ajfraser - Aug 26, 2008 12:27 pm Date Climbed: Aug 24, 2008
brutal bell cord
I would normally never attempt a snow climb this late in the summer, but after some reconnaissance we found that last winter's epic snowpack was still holding deep and strong into August. With a 3 a.m. start we found the snow to be plenty hard up until the last 100 meters to the saddle as the sunrise began the thaw. That being said, there were a couple sketchy snow bridges to circumnavigate from underlying meltwater hollowing tunnels and 3 or more short sections where late thaw left 15 foot crux pitches of 60+ degrees. Very hands on and sustained. A very long and demanding couloir, but outstanding. Final rock scramble to S. summit was enjoyable, and a relief to finally shed the crampons. Descent of Maroon's east slope is every bit as brutal as described. Knees will be screaming at the bottom. Brilliant day.
mtnhiker13 - Aug 24, 2008 11:13 pm Date Climbed: Aug 23, 2008
South Ridge
Maroon Peak is a great mountain indeed. A little brutal on the way down otherwise it might rank in my top 5 ever. Once you gained the south ridge - the climbing was fun! And the route finding made it challenging as well - never a dull moment all the way to the top. I would have liked to enjoy the summit a bit more but we knew it would a long climb back down.
altitude14er - Jul 25, 2008 1:48 am Date Climbed: Jul 19, 2008
Route Climbed: South Ridge
A fun scramble, it's all relative but I thought it was more fun than challenging. Bumped into this guy Aaron (also solo) and we decided to climb to the top together. Very high!!
This was my third climb of Maroon. It was a very long day, starting and ending in the dark. We did the standard route. I left some skin from my hands behind on a rock that relocated when I grabbed it.
My second climb was on 7-24-99
hhsilleck - Jul 22, 2008 6:28 pm Date Climbed: Jun 16, 2008
Route climbed: Bell Cord
Perfect conditions on the snow, but still some worrying rockfall. Really fun snow climb and a neat summit. With Derek Dalton.
Long day... Thunderstorms started about 11am and kept up off and on all the way back to the TH at 1700.
vanhorne - Jun 24, 2008 2:14 pm Date Climbed: Jun 21, 2008
bell cord
Perfect weather. Did the Traverse also. Getting down off North maroon was interesting due to the large amount of snow still covering the trail.
Eric Holle - Jun 16, 2008 10:30 pm Date Climbed: Jun 16, 2008
Bell Cord
Ben, Dan and I climbed the Bell Cord and traversed to the summit of Maroon Peak on a very warm day. We skied from just below the couloir, but not the whole thing becuase of poor snow conditions. We climbed the Bell Cord a week prior and traversed to N Maroon Pk.
SarahThompson - Mar 28, 2008 11:06 pm Date Climbed: Jul 30, 2005
4x, Memorable Summit
7/30/05 - Std route.
7/29/06 - Std route with traverse to North Maroon.
1/20/13 - Climbed the Bell Cord and lived to tell about it.
8/4/17 - Std route with traverse to North Maroon.
MountainHikerCO - Feb 15, 2008 11:31 pm Date Climbed: Aug 1, 1992
South Ridge
This was my first climb of South Maroon. I did the standard South Ridge route. A friendly marmot tried to get in my pack.
tomlauren - Feb 1, 2008 10:15 pm Date Climbed: Aug 8, 2007
Bells Traverse
From camp at Crater Lake, climbed the South Ridge of South Maroon Peak, performed the traverse to North Maroon Peak, then descended North Maroon's Northeast Ridge back to camp with my friend Keith. Descending Maroon Peak for the start of the traverse was one of the sketchiest parts. Picture steep slabs covered in ball bearings. Slipped and cut my leg on that section - still have the scar five months later.
Found North Maroon and the traverse to be relatively easy. I rappelled once, not out of necessity, but more because I'd have hated to carry a rope and not use it. Surprisingly, descending South Maroon was the hard part. I must've been off route. There were cairns around me, but the grass was so steep and slick I felt like I needed a "grass axe" to stop myself if I fell.
Technically easy: Low third.
Physically demanding: its gunna kick your butt.
Fun route finding: If you're off route the solution is almost always to the left (or up and to the left).
Dangerous: It's very loose and a rock kicked off the ridge will roll 2000' before it stops. Put your brain bucket on as soon as you leave the main trail.
And four mountain goats joined us on the summit. Fun day! Fun peak!
cp0915 - Sep 4, 2007 10:20 am Date Climbed: Sep 2, 2007
South Ridge and Traverse
With Andy. Quite fun.
There's gravel everywhere along the route, but the climbing rock itself wasn't bad at all. We stayed damn-near true to the crest along the entire traverse, car-to-car'ing the route in 9.5 hours. Solo'd everything.
Oh yeah, route-finding our way off of North Maroon wasn't nearly as bad as we were led to believe. There's an obvious trail for 90% of it.
Talked to a couple of guys who'd done the traverse the day before. Took them 15.5 hours in what they described as perfect weather. Not sure how that's possible.
