James Peak Couloir Climb

May 14, 2022

James Peak 13,294'

It's 2 am and Laura is jabbing at me to wake me up. We are planning on heading to James Peak to climb one of the couloirs on the southeast face of the mountain. They are rumored to be excellent climbs and there are a variety to choose from so we were sure we could find something that was in climbable condition. Headed north from home by 2:30, we arrived at the St. Mary's Glacier trailhead just after 4 am. There was only one other car in the large parking lot so we filled out our parking permit and chose the spot closest to the trail, geared up and started hiking by 4:30. The short hike up the road to the lake at the base of St. Mary's Glacier was almost snow free. Once past the lake, the snow was continuous until we reached the saddle and large flat area where James Peak comes into view. Across the frozen tundra we hiked until we reached the area where we would need to traverse across the lower part of the face of James Peak to reach a snow couloir. Two of the most popular climbs were not options for us today as one was melted out near the top and the other had a very large cornice, making the climbing below objectively hazardous. Laura and I chose a short and steep 500' couloir that became almost vertical for the last 10 feet. Topping out and looking across, we were happy to have made the decision we did as the other couloirs would have most likely have forced us to tunnel through their cornices to top out. From the top of our climb, we hiked the remainder of the east ridge to the summit of James Peak. We relaxed for a few minutes and looked out toward the mountains that make up Rocky Mountain National Park, the Sawatch and the Elk ranges. We descended back down to a crowded St. Mary's Glacier and were back at the car by 11 am. Since it was early for lunch, we figured we would try to beat the crowds and have a pie and a beer at Bo Jeau's in Idaho Springs. Days like this are what we live for and we're happy to have the opportunity to climb and enjoy each other as often as we do.