit, we turned our attention to the traverse. With crampons we quickly dispatched the hard snow on the upper ridge, and the remainder of the ridge went like this: Just before the huge, jagged rock on the ridge crest, we descended through a notch on the south side of the ridge to a hand traverse across a narrow and exposed snow ledge. These felt like the most technical moves we made all day. We then negotiated another ledge around the corner and sucked in our tummies to pass through The Squeeze, which put us back on the exposed ridge for a few feet. Again we descended through a notch on the south side to another snow ledge nestled against the crummy vertical fins. We then regained the ridge and downclimbed a surprisingly solid 4th class slab. Passing another awkward squeeze around a fin, we were met with a stiffer slab that was helped by an adjacent boulder, which I regrettably destroyed. From there, easy terrain led to the saddle between UN 13300 and Pt 13195. On the south slopes of UN 13300 The true summit of UN 13300 Start of the northeast ridge Shelf Upper 4th class downclimb Upper 4th class downclimb Lower 4th class downclimb Looking back at UN 13300 Route notes: UN 13300 Northeast Ridge At this saddle we removed our crampons and enjoyed the easy and dry 3rd class scramble to the top of Pt 13195. Descending from there, it at first didn't appear the northeast ridge would go, but it worked out; I picked my way directly over the chossy step, while Kylie found a weakness in the snow just to the south. We continued down the ridge, which steepened considerably and offered some fun, solid 4th class downclimbing before depositing us on the true saddle between UN 13300 and UN 13180. Choss step on Pt 13195 Looking back at Pt 13195 Route notes: Pt 13195 northeast ridge With only a general understanding that the southwest ridge of UN 13180 goes, we had been discussing options while in full view of it descending from Pt 13195. Our initial thought was to skirt the problem spot on the ridge to the south, connect to a snowy gully, and gain the summit ridge via a steep-looking snow chute. This executed fairly well: we transitioned from 3rd class scrambling near the base of the ridge to uncomfortable sugar snow in the gully, which granted access to The Chute. We gave fleeting consideration to crampons but decided to test it out. Apart from some ice near the bottom, the snow was unconsolidated crystals, and we were able to brace against the opposing wall to motor up it. The steepness here, offset by the constricted space, made this section unique and fun. Looking back so far Kylie coming up The Chute " " On the summit ridge of UN 13180 After a short walk to the summit of UN 13180, we hiked down its tame northeast ridge, grateful to be relaxing our attention for the first time in hours. We contoured across the southeast slope of Pt 12935 and continued towards UN 13155, threading the chossy towers on the ridge, and soon arrived at the fortress-like summit cap, where we circled around to the weakness on the northeast side. Anticipating exposed 4th class scrambling, we were surprised to find the brief summit pitch felt no harder than 3rd class; it seemed anti-climactic in comparison with the day's earlier scrambling. It does appear that several longer 4th and easy 5th class routes could be taken on the west and east sides. We commiserated over a snack on the summit, soaking up the sunshine and enjoying respite from the wind for 30 minutes. En route to UN 13155 Bypassing towers on the ridge On the ridge to UN 13155 UN 13155 summit Scrambling up UN 13155 View of Organ Mountain from UN 13155 Looking back towards UN 13300 The traverse from UN 13300 to UN 13155 had taken about 3 and 1/2 hours, so when we started back at 12:30, we figured on reaching UN 13300 around 4 pm. We re-traced our route, using crampons to climb the harder snow back over UN 13180 and descend The Chute. In general, the difficulties felt about the same on the return until we reached the northwest ridge of UN 13300. The steep slabs at the base of the ridge were easier than on the descent, but the snowy ledges seemed more difficult to negotiate, perhaps because of all the loose rock now exposed. We were relieved to pull through the last notch and find ourselves near the summit. Rather than installing our crampons again, I chopped steps in the hard snow and we scrambled up to UN 13300 at last. Kylie descending The Chute UN 13300 Scrambling back up Pt 13195 Bypassing the choss step Looking back at UN 13180 Climbing the upper 4th class slab A ledge, The Squeeze, and the last notch It was now 3:30 pm, and we were glad for the sake of time that it hadn't been necessary to use the rope. Only a few easy miles remained. Happy with the day's adventure, we hiked out as the sun set on the beautiful hills. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Winter Fun on the Divide

Miles: 11.5
Gain: 4578'
Time: 12:45

The weekend prior to this trip, our plan was much the same: Drive to Creede and sleep at the trailhead Friday night, climb the three unnamed 13ers southwest of San Luis Peak on Saturday, and then play on some area ice on Sunday. A pointless traffic jam on Hwy 285 made us late getting to the trailhead, so we slept in and climbed ice on Saturday, and on Sunday we tried for the peaks.

