Routes : North America : United States : Colorado : High Peaks : Rocky Mountain National Park : Mount Ypsilon : Blitzen Ridge
Blitzen Ridge - 5.4
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Rock
Light alpine rack
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Description:
Thanks to its beautiful rock and wild position in a wilderness setting, Blitzen Ridge is perhaps the best ridge climb in the park. dont be fooled by the 5.4 rating. when planning for this route keep in mind that youll be climbing a rather commiting, lightning prone ridge which is blind to approaching storms. soloists in good alpine shape should find themselves on top of Ypsilon by late morning. roped parties must take extra care to move fast and efficient. if sending the whole shpeal in a day youll want an early start out of the Lawn Lake trail head. hike to Ypsilon Lake and head NW on a small trail leading to Spectacle Lakes. when arriving in the cirque youll want to avoid Spectacle Lakes by cutting right and straight up a talus hill to the start of Blitzen Ridge. head NW and the rounded hill will slowly narrow into a sidewalk of granite. from here youll be able to see how Blitzen curves up and to the left reaching Ypsilons summit. the cruxes of Blitzen Ridge are the Four Aces. you wont hit the peaks of all the aces but rather to the right or left. for the first two aces climb on their left side to get around them. climb straight up the third, and to the right on the fourth(which felt like the crux to me). from this awesome position continue straight up a prow for 200ft. here the ridge eases to 3rd and 4th class but with outstanding exposure to your left. run up this 1000 ft ridge trying to stay left for the best rock and best view. (Taken from Climbingboulder.com)
Submitted by: crazyj on 2002-10-21
Views: 179
Route ID: 25855
4 Ascents Recorded
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| Difficulty | |
Red Point ascent by:
Ascent Note
Beautiful!
Witnessed by: Ben Clark
Added: 2005-07-18
Added: 2005-07-18
| Ratings | |
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| Difficulty | |
Onsight ascent by:
Ascent Note
Fun climbing, especially the 3rd and 4th Aces. Amazing position! I descended the Donner Ridge and took 6.5 hrs car to car, but that was mostly because the trail to Ypsilon Lake is so boring that I hiked as fast as I could on the way in and ran the whole way out. My poor knees!
Witnessed by: solo climb
Added: 2005-07-08
Added: 2005-07-08
| Ratings | |
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| Difficulty | |
| Safety Rating | G |
Solo ascent by:
Ascent Note
Onsight solo, car to car 5hrs 28min.
an awesome morning!! Light is right!
Did it again on july, 1st 2004
CTC 5:14:02
Condition's where terrible!! Lot's of snow.
an awesome morning!! Light is right!
Did it again on july, 1st 2004
CTC 5:14:02
Condition's where terrible!! Lot's of snow.
Witnessed by: SOLO!!
Added: 2003-07-14
Added: 2003-07-14
| Ratings | |
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| Difficulty | |
Ascent Note
Beyond Fantastic. Quite loose though.
Added: 2001-10-30
