Mount Meeker is Longs Peak's neighbor to the SE-the second highest peak in Rocky Mountain National Park! Not nearly as well known as Longs, it yet houses a classic alpine rock route, the Flying Buttress, and a classic alpine ice route, the Dream Weaver Couloir. A number of other seldom-traveled routes exist which have an appealing look. The rock varies between granite and schist, excellent in both cases. All of the climbing is on the North Face, which is steep and quite wide. The 3rd-class route to the summit is a peak-bagging classic.
Getting There
The approach is easy: take the trail from the Longs Peak trailhead as for the east face of Longs (i.e. staying left at all the trail junctions). When just below Chasm Lake (east face of Longs visible directly west), near a ranger cabin and open-air privy, turn SE and scramble up talus and possibly snow to the base of the now obvious North Face. The North Face is partially visible for the last 2 miles of the approach.
The Flying Buttress is one of Rocky's alpine classics, and is unique compared to the typical big faces and pinnacles throughout most of the Park. It follows a steep and narrow rib of rock (the west-most of several on Meeker's North Face), presenting moments of sudden exposure and fantastic belays on the narrow rib itself. There are so many variations that about 3 separate routes could be described; in Richard Rossiter's guide about 10...[more]
By Peter Spindloe Administrator From: North Vancouver, BC Oct 26, 2001
Great Climb! We did the 10c start which was beautiful and tough. Use the excellent friction to your advantage.
The 5.9+ crack through the roof on the 3rd pitch that Charles mentions is great and probably doesn't need the "+". It looks improbable, but the holds through the roof are great and they continue above the lip. It was interesting getting my body horizontal under the roof while wearing a pack. The only point of caution here is that the block you haul on at the lip doesn't have any visible means of support, yet it felt solid.
I climbed The Flying Buttress Direct on Tuesday, 7/19/05 (Great Climb!). On the 4th class approach right below the start of the climb, I found a climbing shoe. It was a right shoe, size 40.5, La Sportiva Miura. Let me know if you are missing it... (reachjim_at_hotmail)
Mt. Meeker
Print a Mini-Guide - Includes Routes!
RSS Feed
