TR: North Maroon (4/26) Part I
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Originally posted on my Thrillhead Blog
North Maroon Peak (14,011′)
4-26-2008
Andy, Joe, Brittany
The Maroon Bells are often said to be the most photographed mountains in Colorado. Any person who catches a glimpse of these beautiful peaks can understand why. The double peaks rise up strikingly and jagged from the Maroon Lakes below.
“The Bells” consist of two peaks. The one on the north end is called North Maroon. But the one on the south end is called Maroon. Many people, included Lou Dawson, refer to this southern peak as South Maroon, where it’s official name is actually Maroon.
Also of debate is the status of North Maroon as an official fourteener. This originated back in the 1870’s with the Hayden Survey, as they considered the two peaks as one big mountain called Maroon Mountain. In his report, Gannett described that these peaks were named after the color of the sandstone that made them- a deep maroon color.
The first ski descent of North Maroon was made by Fritz Stammberger, an immigrant from Germany who had settled in the Aspen area. The descent is described by Lou Dawson below.
Outside of Aspen is a double-topped fourteener called the Maroon Bells. Known as the “Deadly Bells” to local mountain rescue teams, the mountain has claimed scores of lives, and still makes casual climbers quake with fear. It’s steep, striated with relentless cliff bands, and built with rock so loose the climbing is often like scrambling up a gravel pile. With the tight snowpack of spring, however, the Bells mutate. They’re safer and easier to climb for those knowing snowcraft, and they become skiable.
In 1971 few people knew the secret of Maroon Bells snow, but Stammberger did. On June 24 he cramponed up the north face of North Maroon Peak (the north Bell), donned his planks, and skied back down. Even by today’s standards the descent wasn’t easy: Stammberger fell over a 15-foot cliff, and skied a narrow section exceeding 50 degrees. Moreover, he used no ropes and had no support team. Stammberger’s feat amazed the locals and was trumpeted in the Aspen newspaper. Yet as with the coverage of Bill Briggs’s Grand Teton ski that same spring, the Maroon Bells ski descent was too far from North American ski reality to receive much mainstream press.
– Lou Dawson, Wild Snow
Last June, I attempted North Maroon with Frank and Jordan. When we began climbing up the North Face it was so icy that only the front point of our crampons and about 1/2 of an inch of our ice axes dug into the snow. I was uncomfortable with those conditions, and opted to turn around, while Frank and Jordan continued on their journey. But, as many of you know, any time a mountain defeats you, it becomes a nemesis. The fact that I turned around on that peak plagued me for the rest of the summer. I didn’t think I’d be back this season. But after seeing the trip report from Dave, Andy, and Mark,last week I knew I could climb it in the conditions they had. I regretted not going along with them also.
Sometimes things have an uncanny way of working themselves out. I was lucky to get an email from Joe earlier in the week, asking me to go ski North Maroon with him. Somewhere along the lines, Andy contacted Joe, saying he wanted to go hit Pyramid this weekend. Compromises were made, and an agreement was made that all three of us would ski North Maroon on Saturday. Andy, having been there the week before, could show us the ski route. Then, we would make a [Pyramid attempt on Sunday.
We arrived in Aspen late on Friday night. We used Joe’s snowmobile to tow us and our gear to the campsite at Maroon Lakes. We didn’t arrive until midnight.
“Winter camping there is fun!
You can use the summer service buildings to aid in shelter.
After having a late arrival the night before, we got off to a bit of a late start. We didn’t leave the camp until 7:20. With the cloudy and cold weather forecasted, however, we were not worried about warming on the North Face.
Skinning in across the lake.
Route finding was relatively easy and I must say a skin in April through this basin is much more enjoyable than a hike with skis on your back in June! We headed up through the narrow couloir shown in this pic.
Suddenly, we found ourselves in the basin below the North Face, with the Maroon lakes valley far below.
Joe and Andy with the North Face of N. Maroon behind them.
The week before, Andy had climbed the North Face. But, this time we opted to climb the couloir on the far lookers right of the face.
This couloir eventually leads to the NW ridge, and we followed that ridge to the summit.
The ridge had a lot of mixed climbing. Sometimes snow, sometimes rock.
We opted to break out the rope once on a really exposed rock move. (Thanks Joe 🙂 )
And then, there was the summit!
But this first.
Andy on the summit.
I was just happy to be there 🙂
Snowmass was looking really nice.
So was Capitol.
South Maroon looks close enough to touch.
It always amazes me how close Aspen is to Crested Butte. It takes hours to drive between the two in the winter. Yet, only a few mountains separate them. Whetstone, the mountain shown here, sits just above the town of Crested Butte.
Part of the reason I like to climb fourteeners is for views like this. Next time when I’m in Crested Butte, I’d like to ski this couloir!
Joe, ready to ski from the summit.
From the summit we made our way down the eastern ridge to cross over a bit of snow that covered the challenging “Punk Rock” band.
Crossing the Punk Rock band was a bit sketchy. Andy is just above it here. The entrance is to his right.
The snow covering the punk rock band is basically a cornice on the east ridge, so you have to be careful.
A view of the Punk Rock band from below.
This picture captures the exposure. The North Face of North Maroon is truly a no-fall zone!
All the time while skiing this face, you are constantly aware that nothing but cliffs dangle below you. Where the snow ends, the air begins.
- Mount Buckskin (17 May 2020) - May 28, 2020
- Horseshoe Ski (14 May 2020) – The mountain whose journey nearly killed me - May 27, 2020
- Sayres X-Rated Ski (10 May 2020) - May 19, 2020
Thats all I have to say folks. ,