Cheap Date [1st Apron]

This route is on the 1st Apron (left one) from Summit Lake Cirque. This route sketchily described in Peter Hubbel's Front Range Crags. It is an interesting adventure, is bigger than you might guess, and climbs steeper than it looks. It requires a 30 minute approach. Due to fair bit of snow, the start can vary.

P1. We traversed in from the left towards the obvious, big, left-facing dihedral. This 1st pitch (?300 feet) involved a bit of simul-climbing on low-angled slab with spots of 5.7 R to a belay near an overlap. There is a pin near here.

P2. We went up and left into a crack to a stance. Here decipher a perplexing, runout slab 5.9 to a ledge, traverse right into a dihedral which can be alpine (a bit loose and licheny), 160 feet. #2 and #3 Friends are useful at this semi-hanging belay.

P3. Fire up dihedral to a ledge with fixed wires, up a steep section to a semihanging belay in a sort-of nook below a bulging bit. Wires and #3.5 & #1.5 Friends are useful for belay.

P4. The crux is on this pitch & is listed as 5.7 in the "topo." Steep crack/face climbing off the belay that feels 9+ gets you to a 5.7 overhanging, offwidth/dihedral at nearly 14,000 feet. A #5 Camalot(s) is useful here unless you have great arm bar & heel toe technique. Suddenly, it eases off as you wonder what the heck you ate to make that 5.7 feel so... um... er... challenging.

P5-7 or 8. Climb about 600 feet more of easy rock to the top.

It is about 1400 feet of roped climbing in all. There is a fair bit of fixed gear on the route, probably from someone's epic.

Yep, a wee bit harder than the 2nd or 3rd Apron. Hitchhike or walk down the hiking trail to the left.

Wires, cams - tiniest Aliens to #5 Camalot. A second #5 Camalot might be comforting. 200 foot ropes.