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Spearhead, The Barb (5.10, 8-10p)

The Spearhead

Route:

The Barb

5.10, 8-10p

This route is the definition of enjoyable climb: awesome bivy, stunning views, and over 1000 feet of climbing on great alpine granite. One of the most popular alpine rock climbs in RMNP. So good I have climbed it three and a half times. The third time climbing this route we cut left onto The Kingfisher after Pitch 5 for a fun link-up of pitches we called "The Barbfisher".

Region: Colorado

Elev: 12,575 ft

Rock type: Granite

Type:

Trip Report 1:

The Barb to summit

Date(s): July 9&10, 2019 (Tue&Wed)

Partner(s): Doug Hutchinson

Trip Report 2:

The Barb to summit

Date(s): September 5, 2022 (Mon)

Partner(s): Nate Arganbright

Trip Report 3:

"The Barbfisher" to top of Barb Flake

Date(s): September 1, 2024 (Sun)

Partner(s): Nate Arganbright

Trip Report 4:

The Barb to top of Barb Flake

Date(s): September 16, 2024 (Mon)

Partner(s): Will Starks

Related trip reports:

The Spearhead, Age Axe (5.10b, 6p)

The Spearhead, All Two Obvious (5.11d, 8p)

The Spearhead, East Prow (5.9+/10b, 6p)

The Spearhead, The Kingfisher (5.11, 7p)

The Spearhead, North Ridge (5.6-5.8, 6-8p)

The Spearhead, Scimitar + Stone Monkey (5.12a, 5p)

The Spearhead, Spear Me the Details (5.11d, 9p)

The Spearhead, Sykes' Sickle (5.9+, 7p)

The Spearhead, South Ridge (3rd) to SE Ramp (4th) on "Glacier Gorge 5-2+1 Traverse" (Arrowhead to Spearhead) (4 summits, rock up to 4th)

Route Overlay

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Trip Reports for The Barb

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Intro

Spearhead is the striking spire of granite in the center of the cirque above Black Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Its 800-foot northeast face is reputed to have some of the best rock in the Park, featuring flakes, thin cracks, and face climbing. Two of the most popular routes on the striking northeast face are Sykes' Sickle (5.9+) and The Barb (5.10b). On a brief trip to RMNP in 2014, my partner and I climbed Sykes' Sickle. I had made a note to return and climb The Barb someday. That someday came five years later, shortly after I had moved to Boulder in July 2019. My friend Doug was visiting from Seattle and was eager to do the climb as well.

The Barb climbs to the top of the Barb Flake in 8 pitches. The top of the Barb Flake meets up with the North Ridge, so the route finishes on the last two pitches of the North Ridge route to the summit. Doug and I though it was indeed an excellent route. If someone asked me which route they should climb on Spearhead, I would have difficulty choosing a favorite between Sykes' Sickle and The Barb; in the end, I would just recommend climbing both at some point, since they were both great routes.

The overall adventure was made even better because we decided to bivy in the basin below Spearhead. This is probably the best bivy spot in the Park.

The following page gives photos from the 2-day adventure.

Time Stats

Hike to bivy below base: 3:10
Bivy to base of climb: 0:09
Climb: 5:40
Descent top to bivy: 0:48
Hike to car: 2:40

Pitch-by-Pitch Photos

Approach

2nd

Hike Glacier Gorge trail to Black Lake and continue up into basin below base of The 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 1

5.6 or 5.8, 160'

Climb the left (5.6) or right (5.8) side of the flake. Continue to the lower tier of Middle Earth Ledge.

Pitch 2

4th, 130'

Scramble up to upper tier of Middle Earth Ledge and traverse 50 feet let to belay at a flake. (Without the final traverse, it is possible to link this with Pitch 1 with a 70.)

Pitch 3

5.4, 120'

Wander up the face and climb a left-leaning 16-inch slot and belay at its top.

Pitch 4

5.6, 100'

Move left on face moves and climb the left of two right-facing corners.

Pitch 5

5.9, 110'

Climb a left-leaning thin crack and belay on a ledge beneath a roof.

Pitch 6

5.9, 130'

Climb up a corner to the left, and then through an A-shaped roof and follow a crack to a stance in a left-facing corner. A better belay is to continue up and right to a comfortable ledge below a 5.9+ crack leading into the crux crack of Pitch 7.

Pitch 7

5.10b, 150'

Start up the corner, then move right into a crack angling up and right. The crux is some thin moves protected by a piton. End at a belay on the crest of the Barb Flake.

Pitch 8

5.7

Climb straight up a crack through a small roof and then go up a ramp for about 40 feet. Step right around the edge of the Barb Flake at a tiny horn and get onto the North Ridge route. Alternatively, climb runnout but easy face all the way to the top of the Barb Flake and then execute an exposed and somewhat tricky downclimb to the notch.

