Class 4 climbing colorado difficulty reddit. A fall could be fatal.
Class 4 climbing colorado difficulty reddit Since the list is arranged by class rating, you may notice some routes with greater overall effort (e. North Maroon Peak (14,014 ft) Oct 15, 2018 · Fourth Class cruxes can be easy or can be hard in terms of the scrambling moves. Class 3. It’s very subjective. g May 2, 2025 · Difficulty: Very Difficult; Route: Northeast Ridge; Capitol Peak is notorious for its class 4 scrambling and very exposed ridges. The “RP” rating on that Google doc is the “Roach points” rating, which is from Gerry Roach’s book, “Colorado 14ers”. Class 5 is rock climbing, usually done with ropes. Scrambling; hands are used for balance; a rope might be carried. Colorado 14ers by Difficulty. Below is a list of the standard Colorado 14er routes organized by difficulty. I don't think I touched any class 4 on Capitol, it was all class 3. Jul 2, 2021 · "Class 1" means fairly standard trail hiking, "Class 2" means possible exposure, lose rock, off-trail hiking, and snow, "Class 3" means scrambling or unroped climbing required, "Class 4" means handholds and footholds will be used for progress with extreme exposure. Good intro, but don’t expect the more sustained difficulty and exposure of other routes. Feb 2, 2020 · The climbing class rating (class 1-4) The result in an objective way to compare the 58 peaks and create an accurate list of the Colorado 14ers ranked by difficulty without subjectivity. Could be because of the 14ers we had completed prior to trying it - had done all class 3/4 except maroons, pyramid and little The Tour de Abyss was my first class 3. If you stay with class two and under that usually means carrying micro spikes and poles to cross or edge around a snowfield. None of the climbing is particularly hard but there are sections like the Narrows and Homestretch where a fall is almost certainly fatal. Just something else for you to consider in your decision. For a more thorough explanation, click here. Simple climbing, often with exposure. A few feet to the left can be the difference between hard class 4 or easy. . He describes it as a rating of “effortculty”, a combination of effort required and technical difficulty. Sawtooth was quite simple compared to the approach (east?) ridge of Bierstadt. Unfortunately, I am the worst navigator/route finder to set foot on a trail. There are more direct routes (such as the Cables) that can cut significant distance off of the total mileage, but push into Class 4/5 terrain. Just be very wary of the route finding on needle. Blanca is Difficult Class 2--so IMO it's not "Hard", but it's long with a lot of gain to do the standard route. Also, note that the Keyhole Route is the easiest at Class 3. It is not uncommon to encounter moves of easy 5th class on a hard 4th class scramble. Class 3/4 routes will be more varied depending on which aspects of the mountain the route utilizes. 5. Well traveled and popular 4th class routes tend to be on the easy-side of 4th class. Very beautiful back country. And if you like a bit of spice, Mt Shuksan via the Sulphide glacier, and it has a Class 4 800' rock pyramid on top ;). Water running through the hourglass can easily force you onto low 5th class rock, and the crux looked fairly steep regardless. Little Bear was not only more dangerous than Capitol, I also thought it was significantly more difficult. I managed to get off route while hiking the Kelso Ridge on Torreys Peak (also class 3) and ended up climbing maybe ten feet of class 5. The summit block is one of the most challenging in the state, requiring rock climbing techniques, and the mountain has a reputation for being one of the most dangerous 14ers. A rope is often used. Had a great time and in my comfort zone. 1 is not much harder than 4th class. But otherwise yeah mostly Class 2 and 3. The exposure over the last section is not bad at all if you stick to the high route, there are only a few class 3 moves on the route. if the winds were insane, or it was raining, Longs does become Class 3 pretty fast in some areas. You can definitely get into Class 3 as you're getting towards the ridge and then summit, but the majority of it is the road to the lake and then lake to the base which isn't anything technical or difficult. All in all, I was nervous for this one because of all the stuff you read online but really didn’t think it was bad. 0 and 5. The Minarets have fantastic scrambling and climbing, but I would not recommend them unless you have a lot of experience on class 3-4 terrain. Both solo. The routes are first grouped by their class rating and then sorted by the overall difficulty/effort required within each class. Totally deece for me. My understanding is that Peak involves some Class 3 scrambling, and is a long hike, but that it isn't that bad otherwise, and that Needle will involve some really exposed Class 3/4 climbing, and that it's easy to get off route. Imo do the class 4 variation up the East gully as opposed to the normal route. This year maybe be a week or two later. A strong climber may not have the constitution to make class five moves while extremely exposed. There’s also the possibility on a micro scale to take different routes on a rock that significantly alter the difficulty. Longs is more endurance. I agree with this. Once you get to the ridge and start getting to the actual class 3 stuff, I found it fun and enjoyable. And if you want to slum a bit, Mt Adams c2c is about 13 hours round trip, from camp at 5,555 to summit at 12,276', by the South Spur route. I did both after longs peak and some other class 3. However, it is important to remember that many 14ers have unique attributes or challenges that aren’t captured in these statistics. 3 really is not considered all that dangerous, so it is rated appropriately for the kinds of weather you can experience there. This ain't "easy climbing" and it's not exposed, that's Class 4; again MFotH: Class 4. r/14ers: Hike, scramble, climb, and chat about 14ers (mountains 14,000 feet and taller) in Colorado and beyond. A fall could be fatal. The difficulty varies. Ritter is also a lot of fun but the east side routes are alpine scrambles, requiring ice axe & crampons. Almost no real route finding. cmldefvcttflsykinucsbvycnduqxpbzsstwexqorwsejwueobyowiftn