On August 2nd, I met up with Dave and we climbed the 2nd Apron of Mt. Evans, 5.6. It was a gorgeous day for climbing. Dennis met us at the top, after ascending via a ridge hike, and we three hitched a ride back to Summit Lake.
This climb has several good qualities, a short 30 minute approach, 5 pitches of beautiful lichen spotted granite Alpine climbing, a spectacular ridge topout, high altitude exertion, and fantastic views.
It took us between 2.5 and 3 hours to complete the route in 5 pitches. The last pitch is not really necessary to rope up, if one is experienced and comfortable bouldering. We took a #1-#3 cams, aliens, a few metolius tcus, and a set of large cams. Nothing special required.
Details:
I started up the first pitch, but decided to back off when I got to the crux…it was a bit more runout than I like for a warm up.
Lucky for me, Dave loves slab…and he worked his way through it. Dave said the route is similar to the First Flatiron, in the style of climbing-but he said it was steeper and generally better protected. His camera somehow took a dive, so we didn’t get any pictures of the climb…bummer!
I was happy he led the climb, because a storm was approaching and it rained on us for a part of the 3rd/4th pitch. We heard thunder off in the distance, and I picked up my pace. Dave & I seemed to just gel in terms of rope & gear management. We had a system down by the 3rd belay, and it was like a well oiled machine. We were both quite happy as it was our first time climbing together.
But, as I said, with two experienced climbers, it should be that way…anyways, I was supremely happy when we topped out as the storm seemed to recede and we made it! Fabulous climb!
My Notes about the pitches go as follows:
P1: Alternative way, 5.7 following small vertical crack (not the 45 degree angling crack). Tricky.
P2: 5.6
P3: 5.6 with a fun protectable V-notch (my favorite pitch)
P4: 5.5 covered with lichen, bits of clumped dirt
P5: Short 80 feet or so…