| Type: | Trad, Alpine, 5 pitches, Grade III |
| GPS: | 40.2683, -105.65 |
| FA: | Don Bushey, Andy Donson ? |
| Page Views: | 1,024 total · 3/month |
| Shared By: | Andy Donson on Sep 9, 2001 |
| Admins: | Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monty, Monomaniac, Tyler KC |
For additional information about raptor closures, please visit the Rocky Mountain National Parks area closures website.
General NPS climbing regulations for RMNP posted here.
Description
A surprisingly easy route up what appears to be the steepest part of the cliff. The rock is immaculate.
Approach: Start about 200ft up the easy slabs at the base of Arrowhead's South Face (4th class) on the right end of a long terrace. This point is about 100ft left of the right margin of the apron, between the routes Medusa and Refugium.
1. 190ft 5.8s Climb a shallow, left-facing diheral rightwards up the slab, follow a shallow, right-leaning ramp, then zig-zag up the obvious shallow corners. Pull over an overlap to reach a sloping ledge, beneath the obvious weakness in the roofs above.
2. 200ft 5.9 A flared chimney leads to a steep, left-facing dihedral which breaches the overhang (crux). Above the steepness, follow a huge left trending ramp with finger cracks and excellent exposure until you run out of rope. There is a ledge here with a fixed hex.
3. 190ft 5.9 Continue up the steepening ramp until a broken area is reached. Belay above this at the base of a steep chimney on the left.
4. 150ft 5.8 Climb the chimney, pass the huge chockstone and enter a stellar, right-facing corner with hands. Follow this to an obvious ledge on the left.
5. 150ft 5.8 Climb the chimney and then up into a shallow, right-facing corner (hands and fists). Where this ends, follow an exposed flake system leftwards to the top.
The descent is either by summiting Arrowhead and dropping down into the 4th class descent terrace system, or faster, by hiking west to the low point of the ridge and rapping.
This route, or a similar line, has been climbed previously by an unknown party, who left the fixed hex described on pitch 2. Anybody out there have any info?



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