West Ridge of Rotten Rocks

Overview

West Ridge is a challenging and treacherous ridge climb. The rock on the first half of the ridge is as rotten as it gets. This ridge is relentless. One climbing and route finding challenge is rolling at you one after the other without any respite in between.

Getting There

Route starts at Gore Creek Trailhead. Take I 70 to Vail and get off at Exit 180. Take Bighorn Road to Gore Creek Trailhead. Plenty of parking spots.

Route Description

If you want to do this tour in one day:

Hike on Deluge Trail to Deluge Lake and follow the climbers trail through talus fields up to Snow Pass.

If you want to do this tour in two days.

Hike on Gore Creek Trail to the grave site. Turn left on Gore Lake Trail. Leave Gore Lake Trail soon after you crossed the creek coming down from Gore Lake and head to the rock tower at the end of the valley you see through the canopy. You will eventually pickup a faint climbers trail, which will drop you off right below Hail Peak (great camping)

Continue on the climbers trail up to Snow Pass.

Gain the West Ridge. The first couple gendarmes are pretty mellow.

Second gendarme before Mt. Sleet (highpoint about half way from Snow Pass to Hail Peak)  requires a Class 4 climb up and down.

It's just maybe 12 ft up and down, but if you slip not much will hold you from falling down 25 ft straight into a talus field below.

Summit of Mt. Sleet will give a good idea what challenges are lying ahead of you.

VIEW FROM MT SLEET

From this vantage point it looks like as if ridges, spines and towers are all jumbled into each other.

Until Mt. Sleet it is pretty easy to escape down grassy slopes to Snow Lake.

From the summit of Mt. Sleet, look for a gully of black rock in the ridge to follow, that' s where you are heading to.

On the  Northern Side of Mt. Sleet you see a red rockband below you. From there you have two options to get to the deep notch below you.

Either downclimb the large ravine below Mt. Sleet to the fork with another ravine coming down from the notch, and climb up again.

Or - below the red band a small gully (see pic Gully-1) leads straight down to the notch. This gully has two forks, take the Southern ( to your right when you look down) one, as the left (North) will cliff out very soon. Gully is filled with dirt and rocks and is a Class 4 downclimb.

GULLY-1

BE VERY CAREFUL - the rock on this ridge is probably the most rotten in the entire Gore Range. Rocks which look like solid foot holds splinter in 10 pieces the moment you touch them or break loose the moment you put your hands on them

From the notch, keep on scrambling along the Northern Side of the ridge, heading for the black gully. This is kind of the inner sanctuary of rottenness. Anything under your feet will move. 

To gain the next tower. either climb up the rock fall prone black gully or bypass it on the rocks to the right of it. Bypassing it looks easier then it is done. What would be a solid Class 3 climb in normal Gore granite is a very treacherous climb as you cannot trust almost any foot or hand hold ( looking back I would take the gully if doing it again).

WEST RIDGE-1

Below the center of the tower, look for a grassy gully which gets you right into the notch between this and the next tower. 

GULLY-2

..and surprise...the rotten rocks end and you are climbing on good granite again. The next three towers are with proper route finding a Class 3 climb.

The next major challenge is getting up on the summit block of Hail Peak itself.

Right from the notch between the third tower and the summit block a treacherous Class 4 /5 climb is giving access to the wall shielding the main summit from easy access. When climbing up you will face soon a choice

1) cross a slanted rock plate with no good hand holds to secure you ( at least I  could not find any) to gain a Class 3 gully

2) keep on climbing up a crack in the rocks - this will get you to a small and very airy ledge which requires a very airy move up to the crest of the ridge above you with a 60 ft vertical dropp off right at the heels of your boots - if you make a mistake, it will most likely be your last. Retreating from this ledge could be tricky, so think hard before you commit to this option 

If neither 1 or  2 works for you - scramble down the talus filled ravine and further down Class 3 gullies will give you access to the summit

The rest is a solid Class 3 scramble to the summit and a tedious downclimb through talus fields back to the valley bottom of the valley.

Snow Lake from West Ridge Hail Peak

Essential Gear

Helmet is an absolute must. Crampons and ice axe in spring.

Route can be climbed without a rope if you have the proper experience, but bringing one along would make this trip a lot saver. 

External Links

Description of this route by starting at Hail Peak and heading to Snow Pass:

http://brandonandkristine.com/colorado-traverses/hail-sleet-then-snow/