North Maroon Peak

Date to Climb: July 03, 2009

Date Climbed: July 23, 2009

Elevation: 14,019

Range: Elk

Latitude: 39.07595, Longitude: -106.98708

Route: Northeast Ridge ll, Class 4

Pre-Climb Comments

We decided not to climb the Bells together, instead we will do them individually. North is suposed to be a better climb than the Bell. We hope so. Oh, Jake went back to Nashville with Ray.

Post-Climb Comments

Starting at daylight we headed toward Crater Lake again. Ray, Monica, and Jake had left us. We were alone for the first time since Chicago Basin. We knew we had a hard sequence to finish with but were ready - we hoped.

Turning off the major trail, the approach was definitely better than on Maroon Peak. It is always interesting the first time you are on a trail, guessing where the trail would go and North Maroon did not disappoint us. The trail and views continually surprised us. Up a short scree field and over to a large rock glacier, we finally moved into the first gully. It did have a trail, a pretty good trail, that went up through the rock from hell. Similar to Maroon, most of the rock was loose. A couple of climbers ahead of us dislodged something big (it was hard not to), luckily no one was directly below them. We walked cautiously below them.

A long traverse brought us to the second gully. It was really a beautiful area. Maybe if everyone took a tube of Crazy Glue up the route with them, we could start stabililzing the slopes. Anyway at the top of the gully we climbed onto the ridge. We did not find the regular path and got into some rock that was more difficult, but at least it was solid. Once on the ridge we made our way to the crux step at a chimney. The climbing was straight forward, nothing really difficult. I did not try to chimney the move, but tried to keep in mind that there was a wall behind me if I needed it.

After the crux it was a short jaunt to the top. There the two climbers that were above us were hanging out. They were probably brothers or maybe even twins. We talked for a few minutes and headed down.

The climb was easier than Maroon Peak, but still was dangerous. Rocks fell as you walked by them. It was just crazy.