Blanca Peak and Ellingwood Point: Late Summer/2009

Hey all, I am from Texas and have sent both of these peaks last season. They are located i the Sange de Christo range in Southern Colorado just outside of Blanaca, CO. This time around, I am taking a small group of newbs up there to see what mountaineering is all about. If anyone else in the Texas, New Mexico, Colorado area or anywhere else for that matter, is interested, let me know by emailing me. Its a strenuous hike with some 5.1-5.5 scrambling/climbing via the Como Lake route. Probably going to take our time and do it over 4 days [rather than 2 like last year] so the guys from down here can get acclimated.

Blanca is 14,345ft and Ellingwood is 14,027ft. They are connected via a thin and very sketchy saddle. Also in the cluster are Little Bear and Lindsey. Each of which are another day in themselves of hiking/climbing. Little Bear being the most technical will not be summited because of the skill level of the group I plan to educate on mountaineering. I feel this is a good mountain for the basics and will still offer alot to people that cannot summit.

Its either these two or Wheeler Peak in New Mexico...which was great last year in May snow! Not sure how exciting it would be in August or September.

You will have a hard time finding any snow in the Lake Como area or Wheeler Peak by late August. It also tends to be a bit wetter in the Sangres that time of the year due to "the Monsoon". Still, I am sure you will have a great time.

I think I am breaking guideline #1 here, and being a jerk, but here goes. You send boulder problems, not third class fourteener routes. Blanca is way too cool of a mountain. Maybe you meant you made an ascent? As far as I know, the traverse from Blanca to Ellingwood is third class mostly hiking. If you did a 5th class traverse you may have mistakenly climbed over to Little Bear. I think the Como Lake route to Blanca is also class 2 or 3. Gash ridge, from the Lily Lake trailhead is 5.0. If you want decent route information since you are leading a group, you should check out Roach's Fourteener's guidebook. BTW, there is a reasonable 4th class route up Little Bear with a fixed rope at the crux, and it is definitely a mountain worth climbing.

What do you mean I 'send boulder problems not 3rd class 14ers?' Ive already sent these via the Como Lake route and the traverse along the saddle from Blanca to Ellingwood. There IS class 5 climbing up there; just because its not on the normal trail or between the standard carens doesn't mean you can't climb it en route to the summit. Who are you to judge my skill level or even contradict me?

I really wasn't going to say anything, but since you *insist* in demonstrating what an a** you are...

Sorry to harsh your mellow dood, but what Colin means is that if you have anywhere near the experience needed to be teaching anyone anything about mountaineering, you would be very well aware that the common vernacular in the climbing community does not generally include the terminology of "sending a peak." As noted, one sends boulder problems, sport routes at the crag, and even trad routes *on* peaks, but not peaks. I also think it's a bit of a stretch to use the verb "to send" regarding anything in the 5.easy range - unless one is trying to impress the even less-informed with what a rad dood one is.

I should further point out that there is no such thing as "the Como Lake route" on these peaks. There are a fair number of routes that can be accessed from the general *area* of Lake Como, but there is no single route known as the "Como Lake route." Non-technical routes (into which category I lump 5.easy routes) on 14ers are generally known by their geographic names (e.g. East Ridge, West Face, etc.)

Another point worth noting is that while, with enough effort, one could probably contrive some 5th class climbing on the Lake Como side of these peaks (e.g. the NW Face route on Little Bear), most such climbing would be contrived indeed and wouldn't be a proper route in the sense of being a natural line. I offer as evidence the lack of documented 5th class routes on the west side of these peaks despite Colorado being home to some of the best climbers and mountaineers in the history of the sport over the last hundred years or so.

As if all this wasn't enough, it's "cairns" not "carens." All of which you would also know if you actually had as much experience as you seem to think you do. Oh, and the name of the range is Sangre de *Cristo* (no "h").

So, it appears that who Colin (and I) are to judge and/or contradict you are two people who recognize a self-impressed, spraying newb when we read one.

I thought I'd be replying to this sooner, but forgot about the thread. I didn't mean to imply that 'you', Stefan, don't climb mountains. I meant that no one 'sends' mountains, and I and most climbers feel that term should be reserved for 1 (or a few) pitch climbs and boulders. If you come from a sport climbing background, you might be surprised that 5.5 on a mountaineering route can mean hard and dangerous. Third class can mean strenuous and exposed as hell. Don't start upgrading easier climbs and then assume you are prepared to guide people up a harder climb. There are plenty of guidebooks that clearly describe the routes in that area, and the grades that several generations of climbers have come to a consensus on.
As far as who I am to tell you this stuff... I am not anyone special, but to any basically proficient mountaineer, it is obvious you need to learn more. I hope you go out to the Sangres and have a good time and climb a bunch of peaks with your friends safely.

couple people died in the hourglass this past year right?? I seem to remember some pretty helacious falls I read about....Be careful on Little Bear.

Good luck Stefan, the Sangre's are by far my favorite range!

EDIT: check out 14ers.com for more info in regards to routes that are class I through Class IV, as well as topos and such.

seth0687 wrote:couple people died in the hourglass this past year right?? I seem to remember some pretty helacious falls I read about....

I think so, but not sure it was the hourglass.

In related news, a friend also found a 10-year old missing/decayed body on Blanca Peak in 2005. He saw some goretex pants during descent, and thought 'SCORE!'... until he looked in them and found some skeletal parts.

Really. True story.

send him over to holy cross, see if he can score again

Buff Johnson wrote:send him over to holy cross, see if he can score again

Oh man, that's bad! Well, okay a good yet bad joke. I helped with that search, as she was a relative of my dentist. Sad, indeed.

Avery Nelson wrote: I think so, but not sure it was the hourglass. In related news, a friend also found a 10-year old missing/decayed body on Blanca Peak in 2005. He saw some goretex pants during descent, and thought 'SCORE!'... until he looked in them and found some skeletal parts. Really. True story.

I thought I remember reading about one of them, where the party decided not to rap the hourglass and to downclimb instead and some or all of them slipped on the wet loose rock and took a pretty crazy tumble to their demise...idk. Either way, not a mountain to take lightly even though its only low class IV

When I did little bear a couple of years ago, there was no fixed line or even a rap anchor. Its probably not a good idea to head up that expecting to find anything fixed, and the down climb was pretty tricky with water running down it. In any case, that is a bad place for a group and especially a group of new climbers. It can seem like a firing range with even one other person who isn't aware of what they are kicking down. I'm glad the OP has the good sense to stay off that with his group.

Definitely don't trust that fixed line until you've inspected its anchoring integrity. It looked kind of gnarly when I climbed it, but it might be better now. It might be useful for a quick rappel on the way down if it looks safe, but I would only use it in an emergency on the way up.

As an aside, does anyone know what the direct ridgecrest goes at between Blanca and Ellingwood? I think the standard traverse drops well west of the actual ridgecrest.