The east face of Notchtop Mountain, formerly known as " The North Face", is one of the premier alpine ice and snow routes in Rocky Mountain National Park. Due to it's potential for dangerous avalanche conditions and need for good ice, this classic is typically in best condition in early winter each year before the winter storms move in for the season.
notchtop east face
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FA: Tom
Hornbein & Bob Frausen '52
Type: Trad multi-pitch
mixed
Difficulty: 50 degree snow,WI 3+,
M2
Length:
3-5 pitches 1200', Grade III
Season:
November through January, or just two weeks if
we're lucky.
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The slopes in this photo at the base of the
route and the large bowl at the top of the route possess most of the
avalanche danger, which due to the avi prone nature of these
unsupported, lee loaded slopes in the upper 30+ angles, all funelling
down the climbing route means you better be sure about snow stability
before treading to heavily on these slopes. Some people
bring two 60m ropes and do four raps down the climb to avoid the upper
slopes and the more engaging descent.
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Description
The
East Face route of Notchtop Spire is one of the
more accessible of the
classic alpine ice and snow routes in Rocky Mountain National
Park.
It
is primarily a steep snow route that includes about 500' of
water ice
in the center of this imposing face which is followed by
another 400'
of snow to the summit.
The shape of this large east face
on Notchtop
Mountain is a funnel so that most falling material (snow, ice, or rock)
comes down into this route and thus in warm or avalanche prone
conditions, this route might be reconsidered as this
area can be a
danger zone for much of the year due to unfavorable conditions.
Find a
short chimney behind the boulder and
climb through a couple of low 5th
class moves to gain a ramp with trees. Traverse on low angle
rock or
snow up to 40 degrees up and right into the center of the bowl towards
the hopefully obvious ice.
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One
approach
for the route (green path) goes west from Lk. Helene and then
leaves the climbers trail once on the rock plateau to find a key
chimney/ramp which traverses high into the start of the route.
The
second option can be best
to drop into the Odessa Gorge for a few hundred feet to the
north but then traverse high across the valley
bottom staying just left of the
"guide's wall" and gain the route from it's far
east-north side. (blue path)
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Avalanche Danger
This
route can be one of the most avalanche prone aspects in Rocky Mountain
National Park due to it's steep and lee nature which features many
unsupported slopes, a cornice threat and it's an east aspect which can
warm-up quickly in the morning to produce heat-related avalanche
danger.
As a result, this route is rarely
in "safe-enough" conditions
to be ascended and careful consideration should be paid to avalanche
danger and the weather forecast. In the spring this route may
need to
be climbed in the night to attain cold-enough snow for safe-enough
ascension.
From
the left or more western approach to the east face which is most ideal
is moderate or low avalanche danger, approach as for the Notchtop Spire
Spiral Route, but break off the climbers trail before Notchtop
and head
towards a large boulder at the bottom left (SE) of the E face.
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Location
The
approach to the Notchtop Spire starts at the Bear Lake trailhead at
9450' in the heart of Rocky Mountain National Park.
Follow
the trail
heading north towards Lake Helene in the Ptarmagin Valley, and once you
are near the shores of Two-Rivers Lake, take the climbers trails up the
middle of the valley until high enough to traverse past the big
.
The
Ptarmagin Glacier
sits at the top of the PtarmaginValley with the north face of
Flattop Mtn. and the Ptarmagin Couloirs standing guard just a few
hundred meters across this tight
and surrounded by steep walls and spires.
The
base of the route is at approx.
10,800' and tops out just above 12,000'.
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P1-
40m (WI2) Climb WI2 or M1 up to a fixed
anchor on the right that is somewhat sheltered from falling ice on the
next pitch.
P2
- 30m (WI3) Climb the ice step which can also be
protected on the left
side with #1 & #2 Camalots and belay immediately
above from a rock
anchor.
Above this pitch climb steep snow (50 degrees) for
60m to the bottom of the next ice flow.
P3-
45m (WI2) Climb the water ice and belay
in the rock or with screws at the top of the ice.
Once
again, it can help to do a short pitch on snow for 30m up and right to
the side of the next flow to provide enough rope for the
pitch and to
keep the belayer out of the way of falling ice.
P4
- 450 (WI3) Finish up on this
hopefully fat flow and make a rock anchor at the top on the right
Above
here, aim for the ridgecrest taking the path of least resistance by
either pitching, simul-climbing (with protection) or soloing to the
ridge crest by heading left after reaching the obvious rock island in
the middle of the upper bowl.
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There are often decent fixed
anchors that are accessible for rappelling through the crux pitches of
this relatively steep route.

Jonathon
spitzer launching into
the second (WI3) pitch
(photo
courtesy of Mike Soucy)
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Rescue
services will take a while here and contacting "911" resources could be
the crux of an adventure gone bad. Winter conditions can
quickly kill
an exposed and immobile person, especially one who is bleeding or
broken. Emergency and bivy gear should be considered along
with
communications equipment in any alpine winter backcountry
adventure.
Tell a responsible person where you are going and
when you plan to
return so that they might initiate a search for you and contact
the National Park Service who coordinate all rescues
in Rocky Mountain
National Park.
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Descent
From
the top of the route, the goal is to cross over the ridgecrest
in to
the descent gully on the opposite (west) face of Notchtop. To
locate
the descent gully, climb up to the obvious rock island in the
middle of
the bowl, then left to the ridge and descent
gully.
If
avalanche
conditions are problematic in the couloir or if you are looking for a
non-technical but longer walk-off descent, climb up to the ridge
crest
then up towards the summit of Knobtop but slightly
left to connect
together snow gullys to the upper plateau.
Be
careful in this area to
avoid potentially loaded areas as this entire
area along the east
face is lee and cross-loaded terrain. Reach the
Knobtop spur then head
west towards the Continental Divide and Ptarmagin Point
to join the
Flattop Mountain trail for an easy walk down to the Bear Lake parking
lot.
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The
east south and west faces of notchtop showing the rappel route from the
notch and the routes to the ridgecrest.
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Equipment
A
small rock rack including #3 and #2 camalots would be helpful and 6-7
screws should be adequate to protect these pitches and to set-up
adequate belay anchors.
A
single 60m rope should be enough unless
there is a chance that the route will be rappelled (not ideal), in
which case a "tag-line" or other two-rope system will be necessary to
make the rappels long enough to reach the few fixed anchors in place
and the few bands of rock where anchors would be possible to build.
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