Great day on a fun route. Bailed on the traverse due to heavy cloud build up early in the AM. Turned out to be a bluebird day...oh well. Two days later on Pyramid under the same conditions the thunderstorms built up as I expected two days earlier.
Gahugafuga - Sep 1, 2007 3:37 pm Date Climbed: Aug 31, 2007
S Ridge and Traverse
What a slog. Glad to have knocked this summit off - may I never set foot on that mountain again.
Woodie Hopper - Aug 27, 2007 12:26 am Date Climbed: Aug 26, 2007
South Ridge and Traverse
Steep scree slopes up to South Maroon's ridge at ~13,300ft. Made it to the summit by 8:30. Climbed with Dave and Steve Donaldson. Great and long day.
ktiffany22 - Aug 21, 2007 10:01 pm Date Climbed: Aug 19, 2007
The word "failure" is relative....
2,800 vertical feet in just over a mile... OUCH. A melt-down at the saddle (at 44 14ers completed, the tough ones are getting to me). Tired from our great ascent of Pyramid the day before. 10:20am, RAIN a'comin:-( Decided to bail 300 feet from the summit as we were slower than we thought and didn't want to be caught in a thunderstorm. Rain let up 20 minutes later, but we were already dropped 600 feet (that had taken us an hour to climb). Bummer. Continued down. Don't need to take my chances. I love my husband more than any mountain summit. Result of this loose, nasty, exposed mountain? We don't want to ever go back. We now have a new "goal" of hitting 50 14ers instead of finishing all 55... may change our minds if we have a brain lapse!:-O
chicagotransplant - Aug 19, 2007 12:31 pm Date Climbed: Aug 18, 2007
Standard Route
Climbed the standard route with Shanahan96, Jamie Nellis and Denalibound. The ascent had us a little side tracked as we lost the trail up the face in the dark and followed a misleading cairn to a wrong ledge when on the upper mountain. The route was much easier to follow on descent though, and I would say that once you know the route it is actually kind of enjoyable. The ridge crest at the finish was delightfully solid and had some great scrambling. Bailed on the traverse because I didn't trust the clouds.
ajfraser - Aug 26, 2008 12:27 pm Date Climbed: Aug 24, 2008
brutal bell cordI would normally never attempt a snow climb this late in the summer, but after some reconnaissance we found that last winter's epic snowpack was still holding deep and strong into August. With a 3 a.m. start we found the snow to be plenty hard up until the last 100 meters to the saddle as the sunrise began the thaw. That being said, there were a couple sketchy snow bridges to circumnavigate from underlying meltwater hollowing tunnels and 3 or more short sections where late thaw left 15 foot crux pitches of 60+ degrees. Very hands on and sustained. A very long and demanding couloir, but outstanding. Final rock scramble to S. summit was enjoyable, and a relief to finally shed the crampons. Descent of Maroon's east slope is every bit as brutal as described. Knees will be screaming at the bottom. Brilliant day.
mtnhiker13 - Aug 24, 2008 11:13 pm Date Climbed: Aug 23, 2008
South RidgeMaroon Peak is a great mountain indeed. A little brutal on the way down otherwise it might rank in my top 5 ever. Once you gained the south ridge - the climbing was fun! And the route finding made it challenging as well - never a dull moment all the way to the top. I would have liked to enjoy the summit a bit more but we knew it would a long climb back down.
altitude14er - Jul 25, 2008 1:48 am Date Climbed: Jul 19, 2008
Route Climbed: South RidgeA fun scramble, it's all relative but I thought it was more fun than challenging. Bumped into this guy Aaron (also solo) and we decided to climb to the top together. Very high!!
MountainHikerCO - Jul 23, 2008 5:53 pm Date Climbed: Jul 19, 2008
Long DayThis was my third climb of Maroon. It was a very long day, starting and ending in the dark. We did the standard route. I left some skin from my hands behind on a rock that relocated when I grabbed it.
My second climb was on 7-24-99
hhsilleck - Jul 22, 2008 6:28 pm Date Climbed: Jun 16, 2008
Route climbed: Bell CordPerfect conditions on the snow, but still some worrying rockfall. Really fun snow climb and a neat summit. With Derek Dalton.
s_tuning@msn.com - Jul 3, 2008 7:34 pm Date Climbed: Jul 2, 2008
Bell CordLong day... Thunderstorms started about 11am and kept up off and on all the way back to the TH at 1700.
vanhorne - Jun 24, 2008 2:14 pm Date Climbed: Jun 21, 2008
bell cordPerfect weather. Did the Traverse also. Getting down off North maroon was interesting due to the large amount of snow still covering the trail.
Eric Holle - Jun 16, 2008 10:30 pm Date Climbed: Jun 16, 2008
Bell CordBen, Dan and I climbed the Bell Cord and traversed to the summit of Maroon Peak on a very warm day. We skied from just below the couloir, but not the whole thing becuase of poor snow conditions. We climbed the Bell Cord a week prior and traversed to N Maroon Pk.
