fun climb with an overnight

I need help finding a route that takes a day to approach. I'm hoping to hike 6-10 miles, bivy, then wake up and climb and decend back to the car on day two. It needs to be 5.9 or less since that's the grade that the friends that I'm taking are climbing. Also, I would rather not drive more than 4 hours from Denver.

I'm open to stretching one or two of those criteria.

Thanks

Petit Grepon, sharks tooth, spearhead in RMNP meets those criteria, although you might need a backcountry bivy pass.

Central ramp on mt.alice

Anfarwal wrote:Petit Grepon, sharks tooth, spearhead in RMNP meets those criteria, although you might need a backcountry bivy pass.

Check out the list of 50 classics, lots of good ones on that list. Could try Crestone Needle. Climbing is abt 5.7 and if you do the direct start it adds a few pitches. Mount Whitney in CA is great if you want to venture a little farther west. You will need a backcountry permit for that one though. Happy trails.

I thought lone eagle was quite an adventure. Not super technical but definitely a long day and it has awesome camping back there.

Ellingwood Arête is pretty sweet overnighter.

I was thinking Lone eagle, the only issue would be the decent could take a very long time with some slower movers. So when the climb is over, it would not at all be over. Unless I'm over estimating how hard the decent is.

I was also looking at Ellingwood. What's the decent like on that one? Does it dump you back where your bivy gear is?

Kevin Nicastro wrote:I was thinking Lone eagle, the only issue would be the decent could take a very long time with some slower movers. So when the climb is over, it would not at all be over. Unless I'm over estimating how hard the decent is. I was also looking at Ellingwood. What's the decent like on that one? Does it dump you back where your bivy gear is?

The descent of Lone Eagle is not that bad. You can do the walk off, which has some exposed 3rd class up high or you can find the raps (good luck there). I think its safe to say with most alpine routes that it's only half over when you reach the summit.

Hiamovi Tower is another option for you, also in the Indian Peaks.

Hiamovi and cooper look perfect. Is there anyone that has done both that can weigh in?

I have. You will get more technical climbing on Hiamovi than you will on Cooper. The hike into both is stellar and remote-ish. The descent off of both is straight forward, more so than Lone Eagle. The beta on this site, summitpost.com and also Gerry Roach's Indian Peaks guide are helpful. If you have specific questions for either route, I'd be happy to help.

Anything in The Cirque of the Towers or Deep Lake. Wind River Range, WY.

Kevin Nicastro wrote:I was thinking Lone eagle, the only issue would be the decent could take a very long time with some slower movers. So when the climb is over, it would not at all be over. Unless I'm over estimating how hard the decent is. I was also looking at Ellingwood. What's the decent like on that one? Does it dump you back where your bivy gear is?

I disagree. Though the descent down broken hand can be difficult to find and definitely loose, overall it's not bad. It dumps you literally right where you bivy in the meadow below. Also plenty of water on the way up and at camp so no hauling water.

Also, the climbing is great. A couple harder pitches at the top but 80% will go solo or simul.

Yea I'd never rap that route, though broken hand pass doesn't have that name for nothing and in the rain, shit. Look up the beta for the descent, which is off the back, because its not very straight forward and kind of counter intuitive. Above all be safe.

I have to know, what did you end up climbing?!