We Do Stuff: The Real Z

July 23, 2017

Zeb’s Arête, Pikes Peak

5.6 700’

For the second weekend in a row Laura and I were headed up to Pikes Peak. This time we were hoping to climb what we had intended to the prior weekend. Zeb’s Arête is a 700’, 5.6 climb that is commonly mistaken with Rumdoodle Ridge. We did this last week and still had a blast but were both looking forward to completing our original objective.

7:30 am we arrived at the toll gate to once again find a line to get on the Pike's Peak highway. It's amazing how many people are willing to pay the outrageous $15 per person fee to drive up this mountain! The city of Colorado Springs sure knows how to make money!

By 8:30 am we were at our parking spot near the summit and were walking down a steep scree field toward the base of the arête. Eventually we were able to access the actual ridge. We geared up and roped together and both were climbing shortly thereafter.

Once again this was good practice for our upcoming trip to Switzerland. We decided to simu-climb, roped together with only about 30 feet of rope out between us. I placed protection where I felt necessary and we climbed together, speeding up the traditional lead/follow process that is standard with most rock climbing. We climbed several rope lengths until we reached the crest of the arête, traversed across and down several times and within two hours were at the summit of our intended route for the day.