The Spearhead
Date: August 30, 2021 (Mon)Trip Report #: 498Partner: Nate Beckwith
Route: Spear Me the Details (5.11d, 9p)
A difficult route up one of the big faces in RMNP.
Intro
Spear Me the Details takes a steep line up the middle of The Spearhead. The route offers a variety of climbing, but the crux pitches focus on steep bolted face and techy corners.
At the time of this climb, I had climbed several other routes on The Spearhead (Sykes Sickle, The Barb, Age Axe, All Two Obvious, Scimitar + Stone Monkey). I enjoyed all of these climbs, all of which gave me a favorable impression of the quality of both the alpine granite and the climbing on Spearhead. Remaining on my to-climb list was Spear Me the Details, reputed to be one of the best routes on the wall. However, several of the pitches were beyond my leading comfort zone. But Nate Beckwith was interested in this route and willing to do the leading, so off we went for a day of adventure. It was a late summer day and the weather was perfect. We both highly enjoyed the day on the rock, and found the climbing quite challenging, with the crux sections being the 10b slab on Pitch 2, the 11d bolted face on Pitch 5, and the 11b techy corner on Pitch 6. Nate led all of the hard pitches. He took an exciting 15 foot whipper on the techy corner of Pitch 6 while trying to fiddle an RP into an old pin scar, but led the route clean. Nice job Nate! I admit to using a couple of slings for holds on the 11d crux, but otherwise followed cleanly without hanging or falling. Challenging but awesome day on the rock!
The following page provides a trip report for the climb. Enjoy!
Time Stats
Glacier Gorge Trailhead to base of route: 2 hours 40 minutes
Climb route: 7 hours 25 minutes
Descend: 40 minutes
Hike back to trailhead: 2 hours 23 minutes
Total car-to-car (includes breaks): 14 hours 10 minutes
Route Overlay
Pitch-by-Pitch Photos
Approach
2nd
Hike Glacier Gorge trail to Black Lake and continue up into basin below base of Spearhead.
(The approach is short enough that the route can easily be done car to car, but the basin below Spearhead is a beautiful spot and there are some awesome bivy caves, so it is worth an overnight if you have the time.)
Pitch 0
~5.7
(pitch count starts at Middle Earth Ledge as per guidebook description of route)Do the initial pitch to reach Middle Earth Ledge (there is more than one way to get to Middle Earth Ledge - we climbed up the first pitch of Sykes Sickle since this way is the most direct).
Pitch 1
5.easy
Scramble up to the bottom of a short, left-facing dihedral about 50 feet right of the Eye of Mordor. You can climb this pitch from the left or right depending on the approach pitch you took.
Pitch 2
5.8+
Continue with moderate rock to the base of a left-facing pillar, then jam and lieback the pillar. The last 20 feet widens up and is unprotected, but positive edges make for secure liebacking if you can commit to it.
Pitch 3
5.10b
Angle left past a piton, and then climb up through a hole feature, and further up to a slab, where a bolt protects the crux on the pitch. There is some real climbing here. Go up to a flake, traverse right across featured face, and move up a shallow crack to a stance below a long, small roof band.
Pitch 4
5.10
Climb to the roof band, and breach it at its narrowest point with a mantle. There is a bolt here. Hand traverse left, then climb up to a belay below a roof-topped corner. The guidebook listed this pitch as 10d but we found it no harder than 5.9+.
Pitch 5
5.11d
Pop over the roof, then work right along three bolts and a pin. Ascend a thin flake and scratch past four more bolts to a left-facing corner. Belay here or continue on to link with Pitch 6 for an amazing 160 foot lead. We linked the pitches.
Pitch 6
5.11b
Follow the corner, move right on bolts and take another corner with fixed pins to its top. A couple of small c3s and maybe even a small ballnut may be nice to protect the old pin scars (pins are now gone).
Pitch 7
5.8
Continue with the left-facing dihedral system to a belay on top of a column.
Pitch 8
5.9 R or 5.10b
Face climb (5.9 R) down and left to a dihedral. Climb up and to the top. The guidebook mentions climbing directly left but it seemed safer for both leader and follower to go down and left to access the dihedral. The direct finish (10b) climbs straight up past two bolts to a seam and takes the seam to a short right-facing corner/summit crack.
Top!
Scramble to the top, or begin the descent. Both Nate and I had already been to the top of Spearhead before and it was a school night for me, so we opted to just start the descent.
Descent
There are three descent options I know of: (1) Rappel back to the base in 5 raps with double ropes, starting at the anchor at the top of the final pitch of All Two Obvious. (2) Descend the E/SE side (3rd-4th) back down to the NE Side of Spearhead. (3) Scramble down 3rd class slopes on the SW side. We chose to descend the E/SE side, which seemed the quickest way back around to the base of the route where we had left our stuff.
