Mike Mc - Sep 16, 2007 11:50 pm Date Climbed: Sep 15, 2007
Hourglass
Hourglass to LB/Blanca Traverse to Blanca/Ellingwood Ridge to Ellingwood SW Ridge. The 'Hourglass' was not as bad as I expected; however, it was dry and we were alone on the peak. We dislodged a few rocks and these puppies sure were missiles heading down the gully. As for the fixed lines, double check the mess of anchors...quite a bit of the webbing (and ropes for that matter) looked sketch, to say the least!
did it midweek... I got chased down last year by hail and lightning. This year I didnt have that problem at all. No one else on the route while I was there that day. The hourglass was not as bad as it hyped to be in my opinion. I think that I had played it up in my mind some. Lots of loose rock. no question.
mtnhiker13 - Aug 20, 2007 3:44 pm Date Climbed: Aug 17, 2007
Hourglass Route
Glad to have climbed this mountain - great character building. Hourglass was of course very wet - climbed up to the left of the worst of it. Used a rope we brought to rap down. One person in our party was hit on the helmet with a rock - it's a pretty scary thing to see! She was ok.
ElliottDavis - Aug 20, 2007 12:03 am Date Climbed: Aug 18, 2007
yay
Seven AM on top via the hourglass from Lake Como. I like getting up early - particularly for a humdinger of a mountain like this one. Wow.
Climbed the NW Face route with Jamie Nellis. Started to rain a little just below the summit. It was short lived, but we unfortunately had to descend the hourglass with wet rock. I don't know what its like dry, but wet the hourglass was scary!
Started at 0400 at the big parking lot just off hwy 150 (8000ft). 0930 I made Lake Como. Approx. 1215, I made it to the "Hourglass Couloir." By 1300, I was on the top. 1345 to 1500 got hailed and rained on, and by 1900 I was back to the car. The "fixed lines" were pretty manky (one had a ten foot section of missing sheath), and both had been cut out and retied, but they held me on descent. It's probably safer to do as a spring snow climb. Glad to have been solo up in the "bowling alley". Outstanding time!
ClearSkiesAhead - Jun 28, 2007 12:13 pm Date Climbed: Apr 22, 2007
The Hourglass
We went up and camped in one of the huts at Lake Como on the 21st and woke up and headed up the first couloir up to the ridge around 4:45AM. On top of the ridge we had some fantastic views of the alpenglow consuming the valley as the sun rose.
The hourglass was in fairly good shape, although there were a couple spots where the snow was so hard that we were simply frontpointing it with our crampons as if we were climbing a waterfall in Ouray or something. Anyways, this is perhaps my favorite 14'er to date as both the climb and the views from the top were absolutely breathtaking.
bernardhohman - May 14, 2007 2:25 pm Date Climbed: May 12, 2007
Snow Climb in the Hourglass
Great snow climb of the Hourglass. Great weather and a great summit!
Old Ickabod - May 13, 2007 9:21 pm Date Climbed: May 12, 2007
Hourglass Snow Climb
Awesome weather and spectacular snow climb. Mostly snow in the hourglass all the way to the summit. Some tricky downclimbing, but a great glissade back to the lake.
GerryS - Dec 10, 2006 7:15 am Date Climbed: Aug 4, 2006
Route Climbed: Southwest Ridge Route
Yep, a long, endless talus route - considering the tread wear on my Asolos, I left about $40 dollars of boot on the ridge. However, I didn't have to dodge any rocks or yell a single embarrassing "ROCK!" from rocks I kicked loose. The traverse from South Little Bear to Little Bear took almost 2 hours - lots of route finding. But the return trip took just under 20 minutes (we knew the way by then). Use a GPS with trackback turned on for the bushwhacking!
TiogaBradford - Sep 23, 2006 12:32 am Date Climbed: Jul 8, 2006
Hourglass
Fantastic climb - my first Class 4 peak......and I loved it! We started hiking the Lake Como road at 2:00am, reached the lake by 6:00am, and summitted around 9am. We were fortunate to be the first up the hourglass that day, which lessened the risk of rockfall. We only saw 3 other people on the mountain that day (with very good weather too!)
shanahan96 - Aug 11, 2006 2:21 am Date Climbed: Jul 25, 2006
three's a charm
March 15, 2013- winter summit with emily and jason via the southwest ridge. terrain got interesting just before the southern summit, and didn't relent. the ledges leading to the main summit are fantastic when covered in snow!
May 6, 2007- jamie and i climbed the hourglass today. it was alot steeper(55 degrees) than expected. perch made for an awesome snow climb on really hard snow....feet still hurt from kicking steps!
