Shirttail Peak

April 5, 2003

“Looking out for your way of life
Looking out for your way of love
Walking tall in the life

Moving forward with time to kill
Moving forward was such a thrill
Who’s to say if we ever make it home alive

‘Cause the captain’s here with all his dice
You would swear this is paradise
The word on the street is that everyone’s in the mood

Fall on the floor at the sound of down
Being born to the break of dawn
Tell me now doesn’t that sound alright?
Can you all feel the light?

Shinin’, shinin’…
Can you all feel the light?
Shinin’, shinin’…
Everybodys feeling all right.

Livin’ free is the way to be
Living free is our destiny
Don’t let anybody tell you any different
As man is meant to be whole
Not kicked around by his soul”

- Brad

We were supposed to have a huge group for this morning’s outing up the Mountaineer’s Route (5.5-5.7) on Shirttail Peak (7353’), but it didn’t work out that way. The 6 a.m. meeting time tends to discourage most people, but these guys were veterans of such early ventures. I picked up Magoo and Homie at 93/Eldorado Road at 5:50 and when we pulled into the parking in Eldo no other car was there. As we geared up, we sent Magoo down toward the picnic area to look for other cars. Sure enough, Tony Bubb’s car was down there. That meant he was up there with a rack and rope, but I wasn’t sure if he had a partner even though he said he wouldn’t be bringing one. Homie and I decided to carry a light rack and thin rope.

Photo 1: Tony and Homie at the base of the route

I knew Tony wanted to do a 5.9+ route up there and was expecting a partner to join him, but with only three of us now (Magoo was only hiking), we’d have to abort that plan. It was cold out as well – 38 degrees and I wondered if I could climb 5.9 in such temperatures. Homie and I agreed that we were going the Mountaineer’s Route.

Photo 2: Looking up at the prominent tree marking the top of the first pitch.

Magoo started before us, but we hustled up the trail, running when possible but not much due to our loads and the steep trail, to catch him. We hiked across the talus to the Rincon Wall together and Magoo then headed up to the left, going for the saddle between the Rincon Wall and the Cadillac Crag. We continued up the gully to the base of Shirttail Peak. Tony was here waiting for us and I gave him the bad news about the turnout. Unfazed, he decided to just solo up the Mountaineer’s Route with us. We gladly offered to be a party of three, but he preferred to solo.

Photo 3: Tony soloing the first pitch.

We used Tony’s brand new 70-meter, 10m two-color rope so that he wouldn’t have to carry it while soloing. I liked it so much that I bought it from him. He got a couple extras because the price was good and he figured a friend or two would want one. Thanks, Tony!

The consensus on climbingboulder.com is that the start of this route isn’t 5.5, but 5.7, tricky, and a bit runout. I was determined to find the easy way and started up on the right, went up easily for fifty feet or so, placed a #2 Camalot and moved left and up to a smooth slab. I did one move here which is probably 5.6/7 and it was well out from gear. Then I was soon in the V-slot leading up to the big tree. I encountered another tricky section here where a small crack was the only hold and the walls very smooth and devoid of footholds. Homie solved this section with creative chimney technique. I made one hard pull (5.7?) and then rambled up to the tree and a good ledge.

Photo 4: Homie at the crux of the "slot".

I put Homie on belay and he was soon joining me at the ledge. I didn’t ask him, but I think he thought those two sections were harder than 5.5. I think I would still solo this route as the two hard parts are quite short. The second one is easier and less exposed. The first one is a bit delicate and would be scary for me to solo.

Photo 5: 'sup, Homie?

The start of the second pitch is steep and allows for some cool stemming for the first ten feet before things get trivial. The gully is 4^th class here and gets full of pine needles. I broke out onto the right face on good rock with some nice, discontinuous cracks. This is a long pitch, but goes very fast and I ran it out to the ridge crest without placing a single piece.

Photo 6: At the top of the second pitch. Peanuts walls are just right of Homie, in the background.

I jammed in a yellow Alien (also placed on the first pitch, so I did this route with two pieces of gear and three slings) and belayed Homie up. The final section along the ridge to the summit is airy, aesthetic, and easy. What great views greet you on the summit! This is truly a summit worth visiting.

Photo 7: Climbing the steep, blocky final pitch.

We gave Tony his rope back (temporarily) so that he could do the rappels, while Homie and I scrambled and plunged through the snow straight north to meet up with Magoo. There is some fun, exposed, and semi-serious scrambling to get to this notch. Once there we headed down with Magoo, meeting Tony back at the cars. Things warmed up nicely throughout the morning and Homie and I stripped down to short sleeves while Magoo had been in shorts the entire time.

Photo 8: A summit worth visiting...

Homie and I now have the FKT (Fastest Know Time) for the Mountaineer’s Route, trailhead to trailhead, at 2h07m18s. Tony has the FKT for the same route solo at 2h18m. Both of these are really soft, but, heck, you have to start somewhere. Total stats were around three miles and 1300 vertical feet. Fun stuff!