Ellingwood Ridge (Supplemental Info)

Prelude:
After reading through some independent reports on this ridge, the 14ers description, and seeing some GPS tracks, I wanted to write this report to present an alternative path through the crux section. Upon reaching the crux, most people either drop below the towers to the grassy slopes below tor traverse a series of hairy and exposed ledges... we found an alternative path that serpentines along the top of the crux towers/gendarmes. To get on that path, we went up, over, and around the tower that marks the start of the crux section rather than trying to traverse horizontally or go down and around. The climb up the tower was pretty exposed 4th class, but once at the top, the path of least resistance stays at Class 2/3. It's important to note that we split between the East and West sides of the crux towers fairly often. Easier terrain down and to the East side of the ridge holds generally true except in this crux section. This route may be slightly more difficult than descending down and around, but it's more efficient and holds some really entertaining route finding and fun ledges!

I'd also like to make a recommendation of not doing this ridge early in your scrambling career. This route is best done after you've accomplished some of the more difficult 4th class 14ers so you feel fully confident when the route finding gets rough in complex terrain. While the ridge can be done as Class 3, it's difficult and slow-going to find the easiest path. Best of luck and happy scrambles!

Tip:
Pretty early on in the traverse you'll see two towers. We actually ended up joining up with two guys from Aspen who had attempted this route a few weeks earlier. While not consequential either way, taking middle route across the two towers significantly reduces the amount of time you'll need to spend in the loose gullies between the towers. The traverses themselves were pretty easy with a little bit of route finding and one or two tricky downclimb moves.

The next couple of photos show some of the terrain we took on the ridge proper. Easier routes exist a very short distance down on the East Face, though the scrambling here was fun.

Turnkey Tower
Looking towards the "Turnkey Tower." We initially headed down because we thought it would be better to traverse around the tower to the East or go down below the cliffs based on what we'd read in prior trip reports and route descriptions. However, upon arriving at this spot we realized just how much elevation we would have to loose to go down and around the cliffs. The ledge that continued around the tower sloped down towards a cliff and had a good amount of rubble. Not really satisfied with either option, we decided to scramble to the top of the current tower to see what our options were. The scramble to the top was fun and well worth the effort! From the top of the tower, we crossed over to the West side and found a well-defined ledge that took us to the next notch. The "crux section" turned into an intuitive serpentine through the various notches between the towers with some minor descent/ascent of gullies from the notches. The terrain stayed Class 2 and 3.

Pass to the Left of Some Stuff
Pretty chill part of the traverse

Approaching the Buttress
The ridge continues up to the buttress on an solid and fun catwalk. We took the path in red. Once at the buttress, traverse across the middle of the face on a fairly-obvious ledge system... this ledge is just below the cliffs on the buttress. Aim for the smaller notch just above the obvious ledge (crossing looked easier here despite a funky move on the backside).

East La Plata
You'll eventually reach a point on the ridge proper where the cliffs of East La Plata will drive you towards the left. There's a great ledge just below the cliffs you can follow to a notch and wrap around, and up.

La Plata Summit
From the summit of East La Plata, it's generally possible to keep the ridge at Class 2. However, we wanted to get in a bit more scrambling, so we continued to stay on the ridge proper as much as possible.