July 25, 2006- climbed the northwest face(hand route) in 1:59 from the como area high camp in preparation for the traverse to blanca. it wasn't super exposed like i expected, but it was nice to ascend another way than the hourglass.
jamie
Brian Kalet - Jul 10, 2006 11:06 pm Date Climbed: Jul 8, 2006
West Ridge
What Brad said. Daytrip from the road.
Brad Snider - Jul 9, 2006 1:07 am Date Climbed: Jul 8, 2006
Standard Route in Rain
Kalet and I had this peak all to ourselves on a very rainy day. Started the traverse to Blanca, but couldn't see anything b/c of thick fog, and everything was dangerously wet from the incessant rain. Turned back, climbed back over LB and descended via the soaking wet hourglass.
jratk - Jun 13, 2006 3:41 am Date Climbed: May 25, 2006
nw face
4 wheeled for a while up the road, hiked in and did ellingwood and blanca. Great weather, set up a bivy and climbed little bear the next day via nw face. Fantastic 4th class climbing. Descended the hourglass, scary rockfall. All in all, best 14er to date.
F Bomb - May 30, 2006 3:53 pm Date Climbed: May 29, 2006
Hourglass Route
Good fun, the hourglass is everything it is hyped up to be. Start early. We had perfect weather and the summit all to ourselves.
miztflip - May 29, 2006 9:17 pm Date Climbed: May 28, 2006
Hourglass
Fun outing, I second the Gator Farm and for Pete's sake, don't bring you dog on this climb.
Good Times! Be sure to stop by the Gator Farm and the UFO Observation Tower on the way out of the valley!
Kiefer - May 27, 2006 11:39 am Date Climbed: May 24, 2006
NW Ridge
The keyword for this mountain is route-finding! Had perfect weather though, mountain to myself. Ice in the hourglass in the AM and a veritable stream in the PM. BE CAREFUL! It is MUCH looser above the hourglass than what you might have read. If you take your time, this is actually an enjoyable climb.
shknbke - May 17, 2006 5:56 am Date Climbed: May 13, 2006
via nw face, descent of hourglass
Easily the most difficult route on any mountain I have done, but I am not much of a rock climber. Very airy ridge indeed. I was testing the hand and footholds! We hoped to have a nice snow climb in the hourglass but the lack of snow made us go with the n.w. face.
Mike Mc - Sep 16, 2007 11:50 pm Date Climbed: Sep 15, 2007
HourglassHourglass to LB/Blanca Traverse to Blanca/Ellingwood Ridge to Ellingwood SW Ridge. The 'Hourglass' was not as bad as I expected; however, it was dry and we were alone on the peak. We dislodged a few rocks and these puppies sure were missiles heading down the gully. As for the fixed lines, double check the mess of anchors...quite a bit of the webbing (and ropes for that matter) looked sketch, to say the least!
dr_gonz - Sep 5, 2007 1:44 pm
hourglassdid it midweek... I got chased down last year by hail and lightning. This year I didnt have that problem at all. No one else on the route while I was there that day. The hourglass was not as bad as it hyped to be in my opinion. I think that I had played it up in my mind some. Lots of loose rock. no question.
mtnhiker13 - Aug 20, 2007 3:44 pm Date Climbed: Aug 17, 2007
Hourglass RouteGlad to have climbed this mountain - great character building. Hourglass was of course very wet - climbed up to the left of the worst of it. Used a rope we brought to rap down. One person in our party was hit on the helmet with a rock - it's a pretty scary thing to see! She was ok.
ElliottDavis - Aug 20, 2007 12:03 am Date Climbed: Aug 18, 2007
yaySeven AM on top via the hourglass from Lake Como. I like getting up early - particularly for a humdinger of a mountain like this one. Wow.
chicagotransplant - Aug 12, 2007 9:16 pm Date Climbed: Aug 11, 2007
NW Face up, Hourglass downClimbed the NW Face route with Jamie Nellis. Started to rain a little just below the summit. It was short lived, but we unfortunately had to descend the hourglass with wet rock. I don't know what its like dry, but wet the hourglass was scary!
K_G_Wright - Jul 31, 2007 6:24 pm Date Climbed: Jul 25, 2007
You Call Those "Fixed" Lines?Started at 0400 at the big parking lot just off hwy 150 (8000ft). 0930 I made Lake Como. Approx. 1215, I made it to the "Hourglass Couloir." By 1300, I was on the top. 1345 to 1500 got hailed and rained on, and by 1900 I was back to the car. The "fixed lines" were pretty manky (one had a ten foot section of missing sheath), and both had been cut out and retied, but they held me on descent. It's probably safer to do as a spring snow climb. Glad to have been solo up in the "bowling alley". Outstanding time!
ClearSkiesAhead - Jun 28, 2007 12:13 pm Date Climbed: Apr 22, 2007
The HourglassWe went up and camped in one of the huts at Lake Como on the 21st and woke up and headed up the first couloir up to the ridge around 4:45AM. On top of the ridge we had some fantastic views of the alpenglow consuming the valley as the sun rose.
