Capitol Peak - July 2020

Although entertaining, you can only learn so much from watching GoPro footage of people panicking on the Knife Edge. Instead, I've found the most value in combing through prior trip reports in preparation for Capitol. With this report, I hope to provide some insight on what a climb of Capitol looks like from the perspective of a normal guy... If you're looking for something unique like a report on the North Buttress, beta on the connecting ridge to Snowmass, or some hero multi-peak linkup, this is not your report. But if you're looking for some info on the standard route along with some pretty photos and my honest take on some of the popular questions about this peak, keep reading...

I was planning on saving Capitol for after monsoon season, as I have buddies who've been chased across the knife edge by a lightning storm and their warnings have stuck with me. My buddy Patrick (14er finisher, BCNPatrick) and I were planning on climbing Snowmass on this trip, but with a high pressure system and virtually no chance for rain, we called a last minute audible and decided to go for Capitol. My wife Taylor and our pup Samson were along for the ride, simply to enjoy the hike up and a night camping in one of Colorado's most scenic basins.

This has to be one of my all-time favorite approaches. It's about 3 hours of meandering through Aspen trees and fields painted with wildflowers, with Capitol in sight the whole way. This mountain seems to stare at you during the entire approach, but in a more welcoming and less menacing way than, say, Little Bear (which always seems to look like Mordor). Taylor described Capitol as "regal" and I couldn't agree more. Part of the welcoming appearance was probably due to the clear skies and 85 degree weather we had the whole way -- spirits were high, as was the temperature.

There was a Ranger stopping people to "have a talk" about a half mile before the lake. He was enforcing dog leash laws (which Samson was on the whole time), WAG bags for human waste (which were available for free at the TH), as well as bear canisters. He was extremely strict about the bear canisters and was even turning around groups who didn't have them. Numerous groups were forced to make the 6 mile trek back to the car. To those thinking about bluffing to get by any future "checkpoints" like this... he also visited each camp site around dinner time just to make sure no fibbers got through.

My Garmin showed 2,500' vert and 6.7 miles up to our campsite at about 11,700'. We made the trip in just over 3 hours. The designated camp sites quickly filled up and there were dozens of groups camped on top of each other. It was certainly not the most peaceful night we've ever had in the mountains, but how can you complain with front row seats to a sunset like this?

The forecast looked great, but we wanted to get ahead of the hoards, so we opted for a 3:30 am wake up call. Turns out only a handful of people from the lake were actually climbing Capitol (the rest were just there to party, I guess?), but it was still good to get an early start.

On the trail by 4:15, we made good time out of the gate and were up to the Daly saddle in 35 minutes after leaving camp. We were greeted with an epic sunrise on Mt. Daly as we donned our microspikes and ice axes (if the snow fields look like this, save the weight and leave the crampons at home... microspikes will be just fine).

This section is navigable without traction or an axe, but using both proved to be a lot quicker (used both on the ascent, just axe for balance on the descent).

Crossing the snow and talus field below K2 took a bit more time than expected, but just before 7 am we were at K2. As you can see above, the standard bypass around K2 was completely snowed in and it's a long way down if the snow takes you for a ride. I've heard Capitol described as a bowling ball -- flat and round at the top, but it gets progressively steeper out toward the sides, until it drops off to completely vertical. That theory holds true in this photo, where the snow doesn't look too steep, but it's the thousand feet of air underneath (just out of the photo) that's the problem.

I found that to be the case for most of the exposure on this mountain... there were only a couple places where it's completely sheer underneath you; rather, most of it is a steep slope that steepens until it drops off into nothing. Either way, a fall would be fatal, but something about having a bit of dirt and rock underneath me the whole way helped alleviate the exposure heebie-jeebies that I was anticipating.

From K2 to the summit, it took us 2 hours at a moderate pace with no breaks. I'd recommend having at least a 4 hour weather window for the round trip from K2, as you're 100% committed from this point on.

