North and
South Arapaho Peaks and Point 13,038
via Skywalker Couloir
9 June
2007
Pictures * Route Map *
Trip Report
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North and South Arapaho Peaks
and Point 13,038 via Skywalker Couloir
Climbers: Kevin Baker and Dave Gibson
Trailhead: 4th of July
Round trip distance: 9.9 miles
Elevation gain: 3380 feet (3850 feet total)
Round trip time: 10 hours, 42 minutes
Several weeks ago I told Kevin that I'd join him and Brian climbing Skywalker couloir on South Arapaho Peak. But after reading several Skywalker trip reports, learning how steep the finish is, and hearing that the snow in the couloir was no longer soft, I started to reconsider. When I learned that we could borrow some ice tools for added protection, I decided to give it a go.
As Kevin and I left Colorado Springs around 7 pm Friday night, our plans for the evening were evolving. We learned that Brian, our source of the tools, would not be able to join us. We decided to head straight to the trailhead in hopes of finding a camping spot nearby. After about 3 hours of driving we reached the Buckingham Campground at the 4th of July Trailhead which is 4 miles west of the small village of Eudora. The last 4 miles of the drive is on a rough and potholed dirt road which does not require high clearance or 4WD. Since it was getting late, we pulled into the first parking spot at a picnic area and set up our tent near a rushing creek. Prepared for an early start, we hit the sack by 11pm.
Our alarms went off at 3:45 am and we set out from the 4th of July trailhead at 4:51 am as the skies began to lighten. We followed the well-traveled Arapaho Pass Trail up toward the 4th of July mine passing over patches of snow without difficulty. The Skywalker couloir came into view around tree line. It looked steep. Near the 4th of July mine we turned right on the Arapaho Glacier Trail and shortly after that just headed directly to the base of Skywalker. We reached the couloir's snow at 6:12 am after an hour and 21 minutes of hiking. There Kevin and I spent 35 minutes snacking and gearing up. We donned our crampons, helmets, and, in case we decided to protect with my 30 meter rope, climbing harnesses. We didn't rope ourselves together for the climb because we figured it would be better to lose just one of us rather than both. :-) To our surprise, we did not see anyone following us toward Skywalker that morning. We later learned that 14erWorld members George Barns and Nate Stutzke followed us up all the way, and hour or two behind us, and took a photo of us halfway up the couloir.
The snow in the lower section of Skywalker was quite firm -- the ferrule of our ice axes would only go in an inch or two in many places. Since the slope was not yet too steep and our crampons provided excellent traction, I was reasonably comfortable on this section. A third of the way up, the couloir narrows and steepens to about 45 degrees. Near this point the snow softened to a perfect consistency and made for some very fun climbing. I easily kicked in solid steps and placed my axe nice and deep. But all good things must come to an end. As we approached the upper section, the snow once again turned hard and we considered our options carefully. Since neither of us had a second ice tool, we had planned to use the left side "chicken" exit as opposed to the straight ahead and very steep Princess Lea exit or the right side mixed climbing Han Solo exit. From our vantage point on the right slide of the couloir, the left side exit looked very steep and wide open. Furthermore, to get there we would have to traverse the very steep slope across the couloir. So, essentially, we chickened out of doing the supposedly easiest exit. Instead, we continued up to the right. Kevin bravely led this section which I estimate was between 50 and 55 degrees. It was steep and scary. My technique was to front point on my crampons while digging in with just the pick of my ice axe. This method worked well as I didn't have any problems, but it didn't leave much margin for error. At the top of this slope, we took a needed break, resting in a small indentation in the snow against a rock wall. After the break, I took the lead, aiming to get on solid rock as soon as practical. I climbed about 30 feet higher on steep snow before coming to 6 foot rock step covered with ice. Getting over this step required an 8 foot class 4 climb on a wall to the right of the step. This was the first time I had scaled a rock wall wearing crampons. Neither I nor Kevin had any problems with this obstacle. I later learned that we could have avoided the rocks here altogether by traversing a little more to our left. We continued up on steep snow to another icy rock step which we circumvented with a short class 3 climb also on the right. It was clear we had found the Han Solo exit. The snow on Han Solo was just as hard and steep as it had been below the rocks. However, the more enclosed area had the psychological benefit of making it seem much less exposed. I actually enjoyed the mixed climbing along this section quite a bit. After climbing a little more snow and some rocks, we reached the ridgeline just northwest of South Arapaho peak at 8:58 am. It took us 2 hours and 11 minutes to climb the couloir and it now felt great to be standing on solid level ground!