Pitches 9&10

5.6

Climb the last two pitches of the North Ridge route.

Top

12,575 ft

Yay! One of the coolest summits in RMNP.

Descent

3rd or 4th

From the summit, scramble down 3rd class scree slopes on SW side or down a 4th class ramp on the SE side.

Intro

After a rather wet summer, September had arrived with a splitter forecast—warmer and sunnier than it had been for weeks. For Labor Day weekend, Nate and I snatched this late-season opportunity to spend a few days in the alpine. I secured a bivy permit for Upper Glacier Gorge (need to be climbing a route that is at least four pitches to qualify for a bivy permit), and Nate and I bivied up there for three nights (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights) below The Spearhead. (As a sidenote, after this Labor Day weekend trip, I realized that Nate and I had spent a total of 20 nights bivying in RMNP in Summer 2022.) Nate and I climbed three routes: Bequeathed (5.10d, 6p) on Arrowhead, The Kingfisher (5.11, 7p) on The Spearhead, and The Barb (5.10b, 10p) on The Spearhead. We also enjoyed a couple of sunny afternoons hanging out in this spectacular area.

This page gives a trip report for The Barb on The Spearhead, the third of three climbs during our Labor Day weekend in Upper Glacier Gorge. This route has become one of the most popular alpine rock climbs in RMNP. I had climbed it just after I had moved to Boulder in 2019, and it was well worth climbing again.

The following gives pitch-by-pitch photos of my second time climbing The Barb, and below that a photo smorgasbord from our three-day, three-night Labor Day weekend hanging out in Upper Glacier Gorge. Enjoy!

Time Stats

Bivy to base of route: 12 minutes
Climb route (base to summit): 3 hours 13 minutes
Descent (summit to bivy): 47 minutes
Total camp-to-camp (includes breaks): 4 hours 17 minutes

Pitch-by-Pitch Photos

Approach

2nd

Hike Glacier Gorge trail to Black Lake and continue up into basin below base of The Spearhead.

Pitch 1

5.6 or 5.8, 160'

Climb the left (5.6) or right (5.8) side of the flake. Continue to the lower tier of Middle Earth Ledge.

Pitch 2

4th, 130'

Scramble up to upper tier of Middle Earth Ledge and traverse 50 feet let to belay at a flake. (Without the final traverse, it is possible to link this with Pitch 1 with a 70.)

Pitch 3

5.4, 120'

Wander up the face and climb a left-leaning 16-inch slot and belay at its top.

Pitch 4

5.6, 100'

Move left on face moves and climb the left of two right-facing corners.

Pitch 5

5.9, 110'

Climb a left-leaning thin crack and belay on a ledge beneath a roof.

Pitch 6

5.9, 130'

Pitch 7

5.10b, 150'

Start up the corner, then move right into a crack angling up and right. The crux is some thin moves protected by a piton. End at a belay on the crest of the Barb Flake.

Pitch 8

5.7

Pitches 9&10

5.6

Climb the last two pitches of the North Ridge route.

Top

12,575 ft

Yay! One of the coolest summits in RMNP.

Descent

3rd or 4th

From the summit, scramble down 3rd class scree slopes on SW side or down a 4th class ramp on the SE side.

Other Photos

It was Labor Day weekend and the forecast was for splitter weather, so Nate and I snatched the opportunity to spend three days and three nights in the spectacular Upper Glacier Gorge. We had secured a bivy permit for Upper Glacier Gorge (need to be climbing a route that is at least 4 pitches to qualify for a bivy permit), and we bivied up there for three nights (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights) below The Spearhead. What a spectacular place to hang out for the long weekend.

Our bivy

Upper Glacier Gorge has some of the best bivy locations in RMNP. We stayed at what I decided to call the "Under the Dome" bivy, which is a roomy cavern under a giant boulder. This is one of the coolest spots to bivy in the area, but it is usually filled with snow or ice until late in the summer. Earlier in the summer, Nate and I had made a note to try to return to Glacier Gorge in the late summer and stay at this bivy once the snow inside had melted. We were glad we got the opportunity to do so!

Scenery

Upper Glacier Gorge is a picturesque place.

Flora and Fauna

Early September is usually when the mountains start to display the transition between summer and fall. We enjoyed late-summer wildflowers and early fall colors.

Rocks

I've always been fascinated by rocks (my undergraduate degree is in geology, in fact). Nate took several rock photos too.

Hiking

I've always been fascinated by rocks (my undergraduate degree is in geology, in fact). Nate took several rock photos too.

Intro

After another rather wet summer, September had arrived with a splitter forecast—warmer and sunnier than it had been for weeks. For Labor Day weekend, Nate and I snatched this late-season opportunity to spend a few days in the alpine. I secured a bivy permit for Upper Glacier Gorge (need to be climbing a route that is at least four pitches to qualify for a bivy permit), and Nate and I bivied up there for two nights (Friday and Saturday nights) below The Spearhead.

