Spearhead | North Ridge 5.6 III
Spearhead
North Ridge 5.6 III
2 CLIMBERS: $450 /PERSON
Single:$650
HIKE & BIVY DAY: $400
Intermediate
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
1-Day
A beautiful, northeast-facing wall that starts as a slab and steadily rises to perfect vertical granite. Spearhead is surrounded and dwarfed by taller mountains in the center of the Glacier Gorge Cirque-- one of the most beautiful spots on Earth.
This climb involves a beautiful scenic three-and-a-half-hour hike past lakes, forests, waterfalls, and high alpine meadows. There are abundant places to bivy at the base of the route and often work carrying the extra weight to sleep under the stars.
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A beautiful, northeast-facing wall that starts as a slab and steadily rises to perfect vertical granite. Spearhead is surrounded and dwarfed by taller mountains in the center of the Glacier Gorge Cirque-- one of the most beautiful spots on Earth.
This climb involves a beautiful scenic three-and-a-half-hour hike past lakes, forests, waterfalls, and high alpine meadows. There are abundant places to bivy at the base of the route and often work carrying the extra weight to sleep under the stars.
The North Ridge is a fantastic alpine route. The first half climbs an ever-so-steepening slab with the last two pitches being perfect for their grade, top out the house of cards, and then casually walk off the back, towards the base.
Enjoy the fantastic scenery on the hike back to the trailhead.
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Pre Couse Trip Call:
Guides and guests connect via Google Meet to discuss gear selection for the course, meet our new teammates, discuss the climb, and, answer any lingering questions the team has.
The Evening Before:
Guides extend the offer to meet at a local park to cover any last-minute gear needs and cover packing for the trip. Usually, we then go out for some dinner in town.
The Climb:
Day Climb:
Hit the trailhead around 3 am from the Glacier Gorge junction hiking about 5 miles to Black Lake. This area in the park is one of pristine beauty, soak it in!
Begin climbing at sunrise at the base of the North Ridge with the goal of a summit by early afternoon. All of our technical sections will take place after sunrise, so take in the views!
Tag the summit and begin our non-technical descent down the backside of the Spearhead formation.
Prep for our hike back to the Glacier Gorge junction and arrive early in the afternoon!
Bivy and Overnight Climb:
We’ll meet in town for a coffee and gear prep at Kind Coffee in Estes at 8:00 am.
After our gear shakedown, we’ll head to the Long’s Peak trailhead and hike up to Glacier Gorge Junction, making our way to Black Lake.
We will set up camp in one of the numerous bivy sites of the area around 1 pm and enjoy time in the cirque.
Dinner around 5 pm!
Morning wake-up starts around 4 am, with the team moving by 5 am towards the base of Spearhead.
Summit, descend, and pack out!
End Of Day Debrief:
At the cars, we focus our attention on the day; sharing the Rose, the Bud, and the Thorn to ruminate more deeply on the experience. It is often customary ( but not mandatory) to have a meal back in the town to celebrate the great days spent in the mountains!
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ESTES PARK, COLORADO: GETTING THERE
Estes Park, Colorado is located in the Northeastern part of Colorado and is approximately 45 minutes from Boulder. A mecca for climbing, hiking, cycling, and foodies; make sure you plan to spend some time in town before and after your SMG trip. Estes Park serves as the launching point for all of our climbs in Rocky Mountain National Park.
*If you plan to combine additional days of climbing in Eldorado Canyon or The Flatirons then Boulder, CO is also a logical place to base your lodging for your trip.
The best option for flying to the area is through Denver, CO.
You will likely need to organize a rental car to drive to Estes Park from Denver. Typically in the summer months, you can choose any type of vehicle. Below are some approximate driving times to get to Estes Park, CO.
