Adventure Specialists

Crestone Needle Trip Report- a flatlander's perpective

From: mikem
Remote Name: 24.174.136.200


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My quest for the Needle began last February when I began considering climbs for my annual Colorado vacation. Having completed 17 14ers with Longs-North Face being my most technical climb, I focused my attention on the harder climbs.

I wisely decided that a guided trip would make the climb more enjoyable and I found what I consider one of Colorado's best commercial guides-Gary Ziegler of Adventure Consultants near Westcliff. Gary has climbed Colorado's mtns. most of his life and led guided trips to other places in the world. He now focuses on the Sangre de Cristo Range and archeolaogical expeditions to Peru. Gary estimates that he has climbed Crestone Needle 100 times, so he knows the route intimately, a fact I came to appreciate later when the complexities of the south couloir route were upon us.

So my guided climb of the Needle was scheduled for Aug. 22-23 with Gary as guide. We climbed the standard South couloir route via Broken Hand Pass. On board for the climb were Gary, myself, Joe Ostmeyer of the Denver area and Jodi and Rebecca from Iowa who were making the Needle their first attempt at a 14er!!

The Needle was Joe's 50th. Only the Chicago Basin triumvirate and Pike's Peak remain for Joe to complete the 14ers. Joe is a strong climber who always lent a hand or had a good word to say when the route's two crux points were attempted or fatigue set into my bones.

The pick up truck ride up the South Colony Lakes route is the bumpiest ride I'd ever taken. Huge rocks the size of small cars were navigated throughout the entire ride. Indeed, the whole ride is one big jolt after another! We set up camp about 1/2 mile before the end of the road at a scenic spot Gary uses for camping. We set up camp and dined on T-Bone steak, salad, beans, bread, fruit and Strawberry Rhubarb pie for dessert. And we sipped on a fine Mouton Cadet red wine between bites of our lucious steak! Such a life I could enjoy forever!

Wake-up call the next morning was 5 am (for which I was glad, having been awake for quite some time in anticipation of the day) and breakfast consisted of coffee, Oatmeal, fruit, rolls and whatever else you could wolf down. Gary certainly knows how to run a camp.

We departed at 6 am and hiked along the road to the last parking area. From there, Gary led right along an old trail that cut 1/2 mile off the distance to South Colony Lakes. We did not see any bears but there were signs that bears were around. The South Colony Lakes area has plenty of water and food for wildlife, so much so that a large herd of wild goats lives just below the lake. Once beyond the lake we followed the well cairned trail stays below Broken Hand Peak while working toward the Pass. Indeed, too well cairned for my taste. Joe and I renamed the trail from South Colony Lake to Broken Hand Pass "Little Egypt" due to the large pyramid-like cairns that were constructed by CFI. I like CFI's work in constructing trails that will help preserve the alpine tundra, but 5-6 ft. cairns stick out like sore thumbs in this pristine wilderness. Joe and I began naming the cairns which continue from the lake until the steep scree-filled part of the trail just below the Pass. Egyptian cities or pyramid's names were given to these large behemoths which should be removed in favor of smaller cairns. This part of the trail is so well worn that few cairns are needed. Gary Ziegler said that nature will rid the trail of the cairns via rock slides in the near future.

Near the Pass, one of the women reached her personal summit and could not continue. I spent some time hiking with her on the way down and advised her of my personal philosophy on climbing-any climb is a succussful climb if you had a chance to enjoy nature, yourself and the company of others you with whom one may be climbing. She seemed to feel better about her climb and spent the climb down discussing the wildlife, fauna and generally having a good time with nature.

After Broken Hand Pass, the trail follows the ridge over to the largest of the couloirs with one crux- a rocky ledge must be down-climbed about half way to the couloir. The section has plenty of holds but one must look down (and see that the ground is a ways off) while climbing. The exposure caused my adrenal glands to go into high gear and I had an extra quart of adrenaline pursing my artereies and veins!Due to theunsteady nature of my hands, I backed off and let the others complete the section first while having a little talk with myself. "Mike, you've come a long way for this climb- let's get moving" another voice said "This is only the start and wre not in the couloir yet, if you're having trouble here, what will happen if things get dicey up higher?" Determined to boldly go where I have not gone before, I took some deep breaths (oxygen seems to help calm the nerves) and reached down with my foot and... success!! Yea! I did it! Elation swept over me like a tidal wave so I reminded myself- this is not the summit. But a victory was attained and my confidence was now much higher. My physical condition was good- go for it!

Next came the couloir which I found contained delightlful "sharp scrambling" (as Gerry Roach puts it) with little exposure. Indeed, I believe most route conditions and classifications do not consider the exposure strong enough. A class 4 move with litle exposure is not as mentally hard as a class 3 move with exposure for those of us not used to climbing with large drop-offs nearby. Joe and I discussed this at great length. He said that the Needle was technically harder than Capital but that Capital has more exposure. To me, that makes Capital much more difficult, especially when my adrenal gland is working overtime!

The next crux on the route was the switch half way up to the western and smaller couloir. The first move is rated class 5, according to our guide, and was mentally challenging. But Gary promised that the westerm couloir has less loose rocks and is less used than the main couloir. One can continue in the larger couloir which will lead to an open arean which must be crossed before gaining the summit ridge. The main couloir has more loose rocks and the danger of rockfall from any parties climbing above. The western couloir is smaller and solid all the way to the summit ridge. However, you must know where to cross over by experience as the way is not marked. On the route down, good route finding skills are essential as one must locate the crossover point as the western couloir ends at the top of a cliff band below.

The summit was gained at 10:30 am and is a surprisingly big area. The weather was good so the views of the Sand dunes to the west, Crestone Peak to the North, the Bear's Playgroud, Humboldt, et al were spectacular. My dream of climbing Crestone Needle was fulfilled.

The final route crux was getting back to camp!! Now that I succeeded in summitting, the harder move required to swith couloirs half was down the south face was easier and other moves were accomplished with new found confidence. Broken Hand Pass was attained and the aggrevating scree slope was down slid until we reached the main trail. The rest of the route was stumbled through (the legs were getting weary) until we reached camp about 2 pm. Camp was broke and we were soon on our way down that miserable road to the trailhead with many happy memries of a great climb with some fine people.

One note about our guide- Gary continually entertained us along the way with fascinating stories about the Crestones, the area's history (going back thousands of years), local inhabitants, insights into climbing and trails, as well as first rate trail finding. When we reached an area of more difficult climbing, many times Gary would begin singing an old climber's song. Some of the verses were so hilarious that I had to stop climbing to laugh! To anyone considering climbing a mountain that may be a step beyind your abilities, I recommend using a guide which will give you the best chance for success as well as a fun time.