The Spearhead, The Barb

September 11, 2021 

The Spearhead 

The Barb, 5.10, 10 pitches 

Rocky Mountain National Park holds some of the best alpine climbing routes in the country. The Spearhead has several great lines but it's highest rated is The Barb. 10 pitches of perfect alpine granite that goes from 5.6 at the start into several 5.9 pitches of climbing that continue to a crux 5.10 pitch. The gear is excellent but is sometimes sparse and often small. The cracks are mostly fingers along with a few small hand size crack systems. Since Laura and I had not climbed in the park yet this season, we thought what better time than now? Laura checked on availability of camp sites and we luckily landed a site for two nights. We added in Big Momma to babysit Hazel while we climbed and the plan was set. The elk had bugled all night and it was really neat to listen to them during the rut. We woke at 2am and were out of camp at Moraine Park by 2:15. We started walking from the Glacier Gorge trailhead just before 3am and made quick work of the 5 miles to Black Lake. 

As we reached Black Lake, we saw many headlights in all directions. There were about 20 people on the Keyhole Route on Longs Peak, some to the opposite side of the lake and a few more following us up the trail. We reached the bivy site near the base of The Spearhead by 5:15 and geared up. From there it was a short walk to the route. 

I tied in and started up the 4th class rock as Laura put on her climbing shoes. I was quickly on belay and placed a cam in the lower part of the first 5.6 pitch. I ran the entire 70 meter rope out, so when Laura called up letting me know I was out of rope, I yelled back for her to climb the 4th class so I could continue another 50' and set a belay. She cruised the first two pitches and joined me at the nice belay ledge. 

 

 

The third pitch is excellent fun as it crosses the face for a bit and then continues on to the top of a large flake. Pitch 4 is where the climbing gets really fun. A very thin crack leads up and left and eventually takes you into several pitches of 5.9 cracks and corners. All the climbing was amazing and I would say is as solid of rock as I've ever climbed. When we reached the crux pitch, I placed a .2/.3 offset and pulled up to clip the piton. The crux was short and I continued to a semi hanging belay at the top of the right trending crack. Don't climb too high here, but rather traverse right and over the arete to connect into the north ridge route. From the belay, I watched as Laura climbed smoothly through the crux section and on past me. 

Laura lead the bottom half of the route to the summit and I took the upper portions before we reached the fourth class scramble to the summit. It was 10:15 am when we stood on the summit. The summit block is completely overhanging and is a really exposed place to be. The views over to Longs, Chiefshead, McHenrys and the entire glacier gorge are spectacular. We spent a few minutes to celebrate the climb, had some food and started down. Hiking out, we took our time and were back to the parking lot by 2 pm. All in all it was an excellent day. We will definitely be back to climb more on The Spearhead. One interesting thought to add was that after climbing this route, while it is similar in pitch length and overall climbing to The Diamond on Longs Peak, the environment is quite different. The alpine feel is there and the experience of climbing on a peak and wall like this is quite spectacular but it simply does not compare to climbing on The Diamond. Laura and I had a conversation about why The Diamond is considered one of the premier alpine walls in North America and after talking about it, we concluded that to really understand the difference, you simply have to experience both.