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Ascent of Ellingwood Point on 2009-07-15

Climber: Patrick Lilly

Others in Party:

Trisha Conlon
Cimarron

Date:

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Ascent Type:

Successful Summit Attained

Peak:

Ellingwood Point

Location:

USA-Colorado

Elevation:

14042 ft / 4280 m

Ascent Trip Report

Standard S face/SE ridge route. Parked out 4WD vehicle just below 8,900 ft. on the awful Lake Como Rd., about 3 miles in. Started hiking under moonlight at 3:35 am. Reached Lake Como about 7 am. With almost no snow left, we had no trouble following the until we got above Crater Lake. After that, it's important to watch for cairns and, in truth, there are multiple doable routes. The difficulty picked up on the ascending traverse (to climber's left) to gain the ridge crest, which we did at about 13,800 ft. From the notch, the view over the other side into the Huerfano River valley is amazing. We stayed on, or just left of, the ridge crest all the way to the summit, with enjoyable 2+/3 scrambling all the way. We finally topped out just about noon. A great summit--with a miserable and annoying approach. 14er #44. We got in a couple of short glissades in the upper basin to trim a bit of time off the descent.

Summary Total Data

Elevation Gain:

5172 ft / 1577 m

Distance:

14 mi / 22.5 km

Route:

South Face, SE Ridge

Trailhead:

near "Mt. Blanca" sign on Lake Como Rd. 8870 ft / 2703 m

Grade/Class:

Class 3, Grave IV

Quality: