Pyramid Peak

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/25/2022, By: Msbaker
Info: Started at 4:45 AM from the overnight parking lot. Summer conditions all the way. Only the one snow field in the amphitheater that requires crossing and it is solid and doesn't require spikes. The hike up the slope to reach the Northeast Ridge is incredibly steep but decently marked. However, be aware of the various goat paths as they can lead you astray. Speaking of, once you reach the ridge you will encounter the goats. They will likely follow you up and down the mountain, like they did for us. At one point, one of our group peed and three of them mad scrambled down (from up above) in a steep and dangerous section, kicking down rocks on us in the process in order to get to the spot to lick it. So might be a better idea to hold it. Back to the route....you will get your fair share of class three and four moves as you continue to ascend the standard route, coupled with significant exposure. There is a small leap of faith (3 feet) on the standard route as well. The green rock section is solid and the final push was manageable. Beautiful summit views and overall awesome mountain. Just be aware that rockfalls will happen and they will not necessarily be man made. Was back down to the overnight parking lot by 1:00 PM, and we spent a good thirty minutes on the peak hanging with our new furry friends. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/22/2022, By: Cygnus X1
Info: Same peak conditions as the last report. Heads up if you will be camping at Crater Lake, there is at least one active bear at the campsites. My partner and I saw one Tuesday afternoon next to site #3. Then on Wednesday afternoon my partner saw one rummaging through our neighbor's gear at site #7 and it took off with a shoe. He couldn't tell if it was the same bear. The one we saw Tuesday might be a repeat offender because it was sporting a tracking collar. Make sure you're complying with the bear canister requirement! 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/14/2022, By: Baliwp00
Info: Departed the Maroon Lake TH at 6:06am. Perfect weather. Cairn for the turn off is large and hard to miss, about a mile up the trail. The trail up the amphitheater is well-defined and maintained. Narrow tongue of snow at the base of the amphitheater which would be easier to climb than the loose talus. Would recommend microspikes/YakTrax for the snow. Slow slog up and across the rocks to the base of the steep couloir leading the ridge. It is full of loose rock and is indeed very steep. Made it up to the ridge to be greeted by the first of many mountain goats. Route-finding along the ridge is reasonably easy and the crossover to the leap of faith and ledge wasn't hard to find. Traverse to the green wall is well-marked, a somewhat uneventful climb to this point. I found the green wall to be stable and easy to climb but I lost the standard route towards the top. I found myself climbing pretty difficult class 4 with exposure to attempt to regain the trail. Finally arrived back at the standard route with about 150' left to the summit. Easy climb from there with mountain goats leading the way. Summited at 10:16am with beautiful views and weather holding steady. More mountain goats at the summit, one approaching VERY closely before I kindly asked it to back away. Down climb was arduous but was at least able to find the standard route back down to the top of the green wall. Pretty uneventful for the rest of the descent except the slog across the amphitheater was so much worse with shredded quads. Arrived back at the TH at 1:40pm and shuttled back to the Aspen Highlands lot. Including myself, a total of 7 people summited that day. Pretty quiet out there! Excellent climb, beautiful views and one hell of an adventure! I should mention… I called the ranger station the day before to find out what exactly the policy was for drop offs/arrival times. He told me that drop offs between 6am-8am were fine, any earlier than that, no one is manning the station. My wife dropped me off just before 6am and we just slipped right past the station. Had a ticket for the bus on the way down. Picked up at Highlands. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/10/2022, By: MountainBuhn
Info: Started at 11:15 from the shuttle drop off. Beautiful day for an afternoon climb. Hot as I've ever felt on a 14er though. Nearly 65 at the peak. Amphitheater was kinder than expected. Steep gully is about as bad as expected. Easier than I thought going down. I think the terrain after the leap is a bit overhyped. I personally thought the route finding and rock between the saddle and leap were actually really bad and dangerous. We just didn't find the cairns. Green gully is loose but small rock. Above that there is a bit of class four moves but in between are nice landings which shield from falling rock and are nice break points. We generally stayed on the ridge after the green gully only moving left occasionally to keep it easy class 4. Pup made it up just fine with the occasional butt shove and help from class 4 sections. Finished at 8pm and hitch hiked a ride from a generous local back to Highlands parking. Real calf burner 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/5/2022, By: cloudkicker
