A Tale of Two Beanstalks
Fairy Tale Wall
I recently had two fun adventures up on the route “Beanstalk” on Pikes Peak. Located on the Fairy Tale Wall, just past mile 13 in Glen Cove on the Pikes Peak Highway. It offers some great alpine training with a short approach and is close to town.
Lately, I haven't had much time to venture out very far from Colorado Springs, so I’ve been sticking close to town, generally within an hours drive. This isn’t a bad thing. There is a lot to do within that range. With temps high, and trying to improve my mixed climbing, I’ve been frequenting Hully Gully and was ready to get back into the alpine for the first time since Jake and I did the Liberty Traverse back in September. Being busy during the weekends with a lack of flexibility in my schedule, I was gonna have to stick to some rope soloing, landing on the route “Beanstalk”. With 3 pitches of M4 rated climbing, as well as the first ascent being a winter rope solo by Phil Wortmann, I thought it might be a good one to check out.
A rough topo of the route and where we belayed.
With low snow levels, little post holing was required, making a less than 20 minute approach from the road. I hoped this would make up for my late start to the day. I started up the initial steep snow and found some good cracks for anchoring and setting up the system. The first pitch was described as runout, so I brought a wide assortment of gear to try to protect it as well as I could. It starts off easy before ramping up. I got one last piece in before stepping over to a somewhat slabby section with small ledges for crampon front points right where you needed them. It was a good 20 feet or so before I was able to get some passive protection in, and moving slowly and thoughtfully was key.
A good rest ledge then led to the crux section of the pitch, and the route. Engaging moves with picks and feet, with the occasional hand jam thrown in, brought me to a dual off-width. I put the tools aside and grunted up. Traversing right leads to a nice ledge and the first belay, 190’ off the ground. This pitch took me a while. Rope soloing can be slow, and throwing in crampons, tools, snow, and gear makes it even slower. I spent time making sure I had good protection and that my system was running smoothly when I needed it to. I realized I probably wouldn’t have time to make it all the way to the top, especially if the next pitches took just as long. I rappelled down, cleaned my bottom anchor, and ended up Top Rope soloing the pitch back up to clean the gear. Doing the pitch a second time, this time unincumbered by the lead rope soloing setup, I got to enjoy the climbing more. It is a fun, and long pitch!
About to head down from the belay ledge on top of the first pitch.
I retreated down and back to the car, not wanting to risk missing the highway gate closure at 5pm. Despite not finishing the route, it was a good day. I feel I have really started to nail the Rope Solo system down, and have greatly improved my mixed climbing confidence over the past few winters. But, I wanted to come back and finish it. I enjoy alpine days much more with a partner.
Fast forward a week later, and I had talked with Spencer, another poor soul who enjoys winter climbing. He was down to check out the route with me, and I found myself back at the base of the route tied in. This time with a real belay!
Coming into the off-width of P1
Spencer coming up P1, crossing over just after the off width.
Being the third time up the pitch, knowing where the gear went helped speed things up, but the climbing was still just as engaging. After reaching the belay ledge, I extended out my anchor to see below. I got to watch Spencer enjoy some Pikes Peak granite despite some cold hands!
The second pitch starts off with some well protected cracks right off the belay, and then quickly turns into some fun rambling up to a chockstone and the third pitch chimney. This pitch was much easier and faster, and with more snow would be different. But it gets you higher up to enjoy the views below and the intimidating chimney above.
Spencer almost to the P2 Belay.
Looking up at the Pitch 3 chimney. A great bivy cave can be found here.
Setting off for P3 required a high step over the chockstone our anchor was in (don’t kick the belayer!). Then came the chimney. It’s fitting to do this route around Christmas. With a pack on, I felt just like Santa, but with more sharp objects. Some more chockstones brought us to the top out and a set of rappel chains down into the Right Flying Pig. This pitch was the highlight of the route!
Surmounting chockstones above the chimney.
Spencer finished out a short section over to the rap chains, and we took in the views of Woodland Park and the South Platte. From this vantage, you can see features like Turkey Rocks and Devils Head all the way to Rocky Mountain National Park and Denver.
A 34m rappel from the chains get you down into the Right Three Little Pigs couloir, and to another set of bolts. I would like to come back and climb the Right Little Pig, and if we had a bit more time, would be a great way to finish the day(darn short gate window!). With low snow, it looks like some fun chockstone problems with some cruisier couloir in between. In the conditions it is in now, it’s hard to imagine that some people ski it…
Rapping into the Three Little Pigs
After the two rappels, we walked down the shallow snow slopes and packed up. Spencer took in the moment with a victory cigar, which made for some great photos.
I’ll admit, I had much more fun doing this with a partner than rope soloing. Rope soloing can be quite rewarding, and also frustrating at times. It is a different experience, that’s for sure. It allows you to climb when the alternative would be to not climb…how sad would that be? Although, I can’t imagine walking up to this wall, with no beta on the route, and questing up into the unknown! Spencer was a blast to climb with, and these past few weeks have left me excited for future adventures.