As many have said, the knife edge offers the best rock on the whole route. Strangely, this was one of the places where I felt safest, as the rock was completely solid and there was obviously no rockfall hazard from above. I would consider myself relatively exposure-averse at times, and I actually had a blast on this section. I found it easiest to alternate between straddle-scooting and bear crawling across the top.

We met up with a 20 year old Purdue student from Indiana named Nick, and this was his third 14er. He had done Elbert, Snowmass, and now was going for Capitol. While I certainly don't recommend tackling the 14ers in that sequence, I commend his efforts! He had a great attitude, seemed plenty fit, and most importantly, had humility and a clear respect for the mountain. He asked if he could tag along for help with route finding and we ended up doing most of the climb together. Nick, if you're reading this, congrats again!

Here are my thoughts on some of the age-old Capitol questions and debates:
(with as little bravado and as much honesty as possible)

Is Capitol the hardest 14er?
When you combine the length of the approach with the fact that you are operating in a fully-committed and hyper-focused no fall zone for well over 4 hours, I would say yes (for me at least, so far). I think there are certain specific moves or other non-standard routes on different peaks that offer more difficult climbing, but as a whole, this is the most objectively difficult standard route on any 14er. It's a long and mentally taxing day.

Is Capitol the most dangerous 14er?
I think I'm going to save that title for Little Bear. The objective hazard on Little Bear seems to be much higher and the rockfall is so much more random and unpredictable on that mountain. Both are dangerous mountains, but I'd give Little Bear the title of most dangerous. I did not seem to feel the level of fear or overall "heaviness" on Capitol as I did on LB. Put a different way, I would absolutely repeat Capitol, but you couldn't pay me to do LB again.

What about the exposure?
If you don't like exposure, I'd stay away from Capitol until you can build up some exposure resistance. I think that should go without saying. It has more consistent exposure than probably any other standard 14er route and the knife edge is not the place to find out that you are freaked out by heights. However, I found the exposure to be much more manageable and -- dare I say -- fun than I was expecting. The knife edge was surprisingly solid and the rest of the mountain was doable, taking it one move at a time and testing each hold.

For those curious, here are some routes I would suggest if you're looking to get accustomed to exposure without diving straight into the deep end. A logical progression might look something like this:

- Wetterhorn (standard)
- Sneffels' SW Ridge
- Torreys via Kelso Ridge
- Tour de Abyss
- Wilson Peak
- Wilson Traverse (El D to Mt Wilson)

Is K2 or the Knife Edge the crux?
I found K2 to be equally as exposed but with tougher climbing than the knife edge. If you can confidently clear K2, you should have no trouble (difficulty-wise) with the rest of the route.

Some additional comparisons and thoughts:
- The rock was much worse on Maroon Peak and Little Bear
- Route finding was slightly more difficult on Maroon
- For me personally, the Wilson traverse was freakier in certain spots (shorter and less exposed than Capitol, but had nightmarishly loose rock in a no-fall zone)
- I spent so much time thinking about (and preparing for) the exposure, that I neglected to consider how mentally and physically taxing Capitol is. That, for me, was the hardest part.

This was an incredible climb on what is now one of my favorite peaks of all time. For me, this lived up to its reputation as the hardest standard 14er route, no doubt. This is not a peak that I would recommend climbing just to check it off your list to say you've "done the hardest 14er." But, if your goal is to climb all of the 14ers, this one is more within reach than you might think. I spent a lot of time worrying about Capitol, and it was becoming a cloud over my head on my 14er journey. While this peak deserves every ounce of respect you can give, I found it to be a much more pleasant trip than I was anticipating. And at the end of the day, isn't that why we do this?

Garmin Stats:

Total mileage: 19.5 mi (6.7 to/from camp, 6.1 RT on summit day)
Total elevation gain: 5,489' (2,500' from TH to camp, 2,989' from camp to summit)
Time from TH to camp: 3 hr 14 min
Time from camp to summit: 4 hr 45 min
RT time from camp to summit and back: About 8 hours with almost an hour on the summit (6 hr 40 min Strava moving time)