Upon reaching the summit of UN 13300 (listed as UN 13285 here), we found the upper part of its northeast ridge covered by nearly impenetrable snow. Having left our crampons, we investigated a gully to the north as a potential bypass but encountered similar conditions about 150' down. We concluded it would be unwise to continue our effort given the committing and largely unknown terrain ahead. A few steps into our descent we began formulating a plan to return the next weekend and take advantage of our snowshoe trench--this time with crampons and rope--to see the job through.

A trench is born

This Friday again we were late getting to the trailhead, so we slept in and climbed ice on Saturday, again leaving the peaks for Sunday. Melody Bell spitefully informed us it was 4 am already, and we departed Allen's Crossing under clear, calm skies at 4:45. Untouched by new snow, our trench from last week--which Kylie broke almost exclusively--reduced our time to treeline by nearly two hours.

Pre-dawn colors

We continued to UN 13300, welcoming sunrise as we gained its broad shoulder. Reaching the summit, we turned our attention to the traverse. With crampons we quickly dispatched the hard snow on the upper ridge, and the remainder of the ridge went like this: Just before the huge, jagged rock on the ridge crest, we descended through a notch on the south side of the ridge to a hand traverse across a narrow and exposed snow ledge. These felt like the most technical moves we made all day. We then negotiated another ledge around the corner and sucked in our tummies to pass through The Squeeze, which put us back on the exposed ridge for a few feet. Again we descended through a notch on the south side to another snow ledge nestled against the crummy vertical fins. We then regained the ridge and downclimbed a surprisingly solid 4th class slab. Passing another awkward squeeze around a fin, we were met with a stiffer slab that was helped by an adjacent boulder, which I regrettably destroyed. From there, easy terrain led to the saddle between UN 13300 and Pt 13195.

At this saddle we removed our crampons and enjoyed the easy and dry 3rd class scramble to the top of Pt 13195. Descending from there, it at first didn't appear the northeast ridge would go, but it worked out; I picked my way directly over the chossy step, while Kylie found a weakness in the snow just to the south. We continued down the ridge, which steepened considerably and offered some fun, solid 4th class downclimbing before depositing us on the true saddle between UN 13300 and UN 13180.

Looking back at Pt 13195

Route notes: Pt 13195 northeast ridge

With only a general understanding that the southwest ridge of UN 13180 goes, we had been discussing options while in full view of it descending from Pt 13195. Our initial thought was to skirt the problem spot on the ridge to the south, connect to a snowy gully, and gain the summit ridge via a steep-looking snow chute. This executed fairly well: we transitioned from 3rd class scrambling near the base of the ridge to uncomfortable sugar snow in the gully, which granted access to The Chute. We gave fleeting consideration to crampons but decided to test it out. Apart from some ice near the bottom, the snow was unconsolidated crystals, and we were able to brace against the opposing wall to motor up it. The steepness here, offset by the constricted space, made this section unique and fun.

After a short walk to the summit of UN 13180, we hiked down its tame northeast ridge, grateful to be relaxing our attention for the first time in hours. We contoured across the southeast slope of Pt 12935 and continued towards UN 13155, threading the chossy towers on the ridge, and soon arrived at the fortress-like summit cap, where we circled around to the weakness on the northeast side. Anticipating exposed 4th class scrambling, we were surprised to find the brief summit pitch felt no harder than 3rd class; it seemed anti-climactic in comparison with the day's earlier scrambling. It does appear that several longer 4th and easy 5th class routes could be taken on the west and east sides. We commiserated over a snack on the summit, soaking up the sunshine and enjoying respite from the wind for 30 minutes.

