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After being unmoved by the ease of my last peak (Pikes Peak) the week before, I
decided I'd like a challenge and a chance to scratch another Sangre de Cristo
peak off my list. I knew there would be some snow, having climbed Mt. Lindsey
two weeks before, and was prepared for the worst.
Driving up to South Colony Lakes was not as bad as I had expected, having
driven up a good portion of Lake Como road before. Having an extended cab
Toyota Tacoma, I thought warnings about needing a short wheelbase I'd seen
might carry some validity. This turned out not to be the case, as I saw not
only a Ford four-door Pickup at the trailhead later that day, but also a
two-wheel drive Ford Ranger. There was a lot of ice over everything that
is otherwise free-flowing water (picture to the right).
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Arriving at the trailhead, Crestone Needle was really hard to miss, dominating the entire basin. The trail up to the lakes is actually the remains of a road, which continues until a trail branches off to the north. This trail is really easy to follow up to the creek drainage from Lower South Colony Lake. Near a ledge overlooking the creek, a trail splits off to the west, which is the climber's trail up to Broken Hand Pass. It was hard to follow this trail in sections due to the snowpack, but it is well cairned the whole way to the Class 3 section up to Broken Hand pass. This section turned out to be incredibly difficult, and at some points, I took a few steps back down, ready to admit defeat. The snow was 3' deep in some sections, creating an awkward scenario to find handholds. If the snow were solidified, this would have been fine. However, the loose nature of the snow made it near impossible to make any forward progress. It made me think of what it would be like trying to climb blind.
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Finally reaching a point where rock predominated over the snow, I was able to quickly make my way to the top of the pass. From here, Crestone Needle's South Face stares right back at you. There is a trail again, and it was more than welcome. After about 400 yards, there is a cliff band to downclimb, which is actually quite fun. This is the introduction to the remainder of the route. Most of the climbing is safest on the right side of the couloir until a point where the right side becomes a dropoff. At this point, climbing on the left (west) side is easier, though it was difficult to spot the right place to cross over until it was unavoidable. On the way back down the correct crossover was easy to find. Regarding the actual climbing, there really are knobs that poke out of the conglomerate, enabling easy climbing of this steep (in sections) route. The climbing is persistent and prolonged, as the face by itself requires 1,000 vertical feet of class 3 scrambling. The top of the route becomes more exposed, and I had a diificult time figuring out the right line to approach the summit. I later found that the easier trail down from the summit is closer to the dropoff on the east side.
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This is probably the most thrilling summit experience I've had yet, while not as tiny as Snowmass' summit, the exposure on most sides was incredible. Crestone Peak is magnificent from this vantage point (photo on left). Humbolt Peak is also quite striking from the Needle's summit, being an abrupt peak with no surrounding mountains at all to the east of it. I believe this climb would have been much easier and more enjoyable in the summer, but it is still my favorite to date.
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