| Having planned on climbing South Maroon since the beginning of the
year, I became a little discouraged about the prospect of a combination loose rock
and loose snow climb. Since I climbed Pyramid and Capitol this year (which I
originally did not plan on), I felt justified in moving on to an easier Elk Range
peak for this time of year. Starting the drive at 5:50 am, I arrived at Ashcroft
around 9:30, and at my chosen parking area at 10,900' below the start of the
switchbacks on the Castle Creek road at 9:45 am. Having full snow gear, I was ready for another
cold winter-like climb. I was surprised to have to strip down to one layer after five
minutes of hiking up the road. On the right is a view from the east hiking up the road.
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After one hour, I reached the 4x4 parking area at 12,600', gaining less elevation per
hour than my usual pace. I was uncomfortably warm, and the snow climbing was about to make it
hotter. On the left is a picture up the basin towards Castle Peak. The snow started out easy
enough, with no post-holing for the first few hundred yards. Then the question arose: which
direction to take up the snow slope... There were some tracks left going straight up towards
an exposed scree slope. I followed these tracks, and this route soon became steep at about 40
degrees. I kicked in steps the best I could, but it was rather icy (no crampons either).
Negotiating the final strecth to the upper moraine, I felt a strong sense of relief, until I
studied the Northwest Rdige apporach to the Conundrum/Castle saddle. It looked like more of the
same, though perhaps more loose than the snow I had ascended.
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The Northwest Ridge route, however, looked clean and windscoured. I said to myself - "I'll take
Class 2+ ridge climbing over loose moderate snow climbing anyday". On the right is a view of the Northeast
ridge. A good trail led up to the small saddle to begin the ridge. There was some ice along the
snow-filled climbers trail, but the approach to the ridge isn't very steep. |
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Reaching the saddle, I could see that Castle's summit was still a fair
distance away, but the route 'looked' easy from here. It was finally cool enough to put my jacket on.
On the left is a view of
the route remaining taken from the saddle. At first, I followed cairns and tried
to stay as close as possible to the ridge crest. I soon met up with the 2+ moves,
which were not difficult even with the snow covering. Then, as towers started to appear,
the exposure involved with the ridge crest was a little unnerving given the loose nature
of the snow. I traversed under some broken cliffs, and found some tracks someone else
had left. This worked OK until reaching a gully area, where a traverse with no holds had
to take pace. As it was, many of the holds I did have earlier were hand jams without my gloves.
The gully was steep, and thankfully, the snow held as I four-pointed. Climbing
back up to the ridge, the final 50' remained.
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| This was to be what I consider the crux (at least mentally) of the route. A corniced ridge
with no exposed rock, and 70 degree incline on the east face that had to be traversed. Not having much
confidence in the snow I had been climbing, I contemplated turning around. I finally gave in and decided
to give it a go. Taking off my gloves to dig my hands in the snow as deep as possible for support, I slowly
made my way across the 10' section, and made my way up to the summit. I wasn't very happy to be there, however,
as I knew I had to climb back down all that junk. Making it down to the saddle was a relief, and I had a few nice
glissades back down to the road.
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