The hourglass was in fairly good shape, although there were a couple spots where the snow was so hard that we were simply frontpointing it with our crampons as if we were climbing a waterfall in Ouray or something. Anyways, this is perhaps my favorite 14'er to date as both the climb and the views from the top were absolutely breathtaking.
bernardhohman - May 14, 2007 2:25 pm Date Climbed: May 12, 2007
Snow Climb in the HourglassGreat snow climb of the Hourglass. Great weather and a great summit!
Old Ickabod - May 13, 2007 9:21 pm Date Climbed: May 12, 2007
Hourglass Snow ClimbAwesome weather and spectacular snow climb. Mostly snow in the hourglass all the way to the summit. Some tricky downclimbing, but a great glissade back to the lake.
GerryS - Dec 10, 2006 7:15 am Date Climbed: Aug 4, 2006
Route Climbed: Southwest Ridge RouteYep, a long, endless talus route - considering the tread wear on my Asolos, I left about $40 dollars of boot on the ridge. However, I didn't have to dodge any rocks or yell a single embarrassing "ROCK!" from rocks I kicked loose. The traverse from South Little Bear to Little Bear took almost 2 hours - lots of route finding. But the return trip took just under 20 minutes (we knew the way by then). Use a GPS with trackback turned on for the bushwhacking!
TiogaBradford - Sep 23, 2006 12:32 am Date Climbed: Jul 8, 2006
HourglassFantastic climb - my first Class 4 peak......and I loved it! We started hiking the Lake Como road at 2:00am, reached the lake by 6:00am, and summitted around 9am. We were fortunate to be the first up the hourglass that day, which lessened the risk of rockfall. We only saw 3 other people on the mountain that day (with very good weather too!)
shanahan96 - Aug 11, 2006 2:21 am Date Climbed: Jul 25, 2006
three's a charmMarch 15, 2013- winter summit with emily and jason via the southwest ridge. terrain got interesting just before the southern summit, and didn't relent. the ledges leading to the main summit are fantastic when covered in snow!
May 6, 2007- jamie and i climbed the hourglass today. it was alot steeper(55 degrees) than expected. perch made for an awesome snow climb on really hard snow....feet still hurt from kicking steps!
July 25, 2006- climbed the northwest face(hand route) in 1:59 from the como area high camp in preparation for the traverse to blanca. it wasn't super exposed like i expected, but it was nice to ascend another way than the hourglass.
jamie
Brian Kalet - Jul 10, 2006 11:06 pm Date Climbed: Jul 8, 2006
West RidgeWhat Brad said. Daytrip from the road.
Brad Snider - Jul 9, 2006 1:07 am Date Climbed: Jul 8, 2006
Standard Route in RainKalet and I had this peak all to ourselves on a very rainy day. Started the traverse to Blanca, but couldn't see anything b/c of thick fog, and everything was dangerously wet from the incessant rain. Turned back, climbed back over LB and descended via the soaking wet hourglass.
jratk - Jun 13, 2006 3:41 am Date Climbed: May 25, 2006
nw face4 wheeled for a while up the road, hiked in and did ellingwood and blanca. Great weather, set up a bivy and climbed little bear the next day via nw face. Fantastic 4th class climbing. Descended the hourglass, scary rockfall. All in all, best 14er to date.
F Bomb - May 30, 2006 3:53 pm Date Climbed: May 29, 2006
Hourglass RouteGood fun, the hourglass is everything it is hyped up to be. Start early. We had perfect weather and the summit all to ourselves.
miztflip - May 29, 2006 9:17 pm Date Climbed: May 28, 2006
HourglassFun outing, I second the Gator Farm and for Pete's sake, don't bring you dog on this climb.
coloradoiceclimber - May 29, 2006 8:20 pm Date Climbed: May 28, 2006
West Ridge (Hourglass)Good Times! Be sure to stop by the Gator Farm and the UFO Observation Tower on the way out of the valley!
Kiefer - May 27, 2006 11:39 am Date Climbed: May 24, 2006
NW RidgeThe keyword for this mountain is route-finding! Had perfect weather though, mountain to myself. Ice in the hourglass in the AM and a veritable stream in the PM. BE CAREFUL! It is MUCH looser above the hourglass than what you might have read. If you take your time, this is actually an enjoyable climb.
shknbke - May 17, 2006 5:56 am Date Climbed: May 13, 2006
via nw face, descent of hourglassEasily the most difficult route on any mountain I have done, but I am not much of a rock climber. Very airy ridge indeed. I was testing the hand and footholds! We hoped to have a nice snow climb in the hourglass but the lack of snow made us go with the n.w. face.