Pyramid Peak Trip Report 08/18/2014

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	Pyramid Peak - 14,029 feet
Date Posted	08/18/2014
Date Climbed	08/16/2014
Author	Somewhat of a Prick
Additional Members	falcon568

Goat Party on Pyramid
Chad and I were talking at the last happy hour and we were both itching to get into the Elks. Pyramid sounded great to both of us, and I was secretly jealous of the rest of my crew for having done it the previous weekend. We left Denver on Friday after work and headed up to Aspen, where the beer flows like wine. We devoured a Dominos pizza in town, definitely a great idea. This gave us the fuel we needed to power us up to the summit the following day. Don't miss this stop! At 3:30am we were on the trail and moving. The crew that had done it the previous week warned us to be careful to not miss the turn off the trail to head towards Pyramid. I got out the GPS to make sure we didn't, and when we got to the trail split I can see why a lot of people miss it. Be very careful to not miss the turn! It would be a great way to add unnecessary mileage onto your day... From the trail split to the Amphitheater we hauled pretty good, worked up a nice little sweat. Once at the Amphitheater I realized we made a mistake, we should have brought microspikes. The LONG talus hopping through the entire Amphitheater quickly got annoying and was slow going. There was a huge stretch of snow that runs the entire length of the boulder field. It would have saved us a ton of time just waltzing up that with spikes on. Pics of said snow section were taken on the return: We reached the base of the final slog climb up to the saddle and...it was a slog up to the saddle. Pretty lose dirt/gravel the whole way up. The one highlight of this section was I ran into my pal Mikey, he shouted good morning to us in the dark and I was like..."Mikey???" A very nice bro hug was had. It will be slow going up this section past the Amphitheater but when you reach the top.... The Choss Boss We donned our helmets at this point of the climb. There is a little bit of fun class 3 scrambling leading towards the Ledges/Cliff Traverse jump part of the climb, it was very enjoyable and a good warmup for what was to follow: The Cliff Traverse jump was nothing...quick little hop and you're over. The narrow ledges immediately after we both found to be more challenging, right at the end of the ledges there is a pretty narrow spot that you have to oddly maneuver around. Just take it slow and you will be fine. Below is a video that focuses on the ledges/jump. It is seen on the descent in the video, also some random footage from the climb up/summit are included as well: Some pics from the jump/ledges: Pano shorty after this section: After this section of the climb you traverse up and to the left over a cliff band to reach the "green rock" section of the climb. There is solid class 3-4 climbing up the green rock, we both found it to be very enjoyable. Also to be noted, we found the route finding through this point to be fairly straightforward. Once out of the green rock section, patience and good route finding becomes more critical. Green rock climbing: We took an "off the beaten path" route following the green rock section, AKA we screwed up. We went up the horrifyingly exposed cliff band as marked by the green arrow in the pic... Once on top of that rock we soon found cairns and enjoyed more class 3-4 rock all the way to the summit. Shortly before the summit, we decided to take a cough detour cough. Footage from this section is seen in the 2nd video clip in the youtube video. Exposure is there, but good, solid climbing. Not sure why we did this, but it was extremely fun climbing! We hit the summit at 7:45, for a total of 4:15 from the parking lot to the summit. Summit photos: We waited for Mikey and his crew to summit, I needed another bro hug. Heading down we took our time and took a lot of pictures with the goats, and the Amphitheater in daylight was simply amazing. Amphitheater: We took the hard snow most of the way down the Amphitheater and found our way back to the trail through treeline. On the descent from this section we were rewarded with great views of Maroon Lake and the surrounding mountains. Once down near the parking lot I got my first view of the iconic Maroon Bells photo, and it didn't disappoint. We made our way to the Golden Burro in Leadville and pigged out. Great day in the mountains!

Goat Party on Pyramid

Chad and I were talking at the last happy hour and we were both itching to get into the Elks. Pyramid sounded great to both of us, and I was secretly jealous of the rest of my crew for having done it the previous weekend.

We left Denver on Friday after work and headed up to Aspen, where the beer flows like wine. We devoured a Dominos pizza in town, definitely a great idea. This gave us the fuel we needed to power us up to the summit the following day. Don't miss this stop!

At 3:30am we were on the trail and moving. The crew that had done it the previous week warned us to be careful to not miss the turn off the trail to head towards Pyramid. I got out the GPS to make sure we didn't, and when we got to the trail split I can see why a lot of people miss it. Be very careful to not miss the turn! It would be a great way to add unnecessary mileage onto your day...

