Hallett Peak

Other routes I've climbed on Hallett: 
Better Than Love (5.9, 7p)    •    Culp-Bossier (5.8, 8p)    •    Englishman's Route (5.8, 6p)     •    Jackin' the Johnson (5.11c, 8p)     •    Jackson-Johnson (5.9, 9p)    •    Northcutt-Carter (5.10b, 7p)    •    Winter hike (snowy)
Category: Colorado (RMNP)Summit Elev: 12,713 ft (note: the top of the route is not the summit)Rock Type: Gneiss & Biotite Schist
This page contains three trip reports:

1.

Date: July 18, 2018 (Wed)Trip Report #: 302Partners: Dow Williams & Tristyn Butler

2.

Date: July 3, 2024 (Wed)Trip Report #: 707Partner: Erin Houlihan

Route: Culp-Bossier (5.8, 8p) 

One of the classic moderate climbs in RMNP.

Route Overlay

Trip Report #1 (July 2018)

(first time climbing Culp-Bossier on Hallett)

If the content appears to be truncated here, you may need to put your cursor in the region of text above the red line and scroll down to see more!

Trip Report #2 (July 2024)

(second time climbing Culp-Bossier on Hallett)

Intro

In the six years since I had first climbed Hallett by Culp-Bossier, I had climbed five other routes to the top, but Culp-Bossier still stood out as my favorite. So when my friend Erin and I were trying to decide on a good early-summer climb to do together, and she mentioned she had not yet climbed Culp-Bossier, we decided that would be a fun route to do. Indeed it was!

The approach took us 1 hour 15 minutes. The climb took 4 hours and 3 minutes (which included some time waiting at a couple belays due to a friendly party ahead of us, who eventually kindly let us pass). We were back at the car by around 1pm. Plenty of time to squeeze in a few hours of work in the afternoon!

The following gives pitch-by-pitch photos from our climb. It was a bluebird day, and no better place to be than climbing in RMNP.

Pitch-by-Pitch Photos

Approach

2nd

From Bear Lake Trailhead, follow the trail to Emerald Lake. Go left around the lake, scrambling through talus and then on a climbers' trail under the base of the wall. The route starts about midway through the second buttress, at a white/pink band of rock at the base of the wall and under and just right of a huge right-facing dihedral.

Approach.
Morning alpenglow on Hallett.
Perfect bars are like eating compressed peanut butter and honey. Yum.
At the base of the route. We had to wait a bit because there was a party just starting up the route when we arrived.

Pitch 1

5.6

Climb through the pink band and follow a right-facing corner for 40 feet. Traverse right along a narrow grassy ledge to a crack, then climb to a higher ledge and belay.

Looking up Pitch 1 from the base of the route. Because of a snowfield at the base, the party ahead of us in the photo had done a minipitch to below the corner, and put their climbing shoes on there. We followed suit.
Minipitch to get off the snow and onto the route.
Erin leading Pitch 1.
Two of many pitons en route.
Crux fingercrack on Pitch 1. This section always feels a bit more like 5.8 than 5.6.

Pitch 2

5.5

Continue straight up through the notch above, then work up and left to the base of a right-facing dihedral.

Pitch 2 fun.
One of many pitons en route.

Pitch 3

5.8

Climb the dihedral to a white roof, climb up and right on a ramp past fixed pins, turn a small roof, and continue up the subsequent dihedral to a stance.

The party ahead of us on Pitch 3. 
One of many pitons en route.
Cute pink/purple flowers en route.

Pitch 4

5.4

Head up and left through short corners and belay just left of "The Nose" on a grassy ledge.

Climb left over the arete.

Pitch 5

5.6

Climb a small left-facing corner and the face above to a stance at the bottom of a left-facing dihedral.

Looking up the pitch.

Pitch 6

5.6

Climb the dihedral, then climb rightwards across the face to a belay on top of a giant block.

Erin climbing up the dihedral at the start of the ptich.
On the second half of the pitch, climb rightwards across indistinct terrain.
Piton at the belay on top of the block. I took a photo of this piton in 2018 as well.

Pitch 7

5.8

Climb the face just left of a right-facing dihedral and then climb steep cracks to a stance.

Climb up.
Some wetness on the pitch. This pitch is probably often wet in early summer.

Pitch 8

5.8

Either climb directly up through the slot or traverse right across face to a crack. Either way goes right of the big right-facing corner. Go all the way to the top of the wall.

We climbed directly up through the slot. This was fun. In 2018, we had traversed right onto the face.

Top!


The route finishes on the shoulder of Hallett, rather than the summit.

At the top!

Descent


From the top of the route, hike downwards along the ridge, following cairns. At the end of the last big buttress before a big descent to the next one, look for the chains that mark the first rappel. Make two raps (single 60). Then scramble down a gully eastward, and then jog back westward and scramble down a gully to the base of the Second Buttress. You end up a few hundred feet below the start of the route (5 minutes back to base). 

Starting the descet down the shoulder of Hallett.
Two rappels from bolted anchors on the descent.
Alpine columbine.
The Emerald Lake Zoo. I count about 90 people in this photo. 
The hike out is only as fast as the slowest tourist.

previous and next adventures

(July 2018)
(July 2024)