The first time I came to the San Juan Mountains was with Fireonthemountain in late December of 2013. We climbed Wilson Peak in winter. That was the first time I saw Lizard Head. It is the kind of mountain that stares into your soul. It knows your darkness and you know its darkness.

I wasn't a mountaineer back then, hell, I'm probably still not, but Canada hardened me and made me learn some real climbing skills. Fast forward ten years, not only do I live in the San Juans, but I am quite mediocre at nearly every sport; rock climbing, skiing, ice climbing, endurance running, gravel biking, scrambling loose choss piles, and gardening. Gardening is an extreme sport, especially when you are battling an army of earwigs and the Montrose heat. Anyway, I have climbed all the mountains in the Wilson Group except for this little bugger, so, it was time.

This will be a fair account from someone who has a lot of experience climbing up and down things but, as stated above, is mediocre at all things. I want to write this while it is fresh in my mind because I have some things to add to the already great trip reports and resources in existence. I don't really write trip reports anymore but, I feel inspired to do so and this is my 50th on the dot com so, Happy 50th Anniversary or something like that.

1) If you get to the base of this climb and another party is on it, turn around and go home. Rock is going to fall no matter how careful you are, and it is a difficult route to maneuver around other parties safely. There are very few options. Or accept you might be waiting a long time and make sure you have the weather window. Either way, another party anywhere on route exponentially increases your risk of getting rocked.

2) The first 60 feet of this climb to the intermediate ledge with the two pitons on P1 is the scariest part. Down climbing the class 4 wall back into the notch is a close second. That first 60 feet though, your brain is like, no don't grab that, that's not good, that is moving, that is a huge block, that isn't stable. But if you want to summit this peak, ya gotta get through it.....as carefully as you can.

3) Do not rope up for the 'death scree' (which is more like really loose class 3 climbing with an exciting exit in a completely unstable talus gully). Dragging a rope through all that garbage is more hassle than it is worth. You would have to work really hard to fall off the mountain in this section. Rockfall should be a concern, so go one at time and you will be fine.

4) One 70 meter rope will get you down both rappels. You will have to downclimb the loose middle class 3 section and figure something out for the class 4 headwall back into the notch. We had no problem climbing out of it but hip belayed back in. Super airy. Zero room for error.

5) The crux pitch or the final pitch was the most fun. We took the left variation after the weird off width bulge and built an anchor on the summit ridge, rather than trying to battle our way through the upper chimney, especially with all the cams hanging off my harness. The top of the left variation is a wee bit loose, but you're used to it. This is your life now.

6) The scramble to the summit and back to the first rap is easy peasy. Again, this is your life now. Don't fall off Lizard Head or get hit by rock.

7) We didn't use any nuts, but a bunch of alpine draws to extend and a single rack of cams (number 4 came in handy).

8) Remember that ratings are subjective. Personally, there were moves that felt harder than 5.8+ to me but what the hell is 5.8+? 5.9? 5 - it can mean anything you want it to mean. At a solid crag in clear creek canyon, I have no problem climbing 5.8. At 13,000 feet in the bowels of Lizard Head Peak, Colorado's 'hardest 13er by its easiest route' it felt 5.9 to me. If you are a 5.12 climber it might feel 5.6. Don't get caught up in ratings, instead assess your abilities to navigate through loose alpine rock climbing that is not a gimme.

9) Lastly, and no need to heed this advice but I would recommend doing this mountain with a trusted partner. Someone you have alpine rock climbed with before. Maybe do Coxcomb, Dallas, Tea Kettle, Coffee Pot, Jagged etc. as a warmup (all still easier than ole Lizzy). I would not find a rando to climb this one with. Take your time, double check your systems, test your holds, push don't pull, and be patient (don't rush). If you do these things with someone you love and trust (friend or partner) I feel this mountain is very reasonable. What made this so smooth and fun is how well Brendan and I work together on mountains like this.

Here are some photos and a little more on our climb. What a beautiful adventure!

We both off the couched this climb. I guess you could count me climbing twice a week all winter at the Montrose Rec Center climbing wall, 'training,' but 30 foot 5.8 autobelay doesn't reallllyyyy prep someone for the first 60 feet of this. Brendan has 23 years rock climbing experience but hasn't been on anything like this since we climbed Coxcomb last summer (which is much easier). It took Brendan some poking around, coaxing and words of encouragement to get up to the intermediate belay ledge. The climbing is not difficult but there are some spooky blocks that are just waiting to pop. After a short debate, we decided I would come up to the intermediate belay with him and we would go from there together. Because together felt better than not together. This was a good choice. Rope drag would have been terrible otherwise. Brendan led the second half of P1 without a hitch and really enjoyed it (read it is solid).

I should make mention, it was cold. We could not feel our fingers or our toes (route is in the shade). As expected, this complicated things. But once above the first pitch you quickly realize you never want to do THAT again, and so making the summit is key, numb digits be damned.

Behind the notch is a short class 4 headwall which spills into a long drawn-out section of loose class three that funnels into a lovely talus gully which leads to the final pitch of climbing. Again, we think using a rope through this section complicates things more than necessary.

We left our packs at the base of the final pitch. This is not something I typically do but there are some weird moves and it's short. Here are some photos of Brendan pulling through the crux. Ironically enough, I climbed this pitch clean and dare I say, enjoyed myself.

But then you are there and the views are one in a million. What a radical mountain!

The decent is engaging because of all the weird downclimbing in the middle of weird rappels. Despite which variation you took to get up to the summit, scramble over to the rap station on the summit ridge which has two chains and some chord. Commence rappel.

Scramble back across talus gully death scree (really its loose class 3), hip belay buddy over class 4 headwall where a fall would absolutely send you flying into the universe that you will definitely become a part of and commence second rappel.

And here are some more wildflower photos, aka. the real reason I climb mountains.

She's a devilish demon that stares you down as you climb all the other peaks in her namesake wilderness. I feel pretty lucky we were allowed safe passage. As much as I love this mountain and I would now call it my favorite in Colorado, I won't be climbing it again any time soon. If you have a good chunk of alpine trad experience + experience with loose rock this mountain will be hard-fun, not hard-scary. But always a little scary because the thought will inevitably cross your mind, 'is today the day that chunk falls off?' And I promise you, there are lots of chunks.

Safe travels all!