Location: Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Routes Climbed:

• South Face, 5.8, Petit Grepon (8 pitches)
• Southwest/Southeast Corner, 5.10b, Saber (6 pitches)
• Northeast Ridge, 5.6, Sharkstooth (6 pitches)

Car to car time: a little under 16 hours.

We rolled into Glacier Gorge parking lot around 3:30 a.m., planning to climb the Petit Grepon and Saber. Marcus and I had taken the day off work for a big day of climbing, and were now on Plan C.

Plan A had been a big day of simul-ing in Eldorado Canyon, but we decided that wasn't such a good idea in the 85-degree weather. Two days earlier, I climbed Keyhole Ridge on Longs with my roommate Simon, and was captivated by the Diamond. So that was Plan B. Luckily, about 8 hours before setting off from Glacier Gorge trailhead, Marcus called a friend and we learned that the Casual was soaked. This friend also gave us the idea of doing the Petit Grepon and Saber. Neither of us had done either route, but I had been hearing about and wanting to climb the Petit for a while. After looking at a few pictures and reading a little bit about the climbs, we decided it looked awesome and should go for it.

In the parking lot, we met Jason who was scouting a more ambitious link-up: Petit, Saber, and Sharkstooth. The night before, I'd noticed the possibility of this link-up but didn't take the time to really look into it. He gave me a few vague bits of beta, and it seemed too good to pass up, so we were on to Plan D.

The approach went smoothly; I ditched a big bag about three miles in because our new addition to the link-up forced a different trail out. Getting up to Sky Pond involved one small section of snow, but was no problem without spikes.

When the two spires came into view just at sunrise, I was somewhat awe-struck. I knew the Petit and Saber were spires, but their sheer faces narrowing to thin summits towering over us was inspiring. Also, a perfect piece of rock in a such a beautiful alpine cirque is truly a gift of nature.

We ended up soloing the first pitch (low fifth) with our bags and approach shoes on, then laid down our stuff on a big terrace and racked up. The plan was to simul climb the South Face (5.8) in two pitches, but Jason put the idea in my head that it could be done in one.

I started up the 5.5 chimney and was feeling great. Simul-ing at sunrise on a beautiful alpine spire - doesn’t get much better. Next thing I knew, I was on top of the third pitch with only a couple pieces off my harness (all placed on P3). This led me to make the decision that I would at least try to do it in one pitch (which meant we would not stop climbing until the top).

The next hour may have just been the best hour of my life. The rock was perfect: solid, textured granite and by far the best I had ever encountered in the alpine (as good as you could ask for anywhere). And the climbing, oh boy the climbing. Jug after jug on a vertical wall, typical of a 5.8 gym climb but not too many alpine routes. I would recommend this chunk of rock to absolutely anyone capable. The climbing was some of the best I’ve done anywhere, never mind the fact that it is in beautiful RMNP or on a perfect spire. I placed the last cam on my harness, a number three, just as the climbing eased up and the tower narrowed to no more than 10 feet across.

Now it was time to get serious, it was only 8 a.m, so we were making great time, but had a lot of hard climbing, route-finding, and logistics ahead of us. We doubled rope rappelled off the summit with the two 70-meter ropes we hauled out there. After the second rap, we landed on a big grassy ledge and guessed it is where Jason told us it might be possible to cross over to the Saber, skipping the low-fifth approach pitches.

After looking at pictures for a while, we decided we were straight across from the bottom of the “first” (5.10 crux) pitch of the Southwest Corner on Saber which we planned to climb, perfect. We easily scrambled down then over and found ourselves on top of a small bulge just above the base of the pitch. We pitched out a 15 foot 5.7ish downclimb and were at the base.

At around 9:40, Marcus started up the first pitch. It looked hard, and it was - it even felt hard for a mid-10 “eldo grade”. He crushed the lead, then I made my way up on second thinking I was glad I didn’t lead it.

The next two pitches went well, a little runout and wide at times, but incredible climbing all around.

We barely overshot the P4 left traverse on Southwest, so I quested up the Southeast Corner route, and stumbled into an incredible pitch. I encountered about every crack size from fingers to off-width, and not much else. Having not read much about the two pitches, I kept reaching the top of a nice section to find another perfect crack above me, grinning ear to ear. I went for about 50 to 60 meters, then stopped above a chimney at a nook with a boulder. A great pitch and quite a battle, that much 5.9 crack climbing takes a toll. Turns out, the 10 feet above the belay was the last bit of climbing before the low fifth/fourth to the summit.

We simul-ed to the base of the gendarme north of the rappel anchors, which involved a couple steps you might want a rope for. We soloed very, and I mean very, exposed fourth to the summit from there. We went across the east side then to the top of the gendarme, then over to the summit block, then traversed the east side before scrambling up. It was 2:20 and we were worked. A very sustained and difficult route (for the 5.10 grade), and a completely different experience than the Petit. Felt nice to put it down though, and fun to experience a different style and mindset of climbing (a little gripped instead of cruising), on this climbing marathon.

Part of the vague bits of beta for the day was that it was probably possible to go down the north side of Saber to the base of Sharkstooth without rapping. To our pleasant surprise, it looked like an easy scramble down, and it was. We reached the notch due north of the Petit between the two basins, then followed some footprints down snow to a ledge. We looked at some pictures and soon decided that we were indeed at the base of Sharkstooth’s Northeast Ridge (5.6), our intended route.

Marcus started up on simul at 3:17. The route was quite fun – easy and much longer than we expected. He stopped at the top of what we could see from the base, unsure of exactly how much more climbing was left. Two more short pitches went quickly on simul. These were my favorite of the route – great alpine ridge climbing that remined me of Mt. Crumpit. For some reason, that’s happened quite a few times in my life, and the great positioning of Mt. Crumpit-esque aretes always puts a smile on my face.

We tagged the summit, found the rap anchors, then did three single 70m raps to the notch we started at. Could have left the second rope there, but oh well. We then crossed and scrambled down the remaining rock of Saber, avoid some steep snow. Sick of the slowness of talus hopping, we resorted to snow and glissaded all the way down to the water at the base of the cirque, with only one short section of talus.

What a great time, Marcus’s first-time doing snow travel in shoes to that extend. Just having fun and laughing the whole way. Because we’re a little crazy and silly, we jogged most of the way back to the car from there with our double rack and double ropes. After a few miles of troubled looks from hikers, we got to the car at 7:28.

What a day; so much great climbing and my smoothest day of roped climbing in the alpine. Very glad to do it with Marcus, chatted and laughed all day keeping it light and fun - I think this was the key to such a smooth and fast day.

Some time stats:

• 3:38 AM start at Glacier Gorge trailhead
• Top of p1 on petit: 6:11
• Start climbing: ???
• Both at top: 8:01
• Both at base of saber: 9:38
• Start climbing saber: ???
• Both at top of saber: 2:21
• Start descending saber: 2:35
• Marcus (leader) starts climbing sharkstooth: 3:17
• Both on top of sharkstooth: 4:28
• Bottom of sharkstooth raps: 5:19
• Start walking down from bottom of sharkstooth raps: 5:22
• Back at car: 7:28