Capitol Peak Trip Report 07/21/2024

Report Type	Mini
Peak(s)	Capitol Peak - 14,138 feet
Date Posted	07/21/2024
Modified	08/21/2024
Date Climbed	07/11/2024
Author	kebott

Capitol Peak - Std Up and Ridge Direct down
I did Capitol as 14er #56 on July 11, 2024. We took the Capitol Ditch trail (standard) and the first 6 miles were incredibly smooth, arguably the easiest 6 miles on any 14er hike that I can recall. Took a short detour to see the lake then hammered up the Daly Saddle. While steep, I enjoyed the switchbacks and there were a couple flatter ones in there. Once at the saddle, we took dropped down/around and took the standard route. Had to cross some snowpatches and the footprints were helpful, they just slogged up talus to K2 and went up and over. The downclimb from K2 wasn't too bad, just one steeper step you had to take your time on on the angled slabby rock. Once on the ridge, I thought things were pretty tame all the way to the summit. The knife edge (and several smaller knife edges) were all stable rock, and if you positioned your body on the correct side, there wasn't really any exposure, as there were many ledges and steps below you that would prevent a major fall. Once you passed by the notch (why is there a rap sling here?) the route was very well cairned as you went across ledges and up gullies to the summit. I popped out on the summit ridge too early but then just stuck on the ridge to the summit and it was more fun. It reminded me very much of Snowmass near the end, but even easier in my opinion. On the way back, we decided to take the ridge direct from K2 to Daly, and it was a lot of fun! and fairly straightforward imo. We also skirted left around K2 rather than going up and over. Probably easier to just go up and over to be honest, but it added a new twist. For footage of all this to help you with the beta, see my video: https://youtu.be/7z9AZbxk_sQ

Capitol Peak - Std Up and Ridge Direct down

I did Capitol as 14er #56 on July 11, 2024. We took the Capitol Ditch trail (standard) and the first 6 miles were incredibly smooth, arguably the easiest 6 miles on any 14er hike that I can recall. Took a short detour to see the lake then hammered up the Daly Saddle. While steep, I enjoyed the switchbacks and there were a couple flatter ones in there. Once at the saddle, we took dropped down/around and took the standard route. Had to cross some snowpatches and the footprints were helpful, they just slogged up talus to K2 and went up and over. The downclimb from K2 wasn't too bad, just one steeper step you had to take your time on on the angled slabby rock.

Once on the ridge, I thought things were pretty tame all the way to the summit. The knife edge (and several smaller knife edges) were all stable rock, and if you positioned your body on the correct side, there wasn't really any exposure, as there were many ledges and steps below you that would prevent a major fall. Once you passed by the notch (why is there a rap sling here?) the route was very well cairned as you went across ledges and up gullies to the summit. I popped out on the summit ridge too early but then just stuck on the ridge to the summit and it was more fun. It reminded me very much of Snowmass near the end, but even easier in my opinion.

On the way back, we decided to take the ridge direct from K2 to Daly, and it was a lot of fun! and fairly straightforward imo. We also skirted left around K2 rather than going up and over. Probably easier to just go up and over to be honest, but it added a new twist.

For footage of all this to help you with the beta, see my video: https://youtu.be/7z9AZbxk_sQ

Comments or Questions

BillMiddlebrook	.com Trip Reports 7/22/2024 6:43am kebott, While the videos do provide some value to those researching a route, they aren't really helpful here unless they are embedded as part of a larger, descriptive trip report. Not just a quick paragraph, but a report (see the many other reports on the site) that includes text and photo content that will stand on on its own. That's why your updates are getting a lot of "Dislikes"
kebott	thanks 7/25/2024 8:42pm I appreciate your response, but I'm not sure what else to do. I think my videos speak for themselves and the BEST beta out there on youtube. Just as a picture is worth 1000 words, a video is worth 1000 pictures in my opinion. I thought on Capitol and the Crestones I gave a long enough "report", but the intent is to let people know there are good videos out there that help them prepare. I am about to write another one on the Bells traverse, but when I'm climbing and videoing/talking I'm not stopping to take pics for a trip report -- that's what the beta on this site is, pictures with routes drawn in and descriptions. I don't mind if I'm getting a ton of dislikes, I know my videos will help people and the people that give dislikes most likely haven't even watched them
Gandalf69	To qoute a movie 7/25/2024 10:08pm "Stuffing feathers up your ___ doesn't make you a chicken"! I think that about sums it up
BillMiddlebrook	YouTube links 7/26/2024 6:57am At a minimum, you could make the Youtube links actual links, or even better, embed them using the TR editor embed feature. Currently, people have to copy/paste your youtube link to even go there. Most people won't bother.
supranihilest	Bill is right 7/26/2024 3:23pm kebott, Bill's advice is sound. He would know: he built and owns this website and probably has read more trip reports here than anyone. The problem with video trip reports isn't that the beta isn't good. The problem is that it's not in a generally useful format for climbing. A video could tell you exactly where to place your feet and hands for the entire climb, exactly which rocks are solid or loose, etc., and it just wouldn't be as good as a descriptive picture trip report. The usability of a video isn't even close. A video trip report is harder to follow, harder to find the exact part that might be relevant to the part of the climb the viewer is on (nobody's going to write down the timestamps of various sections), there might be constant pausing, rewinding, fast forwarding, might be hard to hear in certain weather conditions, and more. With a picture trip report I can find exactly what I'm looking for, including using a basic text search, I can keep my phone right on a particular photo and paragraph, don't have to constantly go back and forth, you name it. Video reports are also much larger in file size - I'm not going to download a multi-gigabyte video to watch in the middle of a route. I'd much rather download a photo trip report with a single good photo than download the best video in the world, and other people will feel very much the same way. Video trip reports no matter how accurate just don't hold up in usability compared to a photo trip report. You should be cognizant of the heavy dislike to like ratio you're getting too. Just like people won't watch a video report (which is most likely why you're getting so many dislikes, though the relatively brief text portion isn't helping either) people won't even bother looking at a trip report with a lot of dislikes, so you're kind of shooting yourself in the foot twice: many won't get past the high number of dislikes in the first place, those who do are unlikely to watch the video. That's my two cents as someone who's written a lot of trip reports.
kebott	supran 7/26/2024 5:21pm i appreciate the response. I honestly don't care how many people like/dislike or even watch my video, I'm just providing it as another piece of beta. I'm not saying you watch the video in the middle of a route/climb, you would study in before hand, and maybe take pictures when you pause the video, to have as beta. Have you watched my channel at all? I've watched all the main hiking channels over the past decade plus, and I made my channel (just last August) because I realized there was a dearth of good beta out there. Many of the videos didn't show good representative footage of climbs/scrambles, and were more concerned about taking selfie videos, or showing their food and camp (which has its place). As far as I'm concerned, if people are disliking the video and preventing others from seeing it (or not watching it themselves), these people are doing a disservice to the 14er hiking community.

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