The traverse from UN 13300 to UN 13155 had taken about 3 and 1/2 hours, so when we started back at 12:30, we figured on reaching UN 13300 around 4 pm. We re-traced our route, using crampons to climb the harder snow back over UN 13180 and descend The Chute. In general, the difficulties felt about the same on the return until we reached the northwest ridge of UN 13300. The steep slabs at the base of the ridge were easier than on the descent, but the snowy ledges seemed more difficult to negotiate, perhaps because of all the loose rock now exposed. We were relieved to pull through the last notch and find ourselves near the summit. Rather than installing our crampons again, I chopped steps in the hard snow and we scrambled up to UN 13300 at last.

Bypassing the choss step

Climbing the upper 4th class slab

A ledge, The Squeeze, and the last notch

It was now 3:30 pm, and we were glad for the sake of time that it hadn't been necessary to use the rope. Only a few easy miles remained. Happy with the day's adventure, we hiked out as the sun set on the beautiful hills.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

fepic1	Rugged! 01/29/2014 13:14 Awesome trip! You two are amazing. Nice report and photos Boggy I enjoyed them. Btw I love the calendar
Kylie	Yeah! 01/29/2014 14:00 What a challenging and fun day! The photo of my head popping through ”the squeeze” is great and I love that little chute!! So much fun! Very glad we went back Miss you John!
Kevin Baker	Nice! 01/29/2014 14:30 That looks like a challenging traverse in summer! Congrats for pulling that off. Thanks for the great route beta, as I still need those.
Monster5	Nice work 01/29/2014 15:51 Needs more beard. Looks like it was worth driving to Creede two weekends in a row! Surprisingly solid between the first two. Cool pics. I think i bailed right above the chute going the other direction with trail runners in late spring. It appears I was wrong on the last peak - I remembered an exposed 4th crossover and a 4th start (less snow), but it was a long time ago and I was solo. Probably not that bad in hindsight.
Boggy B	... 01/29/2014 16:37 @ Ryan - my impression is Roach says 13155 is 3rd class, but TRs and even LoJ have it at 4th. After so much attention-getting terrain it just didn't seem like much. @ Natalie - we checked out the LC ice park but didn't climb there as it was extremely crowded. Went instead to South and North Clear Creek Falls and had it all to ourselves. The LC park doesn't look worth the drive, but there's a lot of backcountry ice around LC that probably is.
bergsteigen	Surprising peaks by San Luis 01/29/2014 17:37 I remember those from summer a couple years ago. That chute is a lovely class 5 climb dry. Glad to see the route doesn't disappoint with snow either!
FireOnTheMountain	omg 01/29/2014 19:51 a boggy TR! Should of dispatched Kylie on this one. We went up, Mike was slow and I had to hold his hand, we went down I joke! Looks like some real gems there, Nice work to both of you. Liked the pics showing kylie descending that chute.
Monster5	Haha 01/29/2014 21:19 He could've done it FOTM style: To be honest, I don't really remember much of the route. I think we kinda just stayed up top then veered slightly left in a spot. Anyways, here's a pic of Superman. Did you see that guy's calves? Think I'm gonna go for a run. PEACE out y'all! Ps energy chews on sale now SAC gogogogo!
Matt	That Looks Like a Lot of Fun 01/30/2014 02:42 That is all
PeakDancer	Impressive Day! 01/30/2014 04:57 Nice recap and great photos - really enjoyed reading about it. Hope to meet up with you and Kylie on some excursions this year. Great job, and tell Kylie I said Hi. Willadee
Boggy B	01/30/2014 16:31 @ Otina - Yeah I saw that--looks fun in the summer too! @ Abe - See what Ryan said. @ Willadee - We will definitely get out with you and John this year!
Derek	Nice 01/30/2014 21:24 Nicely done! Quite a trip in winter. We meandered about .25 miles east of 13285 (or 13300..whatever) and it definitely looked spicy headed towards 13155. Thanks for posting.
SnowAlien	looks like 14ers 04/02/2015 19:45 were kinda a warm up. Very impressive work you both. Also, where do you guys climb ice? Lake City? How is it - worth the drive by itself?

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