From the trail split to the Amphitheater we hauled pretty good, worked up a nice little sweat. Once at the Amphitheater I realized we made a mistake, we should have brought microspikes. The LONG talus hopping through the entire Amphitheater quickly got annoying and was slow going. There was a huge stretch of snow that runs the entire length of the boulder field. It would have saved us a ton of time just waltzing up that with spikes on. Pics of said snow section were taken on the return:

We reached the base of the final slog climb up to the saddle and...it was a slog up to the saddle. Pretty lose dirt/gravel the whole way up. The one highlight of this section was I ran into my pal Mikey, he shouted good morning to us in the dark and I was like..."Mikey???" A very nice bro hug was had. It will be slow going up this section past the Amphitheater but when you reach the top....

The Choss Boss

We donned our helmets at this point of the climb. There is a little bit of fun class 3 scrambling leading towards the Ledges/Cliff Traverse jump part of the climb, it was very enjoyable and a good warmup for what was to follow:

The Cliff Traverse jump was nothing...quick little hop and you're over. The narrow ledges immediately after we both found to be more challenging, right at the end of the ledges there is a pretty narrow spot that you have to oddly maneuver around. Just take it slow and you will be fine.

Below is a video that focuses on the ledges/jump. It is seen on the descent in the video, also some random footage from the climb up/summit are included as well:

Some pics from the jump/ledges:

Pano shorty after this section:

After this section of the climb you traverse up and to the left over a cliff band to reach the "green rock" section of the climb. There is solid class 3-4 climbing up the green rock, we both found it to be very enjoyable. Also to be noted, we found the route finding through this point to be fairly straightforward. Once out of the green rock section, patience and good route finding becomes more critical.

Green rock climbing:

We took an "off the beaten path" route following the green rock section, AKA we screwed up. We went up the horrifyingly exposed cliff band as marked by the green arrow in the pic...

Once on top of that rock we soon found cairns and enjoyed more class 3-4 rock all the way to the summit. Shortly before the summit, we decided to take a *cough* detour *cough*. Footage from this section is seen in the 2nd video clip in the youtube video. Exposure is there, but good, solid climbing.

Not sure why we did this, but it was extremely fun climbing! We hit the summit at 7:45, for a total of 4:15 from the parking lot to the summit.

Summit photos:

We waited for Mikey and his crew to summit, I needed another bro hug.

Heading down we took our time and took a lot of pictures with the goats, and the Amphitheater in daylight was simply amazing.

Amphitheater:

We took the hard snow most of the way down the Amphitheater and found our way back to the trail through treeline. On the descent from this section we were rewarded with great views of Maroon Lake and the surrounding mountains. Once down near the parking lot I got my first view of the iconic Maroon Bells photo, and it didn't disappoint.

We made our way to the Golden Burro in Leadville and pigged out. Great day in the mountains!

Comments or Questions

jmanner	Nice route finding... 8/19/2014 1:11am NOT!! :lol: FYI: I took the same first wrong way, when I did it. Easy to do. Thanks for the write up!!
zdero1	Great work, buddy! 8/19/2014 1:26am but next time, if you want to fuel up properly, make sure you eat a spicy italian footlong with mayo and banana peppers. I ended up having to skirt that entire snow chute to the back of the amphitheater and then all the way back around to the scree gully. Added significant time. My descent time was nearly half of ascent time for this reason. That snow is not going anywhere, only beneath the new snow this winter, so I would bring some traction if you want to save a little time. By 11am, the snow was walkable with hiking boots. Great TR buddy. You had me laughing the whole day, just making my favorite climb all the better. For those who are afraid of the Bells group- I think Pyramid is an exceptional intro. I found the rock to be extremely fun to climb on. Solid holds all around, much less exposure than N. Maroon. I'd go back in an instant!
SurfNTurf	Oh, good 8/19/2014 2:30pm You linked more than 40 photos. Just how I like it. Nice work on a fun climb. That last picture would be way better if you made it a little more crispy, if you know what I mean. #neverstopsaturating
Somewhat of a Prick	lol 8/19/2014 2:40pm Yeah I know what you mean Jeff...I'm weird though, I like my pictures looking like they were taken on this planet. :P Mikey - Glad we ran into you up there. Greeting you on the summit of Pyramid was the highlight of my summer. :oops:
Lady McClimbsalot	Choss Boss. 8/29/2014 2:17am Nice scamper, princess!
jmanner	Dude! 8/29/2014 1:30pm Prick you are a Princes?!?! What I didn't know I actually know royalty?! Awesome! :D
Somewhat of a Prick	Yep 8/29/2014 1:31pm I'm in line to be the next queen of England.

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