SarahThompson - Mar 28, 2008 11:06 pm Date Climbed: Jul 30, 2005
4x, Memorable Summit7/30/05 - Std route.
7/29/06 - Std route with traverse to North Maroon.
1/20/13 - Climbed the Bell Cord and lived to tell about it.
8/4/17 - Std route with traverse to North Maroon.
MountainHikerCO - Feb 15, 2008 11:31 pm Date Climbed: Aug 1, 1992
South RidgeThis was my first climb of South Maroon. I did the standard South Ridge route. A friendly marmot tried to get in my pack.
tomlauren - Feb 1, 2008 10:15 pm Date Climbed: Aug 8, 2007
Bells TraverseFrom camp at Crater Lake, climbed the South Ridge of South Maroon Peak, performed the traverse to North Maroon Peak, then descended North Maroon's Northeast Ridge back to camp with my friend Keith. Descending Maroon Peak for the start of the traverse was one of the sketchiest parts. Picture steep slabs covered in ball bearings. Slipped and cut my leg on that section - still have the scar five months later.
utclimber - Jan 13, 2008 11:23 pm
Bells TraverseI climbed both Bells in a day, doing South Maroon first. The route finding wasn't too hard, and we left the rope in the pack all day.
MattGreene - Dec 1, 2007 9:08 pm
Rang the BellsFound North Maroon and the traverse to be relatively easy. I rappelled once, not out of necessity, but more because I'd have hated to carry a rope and not use it. Surprisingly, descending South Maroon was the hard part. I must've been off route. There were cairns around me, but the grass was so steep and slick I felt like I needed a "grass axe" to stop myself if I fell.
Hyadventure - Sep 24, 2007 7:15 pm Date Climbed: Sep 22, 2007
South RidgeTechnically easy: Low third.
Physically demanding: its gunna kick your butt.
Fun route finding: If you're off route the solution is almost always to the left (or up and to the left).
Dangerous: It's very loose and a rock kicked off the ridge will roll 2000' before it stops. Put your brain bucket on as soon as you leave the main trail.
And four mountain goats joined us on the summit. Fun day! Fun peak!
cp0915 - Sep 4, 2007 10:20 am Date Climbed: Sep 2, 2007
South Ridge and TraverseWith Andy. Quite fun.
There's gravel everywhere along the route, but the climbing rock itself wasn't bad at all. We stayed damn-near true to the crest along the entire traverse, car-to-car'ing the route in 9.5 hours. Solo'd everything.
Oh yeah, route-finding our way off of North Maroon wasn't nearly as bad as we were led to believe. There's an obvious trail for 90% of it.
Talked to a couple of guys who'd done the traverse the day before. Took them 15.5 hours in what they described as perfect weather. Not sure how that's possible.
Mots010 - Sep 3, 2007 10:51 pm Date Climbed: Sep 1, 2007
South RidgeGreat day on a fun route. Bailed on the traverse due to heavy cloud build up early in the AM. Turned out to be a bluebird day...oh well. Two days later on Pyramid under the same conditions the thunderstorms built up as I expected two days earlier.
Gahugafuga - Sep 1, 2007 3:37 pm Date Climbed: Aug 31, 2007
S Ridge and TraverseWhat a slog. Glad to have knocked this summit off - may I never set foot on that mountain again.
Woodie Hopper - Aug 27, 2007 12:26 am Date Climbed: Aug 26, 2007
South Ridge and TraverseSteep scree slopes up to South Maroon's ridge at ~13,300ft. Made it to the summit by 8:30. Climbed with Dave and Steve Donaldson. Great and long day.
ktiffany22 - Aug 21, 2007 10:01 pm Date Climbed: Aug 19, 2007
The word "failure" is relative....2,800 vertical feet in just over a mile... OUCH. A melt-down at the saddle (at 44 14ers completed, the tough ones are getting to me). Tired from our great ascent of Pyramid the day before. 10:20am, RAIN a'comin:-( Decided to bail 300 feet from the summit as we were slower than we thought and didn't want to be caught in a thunderstorm. Rain let up 20 minutes later, but we were already dropped 600 feet (that had taken us an hour to climb). Bummer. Continued down. Don't need to take my chances. I love my husband more than any mountain summit. Result of this loose, nasty, exposed mountain? We don't want to ever go back. We now have a new "goal" of hitting 50 14ers instead of finishing all 55... may change our minds if we have a brain lapse!:-O
chicagotransplant - Aug 19, 2007 12:31 pm Date Climbed: Aug 18, 2007
Standard RouteClimbed the standard route with Shanahan96, Jamie Nellis and Denalibound. The ascent had us a little side tracked as we lost the trail up the face in the dark and followed a misleading cairn to a wrong ledge when on the upper mountain. The route was much easier to follow on descent though, and I would say that once you know the route it is actually kind of enjoyable. The ridge crest at the finish was delightfully solid and had some great scrambling. Bailed on the traverse because I didn't trust the clouds.