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I set out to climb Haeckel's Northwest Arete yesterday - I have no idea now whether what I climbed was the "classic" route or not! There seems to be some confusion in the guidebooks I looked at after the fact.

Here's what I did. From Lake 12345 I climbed up the obvious snow gully to a col. This is what Secor advises - ascend to the first notch to the northwest of Haeckel. From here there are three obvious features. On the left is the prominent arete with huge towers that you can see on the approach. In the middle is a shallow, loose gully. On the right is another ridge, but not so sharp that I would call it an "arete". Thinking I was here to climb an arete, I downclimbed a bit from the col, across the gully, and tried to head up to the left. I thought it would be a good idea to bypass the first large tower since it didn't look a bit 4th class, so I worked my way up 4th class cracks. These cracks kept pushing me toward the gully though, as they steepened well beyond 4th class the closer I got to the arete. Finally I just dropped into the gully and climbed up a ways, looking for a way to jump back on the arete. I gave up this idea in short order because the arete just got steeper, with towers and needles that looked much harder than 4th class. Looking across the gully, I started thinking the other ridge might be the right on, so I headed for that one, and took it to the summit. This definitely was 4th class ground. I descended this ridge in its entirety, and found beautiful, solid 4th class climbing almost top to bottom; I would call it a classic climb myself.

Secor's guidebook shows a picture which looks like it exactly matches the ridge on climber's right, the one I downclimbed and climbed in part. Moynier and Fiddler's guidebook, on the other hand, shows a completely different route, one which looks like it leads to the left arete. I doubt this arete is 4th class, although perhaps if one is right on top of it the route can be kept 4th class. Anybody know any better than me? I think the ridge leading more or less directly from the notch is the actual NW arete, since it is definitely 4th class and struck me as a clean, high quality route.

Penelope May and I did the NW (Riegelhuth) Arete some 12 years ago in mid August. Getting to the notch was the crux as we had alum crampons and axes and the slope was frozen rock hard. I recall going left from the Notch (col). I very much remember the hardest moves at about 5.6/5.7 on the arete, some good moves, here and there (but not sustained climbing at that level). We brought 8mm rope, few stoppers and hexes and used them. The rock was very good to excellent.

I had been thinking about doing the NW Arete as one of my winter objectives this year.

For either variation, what would you guys think the route would be like in winter?

I'm wondering about the nature of the route. slabby? steppy? thin or thick cracks? how sustained? Would we be missing out by doing it with snow, or just missing out on the talus & scree?

Basically I'm wondering if it would be a good winter route and a nice step up from the full E Ridge of Humphreys & the E Ridge of Carl Heller that I did last winter.

I would be especially interested in any pictures you guys might have of your climbs!

The pictures I have are in my slide library (pre digital), which is huge and not sorted. I just don't have the time to go through it. Maybe other people here have some photos.
Regarding climbing it in the winter, why don't you go up there now and check it out? IMO, the best way to prepare the logistics for climbing a route in the winter, is to climb it first in the summer.
The approach would be much longer and harder than either of the routes you mentioned. The arete Pen and I climbed (the left one) had harder moves then E.Arete of Humphreys, but we went head on and did not bypass many (if any) of the towers. I'm sure one can ease the going by traversing around the towers.

Alois, it seems like you have done it all. Thank you again for being a member of this site and giving out objective and very USEFUL information. I have seen your signature again on Mt. Clark on Saturday. Seems like I missed you only by couple of weeks : ( That is one beautiful arete and an original peak. Happy b-day to your close one!

Alois, thanks for the quick & informative response.

asmrz wrote:Regarding climbing it in the winter, why don't you go up there now and check it out? IMO, the best way to prepare the logistics for climbing a route in the winter, is to climb it first in the summer.

Definitely the best idea. Maybe I can talk V into doing a dayhike recon on one of our Fall outings?

asmrz wrote:The approach would be much longer and harder than either of the routes you mentioned.

I wondered. Would an AT setup be vastly better than snowshoes in that drainage? My skis are getting lonely but it is so hard to find partners that can ski . . .

Seeing Picture Pk in winter would be a great excuse to head in there in the winter as well

asmrz wrote:The arete Pen and I climbed (the left one) had harder moves then E.Arete of Humphreys, but we went head on and did not bypass many (if any) of the towers. I'm sure one can ease the going by traversing around the towers.

Good to know. It would be nice to climb the towers for a better outing, but not be too committed!

I skied to Picture Peak in winter with my Buddy Miguel in the early 80s. I would think that AT or similar set-up would be the way to go, even if one would have to do it in climbing boots. The terrain is not too steep to preclude that set-up. The arete will likely be snow free and one could use good leather or synthetic boots (not plastic).

BTW You guys are all very welcome.

Thread drift was not long in coming...I would like to know what the original route was still! I suspect the route that Alois did and is depicted in Moynier and Fiddler is actually the North Face. As far as I could tell, there was no easy way onto that arete from the west.

Mark - A winter climb of the route (the 4th class one I downclimbed) would amount to a very long approach for very little climbing. It's much better as a summer route in my opinion. From the col there is only maybe 500' of climbing (although it is very good!). The gully in between the aretes would be all snow, and probably would be a fine ski descent. What I think is more appropriately the North Face route would be a far greater winter undertaking. It would also probably be an awesome challenge! There is no question that skis are better for the approach. Snowshoes are a foolish mode of winter travel in the mountains!

More thread drift. Did you use crampons on the snow leading to the col/notch this past weekend, and how was the snow? What time of day did you climb/descend it? We're aiming to do it this weekend, and on the fence about taking the crampons.

On your original question, the Moynier/Fiddler route photo puzzles me, too. Just to confuse things further, here's the entry from the old Hervey Voge Sierra Club Climber's Guide (1954):

"Route 3. North face. Class 3. The first ascent was made on July 20, 1933 by Jack Riegelhuth, who climbed up the northwest chimney and then the north face to the top."

Footnote: The Voge definition of class 3:

"Ropes should be available. There will generally be some exposed climbing requiring use of the hands. Occasional belays are suggested for less experienced climbers."

I guess you just need to climb both lines and decide for yourself which one is more classic!

I did this route about 20 yrs. ago and don't remember it being overly tricky. I do remember one short exposed section that felt 5th class but, other than that, it didn't strike me as hard for the rating. It was a great climb with a great summit. I descended the opposite side rather than down climb the route though.