Denver, CO: 1.5 hours
Boulder, CO: 45 minutes
Colorado Springs, CO: 2.5 hours
Estes Park has many great hotels, suites, and vacation rentals for you to stay in while you’re in the area. Call our office at 410-982-8282 if you have any questions about what would suit you best for this trip! Below are just a few options catering to different lodging styles and preferences.
Boulder, CO also has many great hotels, suites, and vacation rentals for you to stay in while you’re in the area.
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FOOTWEAR
+3-Season Alpine Boot early season
+Socks
UPPER LAYERS
+Synthetic T-shirt
BOTTOM LAYERS
+Softshell Pants
GLOVES/HATS
+Buff
BACKPACKS
+20L-25L Climbing Pack
ACCESSORIES
+Sunglasses, Sunscreen, Lip Balm, Sun Hat
+Nalgene, Minimum 1.5L
+Climbing Snacks: 100 calories an hour!
EQUIPMENT
+Crampons early season
+Light Alpine Tool early season
+Belay Device w/Locking Carabiner
+3 Additional Locking Carabiners
+120cm Sewn Sling w/ Non-Locker
+Autoblock Cord w/ Non-Locker
Smile Mountain Guides can supply rock climbing gear including helmets, harnesses, ropes, cams, slings, carabiners, belay/rappel devices, ice axes, and crampons. *We do not provide alpine boots
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BREAKFAST (~300 – 600 CALORIES)
Having a hot breakfast is important, especially in cold weather environments. Most climbers go with instant or quick-cooking hot cereals like oatmeal or Cream of Wheat, or dry cereals and powdered milk mixed with hot water. All of these meals taste better and provide more calories when fortified with dried fruits, nuts, honey, butter, and even chocolate chips! Tastier (and heavier!) breakfast ideas are included below.
For your course, you should have 4 breakfasts. About half of these should be basic meals to decrease weight on the mountain and the remaining can be more luxurious. Don’t forget your hot drinks!
Breakfast Ideas
– 1 cup of granola + freeze-dried fruit + 3 tablespoons of powdered milk mixed with hot water
– 2 packs of instant oatmeal + dried fruit + nut butter
– Dehydrated breakfast meal (check serving and calories)
– 2 packs of instant grits + bacon crumbles + cheese + butter + salt and pepper to taste
– 2-4 powdered eggs + 4-6 strips precooked bacon + tortilla
LUNCH (~800 – 1600 CALORIES) X 2
Lunch begins just after breakfast and ends just before dinner. It is the most important meal of the day and needs to have enough variety to keep you happy over your trip. Continuous eating of small quantities will keep up your energy levels for the whole day, especially on big travel/summit days where we will be on the move for 8 hours or more.
For your course, you need lunch food for 5 days. Determining the amount of lunch food to bring is difficult to gauge on your first mountaineering expedition. General guidelines are given below. The rule many guides work with is the weight of your lunch food should be equivalent to the weight of your breakfast and dinner food added together.
Each day it’s nice to have a “real” food item. You may consider some of these tasty sandwich/wrap combinations:
1. Start with a hearty bread product: flatbread, bagel, naan, flour tortilla, croissant, or pita pocket
2. Add protein: hard cheese, Laughing Cow cheese wedges (no refrigeration needed), cured meat, black beans or hummus, nut butter (we like Trail Butter because it comes in a squeeze pouch), tuna pouch, or smoked salmon
3. Add flavor/texture: dried fruit, chips, hot sauce, mustard, or pesto. Also consider, a hearty pre-made sandwich, leftover pizza, or a burrito for the first day of the course
In addition, pack snack foods to supplement any sandwiches or wraps, such as:
– Nuts (cashew and almonds personal favorite – can buy in 1lb quantities at Trader Joe’s)
– Jerky – beef, turkey, bacon, salmon, and tofu jerky are all great options
– Dried fruit (Trader Joe’s has an excellent selection prepackaged by weight)
– Peanut butter filled pretzel chunks
– Trail mix
– Cheese sticks/squares
– Plantain chips
For summit day or big travel days (approximately 2 on a 3-day course) focus on energy-rich food. On these days we travel for roughly an hour between breaks. At each break, you should be eating 200-300 calories (or about 1 energy bar). These days can have 4-8 breaks. These foods include:
– Energy bars – focus on bars with real ingredients. We love Probars, Pure Organic, Kit’s Organic, Larabar, and Chia Bars. If you are ambitious, try making your own!
