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Crestone Needle, 14,197', Sangre De Cristo Mountain Range
Climbed by Randy, Wil, Geo and Tracy
July 6, 2003 thru July 7,2003
Photos Courtesy of Randy Wong
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| Crestone Needle as seen from the descent |
Directions: From the town of Westcliff, CO 69, go South 4.6 miles to Colfax Lane. Head South on Colfax
Lane for approx 5.6 miles to South Colony Road. Turn right (West). If you like pain, hike all the way up the 4wd
road w/your gear. If you don't have a truck, I'd recommend finding someone in the parking lot to drive you and your
gear up the road towards South Colony Lakes for approx 5 miles. The camping beyond the service road gate is stellar.
The rough and rocky road on the way up to South Colony.
The Approach:
If you made it up the 4WD road, the rest of the approach is a simple pleasure. From the locked service gate,
continue to hike along the road until you reach a well marked trail. Hike the trail for approximately 2 miles until
you reach Upper South Colony Lake. South Colony Lake is directly below the route. Continue up the loose scree
until you reach the base of the climb.
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| George, Myself and Wil just beginning the approach |
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| Alpenglow during early morning light |
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| The route. . . |
Beta: According to many quidebooks, you should be able to 3rd, 4th and lower 5th class the
first 1500' of the climb. We began the route by following a right facing dihedral (from here. . .the ground, we
were lost and ended up climbing the entire formation technically because of this start, I believe), however starting to the
left of the dihedral is the usual start to the route. So. . .look for the large right facing dihedral and begin climbing
just left of it. This will get you on track. After you've succeeded climbing the easy stuff, that we missed out
on, the usual route begins 5.5 climbing up a 200' chimney to an obvious ledge. On the following pitch, continue chimney
climbing to a 5.2 gully directly to a ledge. The headcrack 5.7 crux pitches are next. Jam your way to the
top on sustained 5.7 climbing. Feels more like 5.9. Last few feet to the summit are a scramble. Enjoy
the beautiful views and revel in the fact that you just climbed 2000' under your own power and your own free will. That
last sentance is probably the most valuable out of all the beta that I've given you here. Get a guidebook, follow the
instructions therein and enjoy yourself. Nuff said. Now onto the descent. Do NOT do what we did. We
headed down the South Side of the Needle. In doing so, we were at times solo downclimbing lower 5th class. To
me, that sucked, considering all the exposure. A tumble would be fatal. Instead, head down the left (southeast)
from the summit ridge to a steep gully for approx 500' to a ledge. Head east along the ledge to some 3rd class scrambling
to easy, well marked hiking all the way back to the lakes, then back to camp from whence you came.
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| Geo and I about to take off. Left of us, you see an arete, start there instead. |
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| Me traversing P4??? |
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| Beautiful sight of Humboldt along the ascent |
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| View from the summit |
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| Another awe inspiring summit view |
Imagine waking up to this sight. We not only imagined it but we lived it. As it took us many, many hours
to summit, we ran out of daylight fast. Note my advice on the descent. Heading down the south side of the Needle
costed us precious daylight. Upon darkness, we discovered that it was too risky to continue the descent so we headed
back up and bivied just below 14,000'. We shivered and shivered the night through. This shot was taken from the
summit proper but it is a very similar sight to the freezing beauty we awoke to.
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| Humboldt from the summit of Crestone Needle. |
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| Enter fading daylight, cold darkness and a long night ahead |
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| Alpine cobblestone formations as seen along the descent |
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| Geo enjoying the warmth that we lacked the previous night. |
Random thoughts:
Wil. . . To the left slice of bread on the Crestone Needle Tracy sandwich. I was SUPER proud of you taking
charge on those leads. You say you're not much of a trad leader but you really, really are. Seems like you were
are front man all over that mountain.
Randy. . .To the right slice of bread on the Crestone Needle Tracy sandwich. I clinged to you on this climb.
Seemed like there were so many times along the way that we were thinking exactly the same things. I appreciate all of
your help and patience during the nerve-racking downclimb.
Geo. . .To the garnish on the Crestone Needle Tracy sandwich. . .you're the singing freeballin climber who places
anything and everything he can get his hands on for pro. I think I spent the most time on the climb with you.
You kept me laughing for literally thousands of feet. Geo, you are a pleasure to be around, as are all of my partners
from this climb!
You all are WONDERFUL!
In spite of our challenges, it took me all of just a couple of hours to begin looking back on this adventure fondly.
It's one I will never forget and it has already put me on the path for more.
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| The End |
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