Continue with onX Maps
Continue with Facebook
Routes in Ptarmigan Towers
|
NE Corner T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a |
|
Tundra Turkey Crack T 5.8 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c |
Order Wrong?
Sort Routes
| Type: | Trad, Alpine, 700 ft (212 m), 7 pitches, Grade III |
| FA: | Tom Gries and Larry Hamilton, August 1975 |
| Page Views: | 1,735 total · 7/month |
| Shared By: | L. Hamilton on May 21, 2003 |
| Admins: | Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monty, Monomaniac, Tyler KC |
Your To-Do List:
Add To-Do ·
Your Star Rating:
Use onX Backcountry to explore the terrain in 3D, view recent satellite imagery, and more. Now available in onX Backcountry Mobile apps! For more information see this post.
Access Issue: Closures
Details
Seasonal closures Feb. 15-July 31. Per the Denver Post:, the Cathedral Wall and all areas above the Loch Vale-Sky Pond Trail are closed to off-trail travel! Per this RMNP website, "Initial closures now occur in Feb. 15 and April, when raptors return to the region and scout for nesting sites. Areas containing general habitat preferred by raptors are closed during this time. Once raptors have selected nesting spots, the initial closures are lifted or adjusted. The specific areas which raptors choose for nesting sites are closed."
For additional information about raptor closures, please visit the Rocky Mountain National Parks area closures website.
General NPS climbing regulations for RMNP posted here.
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
Except for its crumbling crux, this Tower 4 line is clean, consistent and well protected. The following description is from the FA.
Just below and right of the summit of Tower 4, as seen from Lake Nanita, are two deep, overhanging 200-foot chimneys. The route ascends a line a few feet left of the indistinct NE edge of the face, and finishes in the right-hand of the two upper chimneys. Start by third classing any of several short, 5.7-ish left-facing dihedrals, and on up right a few yards to a stance below a vertical 50-foot dihedral.
1) Climb this vertical 50-foot dihedral to a ledge; walk right to another, longer dihedral and continue to a ledge at its top. This second dihedral is fairly prominent from the ground, and is to the right of a very large but less promising dihedral that leads into overhangs halfway up the face.
2) Go up a ropelength to belay on a ledge below a blocky 30-foot pillar.
3) Avoid the rotten pillar by moving left into a clean and steep left-facing corner. This corner has an awkward move past a thistle at its bottom, and an overhanging hand crack at its top. Continue up easier rock to a belay.
4) Initially easy climbing leads up and a bit left across some headwalls to a ledge with a cairn.
5) Continue up and left to reach the base of the final chimney, which begins with a tight, overhanging crack. Belay higher on a sloping ledge.
6) Climb the widening chimney past some rotten overhangs (crux), and on to its top.
7) A few moves above the belayer lead to scrambling and Tower 4's summit.
An easy descent can be made by going up to the scree gully running S from the uphill side of Tower 5.
Just below and right of the summit of Tower 4, as seen from Lake Nanita, are two deep, overhanging 200-foot chimneys. The route ascends a line a few feet left of the indistinct NE edge of the face, and finishes in the right-hand of the two upper chimneys. Start by third classing any of several short, 5.7-ish left-facing dihedrals, and on up right a few yards to a stance below a vertical 50-foot dihedral.
1) Climb this vertical 50-foot dihedral to a ledge; walk right to another, longer dihedral and continue to a ledge at its top. This second dihedral is fairly prominent from the ground, and is to the right of a very large but less promising dihedral that leads into overhangs halfway up the face.
2) Go up a ropelength to belay on a ledge below a blocky 30-foot pillar.
3) Avoid the rotten pillar by moving left into a clean and steep left-facing corner. This corner has an awkward move past a thistle at its bottom, and an overhanging hand crack at its top. Continue up easier rock to a belay.
4) Initially easy climbing leads up and a bit left across some headwalls to a ledge with a cairn.
5) Continue up and left to reach the base of the final chimney, which begins with a tight, overhanging crack. Belay higher on a sloping ledge.
6) Climb the widening chimney past some rotten overhangs (crux), and on to its top.
7) A few moves above the belayer lead to scrambling and Tower 4's summit.
An easy descent can be made by going up to the scree gully running S from the uphill side of Tower 5.
1 Comment