Info: Mostly summer conditions. Minimal snow left on the route, and not enough to require spikes or make things more difficult. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/5/2022, By: demmons1
Info: 95% summer conditions. Two very small (less than 15ft) of traverse on snow still required. Snow is well post holed thus no microspikes, ice axe or crampons required (unless the extra weight is your thing). Talus field in the amphitheater is no joke. Be prepared for a long slog through the talus up/down. It drains the life from your soul. Ugh. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/24/2022, By: alpinenut
Info: Snow in the amphitheater that can be avoided but it's much easier to just put spikes on and cruise up the middle. There was one sketchy snow crossing we did right before the Green Rock. Did it without spikes but should have put them on. We did use ice axes and we were really glad we did. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/17/2022, By: JCar029
Info: Summited Pyramid today, June 17th. Definitely not summer conditions. There's a pretty sizeable cornice shortly after the scree slope and a few others during the cliffs traverse that made me glad I brought the axe. The green rock is completely snow free, but wet in spots. Me and my climbing buddy were the only ones up there. 

Route: Landry line via Banana couloir
Posted On: 5/1/2022, By: SnowAlien
Info: Good stability after a strong freeze (East face warmed up fast ~10am). Beautiful climb and weather. Very steep near the summit. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 12/23/2021, By: Will_E
Info: Went back to Pyramid today to get a winter ascent, day tripped it from the road closure. Lots more snow than 2 weeks ago around the bells, Maroon creek road is now completely snowed in, and well groomed. One of the groomers offered me a ride down this evening, but that seemed like cheating so I declined. Snow below treeline was deep and soft, Amphitheater was easy to get through. Hardest part of the day was from Leap of Faith to summit, the snow was just ridiculous, took forever to get through, I needed crampons from there to summit, kept them on until getting down to the amphitheater. Glad to have this snowflake behind me. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 12/5/2021, By: Will_E
Info: Summitted Pyramid today, I backpacked in to Crater Lake Friday night, got an early start this morning. Maroon Creek road is closed, its around 6 miles to Maroon lake, but the road is mostly dry. I was in snowshoes from the start, kept them on about a 1/3 of the way through the amphitheater. The snow through treeline was tough and exhausting. From there to summit I didn't use any traction, some tough moves to get to summit, there's a lot of snow up high on Pyramid. I put crampons on at summit for the trip down, wore them until reaching the amphitheater. Long hard day. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 11/9/2021, By: amitchell
Info: We did not summit due to high avalanche risk in the valley of the amphitheater caused by wind slabs. I took a single step that caused a 100ft crack to propagate through the snow. We turned around immediately. This valley sees near 24/7 shade and consistently heavy gusts during this time of year, so do not rely on avalanche forecasts. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 9/30/2021, By: fugueofbach
Info: About 2 inches of snow starting a few hundred below the amphitheater from this last storm today. Didn't go further than the high point of it before turning back. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 9/18/2021, By: ericd01
Info: Midnight-to-midnight parking permits easy to get now. The snow-free September conditions offer a modest 4hr ascent. Various routes across amphitheater, then 1000' of loose couloir up to the 'ridge of the goats'. Light rain showers dampen the rotten red rock but manageable through cliff bands. A rugged green zebra wall to the top of the pyramid! 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 8/9/2021, By: constipated_pete
Info: Lots of goats on the trail looking to lick pee off rocks, and they're very inconsiderate about knocking rocks down on you as they follow you around. Went for a tactical pee-and-run to get some off our tails on the descent.