Cameron Cone and Pikes Peak

August 13, 2022

August 20, 2022
Cameron Cone 10,707 ft.
Pikes Peak 14,115 ft

I am writing just one short blog on these mountains. We climbed them on consecutive weekends and for the exact same reason. Mountain weather around the state was terrible both weekends and Laura's ankle feels better if she stays pretty active with it. 

Cameron Cone is close by so an early start was not really needed today. Weather in Colorado Springs was looking dry until mid afternoon so we dropped Hazel off in Manitou at 7 am and went from there. The hike was uneventful and included a refreshing dip into the stream as we descended back into Manitou. 10 miles round trip, 5 hours 40 minutes.

Find a better trip report here from when we climbed Cameron Cone in 2017.

The following weekend we decided that we would at least attempt to get some elevation on Pikes Peak. We left from The Crags at 7 am and were positive we would be rained on at some point during the day. We figured we'd just turn around if it did start raining and head down as we have both climbed Pikes by various routes over the years. Turns out that the rain was light as we approached devils playground but held off for the most part. We reached the summit in 2.5 hours, had a doughnut and headed back down. The skies cleared and the sun came out as we reached tree line and we had yet another great day on the mountain. We're glad we went, even with the poor forecast.

More Pikes blogs here.

The Unknown - Pikes Peak

Hey man, do you think I could get some info on the north side of Pikes Peak? I hear there are some awesome routes up there. Asking my friend last year after he told me that some of the best alpine pitches he'd climbed are in our backyard. Information on this area is almost non-existent but here is what I learned. "Park below the summit, walk north until you can access the arete". Sweet, that's all I needed to get on this special route. After looking at topo maps and pictures, I figured out the route and knew we were in for a treat. I had read that you'd better be prepared for full on adventure factor and this was very true. We did not see any evidence that a climber had ever climbed our route, but know that it sees maybe 5 ascents each season.

Laura and I left home at 7 am and got to the toll gate on Pikes Peak at 7:20. We drove the Pikes Peak Highway to the summit and looked around. The morning was crisp and the sky blue so we hung out for a few minutes and then headed down the road to find our parking area.

By 8:20, we were walking, first down the Crags trail, then to a steep gully that took us 700 feet down to the base of the arete. We didn't have any information but knew that the route was rated about 5.6, so we picked a starting point, geared up and started climbing. The first few pitches were wet an mossy so I chose to have Laura belay me until we got to more solid ground.

After about 200 feet of climbing, we began simu-climbing - both moving at the same time with only a few pieces of protection between us. This is something we will be doing a lot of on our Switzerland mountains and was one of the reasons we chose this climb.

We made our way through a maze of boulders and ledges to finally find ourselves on the actual arete. We estimated 8 pitches, all climbed in about 2 hours time. After wandering along the edge for another hour, we made our finish point. We took some pictures and headed for the car pleased that we had a great adventure for the day and looking forward to the next time we can get on this spectacular north face of Americas Mountain.

Oh sugary sweet Pikes Peak

Oh sugary sweet Pikes Peak

March 10, 2017

This is our mountain and we hardly have scraped the surface of the excellent climbing routes found on Pikes Peak. Laura and I have both summited the 14,115’ mountain by both standard routes – The Crags and Barr Trail, but have not done a lot of exploring and climbing on other areas of the mountain. Last year we climbed both Zeb's Arete and Rumdoodle Ridge – great starter climbs on Pikes.

It is still wintertime, but not much snow will be found up on the big mountain. “Whatever, lets go up to glen cove and explore and see what we come across.” And so the plan is set. We head up to the tollgate at 9 am, but as we arrive, Laura asks if I put her boots in the car. “Nope, I told you to grab them. They were right next to that coat you’re wearing!” Back down the hill to home we go, grabbing the boots and refilling the coffee! Who ever said that there isn’t a positive side to everything? About 30 minutes late to the gate opening, we head up to Glen Cove with a plan to climb one of the lines in the Flying W.


Usually snow covered, direct lines to the devils playground area, the W was almost non existent.

We walked about 20 minutes up a hill to the base of the far right line. Normally WI2, M2, steep snow – we found sugar snow about a foot deep with no traction whatsoever. We figured we’d still get a short climb in so up the couloir we went. Over the first block with a few 5.5 moves in crampons and on to the sweet sugar snow I went. I set up a great belay with a few cams in a crack and brought Laura up. She climbed the snow for a few hundred feet to the next rock section of the climb. Again, I led through the rock and placed protection to clip the rope to as I climbed. One more time and then to the final rock section we arrived. Usually from here the climb is a simple snow climb to the exit of the couloir but today the snow was simply not stable enough to walk on. We chose to scramble up the rock area to the right instead and headed to Devils Playground. From the base of the climb to Devils Playground took us just over 2 hours. We started walking down the road and eventually found someone kind enough to give us a ride in the back of his pickup. A few minutes later we jumped in our car and headed down the highway on our way to a good friends party who just beat cancer. Nothing better than sugar sweet snow and a good friend with the opportunity to spend life with his family!

Pikes Peak Hero Traverse to Railroad Couloir

May 28, 2022
Pikes Peak 14,115'
Railroad Couloir

Laura and I wanted one last day at altitude to help us acclimatize before heading to Denali in less than a week. We chose a short, easy day and took advantage of the late spring snowfall here in Colorado that filled the often out of condition railroad couloir on Pikes Peak. As in the past weeks, I chose to drive the road and access the snow climb via the hero traverse. The snow was in okay condition and the climb was short. We were bummed out when at the top we had to climb directly under the recently built viewing platform and tourists looking down on us. Overall a fun and short day at altitude is exactly what we wanted and exactly what we got. Railroad is a fun climb, although slightly easier and less steep than Y couloir I climbed just a few weeks ago. 

Pikes Peak Hero to Y Couloir

May 15, 2022
Pikes Peak 14,115'

Hero Traverse to Y Couloir

Pikes Peak Highway gates open late until the end of May which is a bummer because it usually means soft snow by the time you're on it if you choose to drive up the road. It's the day after Laura and I climbed James Peak and since she was spending time with her dad who is in town for a few days, I figured I would stack another day to get some altitude and Denali training in. Gates open at 9 am so I was there at 8. I was the 5th car in line to head up the highway. It was a gorgeous morning so I rolled down the window and pushed the car seat back and relaxed until the gates opened. I paid the toll and headed up the road, making it to mile marker 18 and the sheep sign right at 9:30. I quickly got my boots on and hiked directly across the road where you descend toward the Hero Traverse. The Hero Traverse was a mix of rock and soft snow, making for the worst conditions of the day. It had me a bit worried until I reached a nice boot pack from the day before that make the traverse go much smoother and faster. I reached the Y couloir at 10:25 am and decided to go across a ways further to check out the railroad couloir to see if it was in climbable condition. It was far to melted out to climb and so I decided to descend to where the snow ended in the Y couloir at 12,800 ft and climb from there. I loaded an extra 20 pounds of rocks in my pack and started climbing at 10:40 am. The snow was surprisingly hard even this late in the day. There were several short sections that were sloppy and soft but overall I was happy with the quality of the snow. After almost 1,400 feet of climbing, I topped out at 12:10 pm. Since this was an acclimatization day for me, I toured around the summit area and went into the the building and read the tourist displays for a few hours before heading down the northeast slopes and back to my car at 2 pm. I had a great day on the local mountain and am happy that I had the chance to get out and climb two days in a row. I'm feeling fit for Denali and can't wait to get there.  

The Real Z - Pikes Peak

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.

Another day in the mountains with great weather, excellent views and the best company anyone could ask for.