Our next objective was the 13,502 foot North Arapaho peak, the Indian Peaks Wilderness area's high point. The ridgeline from South to North Arapaho is a half mile class 3 scramble -- without snow. One look at the snow-covered and corniced ridgeline and I had second thoughts. However, the skies were perfectly clear so we could take our time and put on our crampons if necessary. We set out for North Arapaho at 9:13 am. Although the wind was strong and steady, wind chill wasn't a factor since it was relatively warm. We were on the ridge proper much of the way but came down a bit on the west side when necessary to get around obstacles. The east side of the ridge is a precipitous 1000 foot drop to the vast Arapaho Glacier. About half way across the ridge we had fun scaling a 10 foot sloping wall. All was going very well until we came to steep 60 foot chute on the east side of the ridge a little below North Arapaho's summit. The chute is on the standard cairned route and there did not appear to be any alternatives. When dry, this chute is probably a fun rock scramble. Filled with snow, it was the start of a fast ride down to the Arapaho Glacier. Kevin began to check it out, but quickly decided to put on his crampons. I was already putting on mine. Kevin led up the chute. The snow in the chute was soft enough for kicking in steps and decent axe placement. Nevertheless, it was a scary climb, especially realizing that we'd probably have to come back down the same way. I didn't look down once on my way up. From the top of the chute it was short easy hike on snow the large summit area.
We topped out on North Arapaho at 10:32 am, after traversing for 1 hour and 18 minutes. The summit provided spectacular views in all directions and the sky was still largely free of clouds. After relaxing for 35 minutes on the summit, we headed back down and quickly came to the top of the chute we had ascended. Kevin and I both looked down it and then looked at each other. Yikes! I looked around for an alternative way down, but didn't see a route that would definitely get us back to the ridge. Since Kevin had led us up the chute, I figured it was my turn to lead. I very slowly backed down the chute using our ascent steps and some rocks as much as I could. While I got solid axe placement, pulling out my axe when it was nearly above me was awkward. Safely exiting the chute was a huge relief. Kevin took his time backing down the chute after I was clear. Being left handed, his axe placement options were not as good as mine which made the descent more of a challenge for him. Back on the ridge, we both agreed that the chute had presented a greater mental challenge than anything we did on Skywalker. It took us an hour and 24 minutes to return from North Arapaho to the summit of South Arapaho. On the summit of the 13,397 foot South Arapaho we briefly chatted with three other climbers who had hiked up South Arapaho's standard class 2 route.
While I would have been happy to head back at this point, Kevin had one more important goal for the day, nearby Point 13,038, also known as "Old Baldy". Old Baldy is a ranked 13er like North Arapaho. These peaks were Kevin's 62nd and 63rd Colorado 13ers. The very prominent South Arapaho Peak is not a ranked 13er because the saddle between it and the higher North Arapaho is less than 300 feet below North Arapaho's summit. We descended South Arapaho along the standard route to a point near the South Arapaho-Old Baldy saddle. There we stashed our packs and hiked up a gentle slope to the summit of Old Baldy in just 10 minutes. Old Baldy's unimpressive summit did provide a great view of the ridge we had just traversed between South and North Arapaho. From there we headed back down to the trail catching some big and perfectly soft snow fields along the way. The trail was under snow in many places around tree line. At one point we made a wrong turn that forced us to fight our way through a marshy area, willows, and very thick chest-high juniper-like bushes. After a bit of postholling we regained the Arapaho Pass Trail near the 4th of July Mine. We passed many hikers on their way up the trail as we descended. At 3:33 pm after 10 hours and 42 minutes of hiking and climbing, we reached the trailhead.
Despite the suboptimal snow conditions on much of Skywalker and the snowy chute below North Arapaho, I had a great time climbing with a great hiking partner. This definitely was one of my most challenging days in the mountains. I'm looking forward to checking out more peaks in the beautiful Indian Peaks Wilderness.