Denver Seminary

If confession is good for the soul, let me bring some healing to my core by stating that I have been negligent. Yes, I have failed to take advantage of winter climbing for the past few months. A home renovation project and cycling have pulled me away from a lot of winter fun. I am contrite and ready to get back at it.

Atlantic Peak is located north of Leadville and is on the list of Colorado's "Highest 100" peaks—ranked #87 at 13,841 feet. There is an easy route up the east side and a more exposed challenging route up the west ridge. I opted for the west route.

The upside of a 13er is the low volume of climbers compared to a 14er. 13ers do not have the appeal/allure of a 14er, so there is much more solitude on these "smaller" siblings. In the winter this translates into more effort because folks are not breaking trail on the approach—as was the case with Atlantic.

Here is Atlantic on the left just as the sun was coming up...it was a brisk 5 degrees.

Look closely at the saw tooth ridge that connects Atlantic on the left and Fletcher on the right. There is some 5.9 climbing on that beast.

Breaking trail

Treeline at 12,000 feet and where I (and the Wayward Bottle in my mitts) turned around. The snow was waist deep and I kept punching through with snow shoes. It took about 4 hours to cover 3/4 of a mile. The peak over my head is Fletcher Peak.

On the return...Yes, that's me...extracting my legs...again!

Well, I will need to return to this beauty!