– Energy chews (Shot Bloks or the like)
– GU’s, Cliff Shots, etc.
– Candy bars (Snicker’s are a favorite of most climbers)
– Gummy bears
DINNER (~800 – 1200 CALORIES)
For the greatest preparation and cooking ease, freeze-dried food is an option. Usually, these foods only require adding boiling water and are ready within minutes. Downsides to freeze-dried food are the cost, an increase in single-use packaging which must be packed out, uninteresting flavors or textures, gut issues from poorly re-hydrated meals, constipation, etc.
With slightly more effort but vastly reduced cost, any supermarket can be tapped for a wide variety of wilderness-ready prepared foods. Items like Knorr rice or pasta entrees in envelopes cook in 5 to 10 minutes, and are very tasty. It is best if you experiment ahead of time at home so that you know which you prefer. For those with a culinary creative streak, very tasty meals can be made up from scratch with only a minimum of additional effort. Items such as quick brown rice, quick or instant white rice, bulgur, instant precooked or dried beans, dehydrated vegetables, packaged or bulk sauce mixes, smoked salmon, exotic cheeses, and whatever spices and herbs you like or want to experiment with can be combined for tasty meals.
You will need 4 dinners for your course. Many guides bring soup packets, like instant miso soup, for each meal (unless the meal is already soup-based). These make great pre-dinner hot drinks and help us hydrated. Don’t forget your hot drinks!
Dinner Ideas
– 1 packet instant ramen noodle soup + sweet and spicy jerky (shredded) + parmesan cheese + dehydrated vegetables
– 1 pre-pouched Indian Meal (we like Tasty Bites) + boil in the bag rice + coconut oil (vegetarian/vegan depending on meal choice)
– 1 box mac and cheese + sundried tomatoes + tuna packet + red pepper flakes
– 1 box cous cous + sundried tomatoes + pine nuts + chunks of salami
PREPARATIONS TO CLIMB SPEARHEAD
Technical Experience
Guests should be seasoned multi-pitch climbers with high alpine rock climbing experience. If you want to build up to climbing this route, please consider a link-up day in Eldorado Canyon.
Fitness
Excellent physical fitness is required. Climbers must be able to hike and climb for many hours while carrying a pack. Training for Advanced Alpine Climbing is a great fitness program to develop a strong alpine climbing base. 50% intensity is a good marker of alpine fitness for this route.
FAQ’s
Spearhead’s North Ridge
The answers to our most commonly asked questions about climbing the North Ridge of Spearhead.
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PRICE INCLUDES
+Guide fees (2:1 climber-to-guide ratio)
+Park fees
+Group equipment such as ropes, cams, poles.
+SMG Buff
PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE
+Personal equipment (see Gear List)
+Transportation
+Hotels/lodging in Estes Park
+All expenses incurred in the event of early departure (evac fees, extra hotel nights, etc.)
+Trip cancellation insurance
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Smile Mountain Guides provides the following gear.
Technical:
+Helmets
+Harness
+Ropes
+Bivy bag
+Group Stove
Smile Mountain Guides does not provide alpine climbing boots for this program, food and personal kitchen items, water bladders, and clothing needed to be comfortable in the mountain environment.
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Smile focuses on small groups and ratios that meet the professional mountain guiding standard. These programs have a 2:1 ratio and we can accommodate a maximum group size of 4 climbers with 2 guides.
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Please click here to review our domestic cancellation policy.
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Yes! This is a custom adventure.