Due to the splitter forecast and an expired national park pass, I cleared up my Friday schedule and decided to head up to Glacier Gorge in the early morning, secure our favorite bivy site, and do a traverse over Arrowhead - McHenrys - Chiefs Head - Spearhead, arriving back at the bviy around the time Nate arrived. On Saturday, Nate and I climbed Sykes' Sickle (5.9+, 7p). On Sunday we climbed what we called "The Barbfisher" (5.11a, 8p)—a link-up of the first 5 pitches of The Barb with the last 2.5 pitches of The Kingfisher. We also enjoyed a couple of sunny afternoons hanging out in this spectacular area.

This page gives a trip report for "The Barbfisher" on The Spearhead. What a fun link-up of pitches.

The following gives pitch-by-pitch photos of "The Barbfisher", and below that a photo smorgasbord from our three-day, two-night Labor Day weekend hanging out in Upper Glacier Gorge. Enjoy!

Time Stats

Bivy to base of route: 20 minutes
Climb route (base to top of Barb Flake): 3 hours 20 minutes
Descent (top of Barb Flake to ground): 45 minutes

Pitch-by-Pitch Photos

Approach

2nd

Hike Glacier Gorge trail to Black Lake and continue up into basin below base of The Spearhead.

Pitch 1

5.6 or 5.8, 160'

The Barb

Climb the left (5.6) or right (5.8) side of the flake. Continue to the lower tier of Middle Earth Ledge.

Pitch 2

4th, 130'

The Barb

Scramble up to upper tier of Middle Earth Ledge and traverse 50 feet let to belay at a flake. (Without the final traverse, it is possible to link this with Pitch 1 with a 70.)

Pitch 3

5.4, 120'

The Barb

Wander up the face and climb a left-leaning 16-inch slot and belay at its top.

Pitch 4

5.6, 100'

The Barb

Move left on face moves and climb the left of two right-facing corners.

Pitch 5

5.9, 110'

The Barb

Climb a left-leaning thin crack and belay on a ledge beneath a roof.

Pitch 6 (Pitch 5 of Kingfisher)

5.11b, 100'

The Kingfisher

Beta from first ascensionists, posted on mountainproject:

"Sea of Doubt." Go to the left side of the belay ledge and clip the first bolt. Pull the crux move then follow the bolts as they arc across the beautiful wall up and back right. Sustained face climbing on scoops and knobs and smears past 8 bolts take you to the belay stance. No gear is needed on this pitch.

Full trip report for Kingfisher.

Pitch 7 (Pitch 6 of Kingfisher)

5.10b, 105'

The Kingfisher

Beta from first ascensionists, posted on mountainproject:

"Halcyon Crack". Climb a short way up a small left-facing corner above the belay then face climb right across cool knobs to the start of a straight in crack. The crack starts as tight fingers then slowly widens to big fingers and tight hands. Take the crack to a small ledge then head up into a left-facing corner for 5 feet to the start of a hand crack that slants up and left out to the edge of the wall. There's a nice belay ledge below the Kingfisher Arete.

Full trip report for Kingfisher.

Pitch 8 (Pitch 7 of Kingfisher)

5.11a, 105'.

The Kingfisher

Beta from first ascensionists, posted on mountainproject:

"Kingfisher Arete." Climb the pillar off the belay ledge to a high first bolt (gear can be placed prior to the bolt). After the first bolt pull into a small corner then reach up and right to a horizontal crack (11a). Now follow bolts up then out to the left while traversing along the very lip of the roof. Gain the arete and climb this amazing feature using beautiful knobs. Clip a fixed pin near the top of the arete then pull up onto a stance. Go hard right from the stance and reach out to clip one final bolt. Do a balancy move past the final bolt (11a) then mantle up to the top!

Full trip report for Kingfisher.

Top

Route tops out on top of the Barb Flake.

Descent

Rappel

From the top of the Barb Flake, rappel The Kingfisher or you can downclimb off the back side of the Barb Flake (tricky 10a) and finish on the last two pitches of the North Ridge route. In that case descend via either the SE Ramp (4th) or SW Side (3rd).

We rappellled The Kingfisher. To rappel The Kingfisher, a 70m rope will work EXCEPT for the final rappel to the ground. Once the snow is melted, the final rappel is about 40m. On the climb in this trip report in late July 2022, Nate and I were not quite able to rappel all the way to the snowfield; so we made use of a Beal Escaper for the final rappel. It also would have worked to have the first rappeller lengthen the rope with a cordelette and act as a counterweight for the second rappeller (a longer piece of rope than a single cordelette would be needed once the snow fully melts) (this is called the "Reepschnur rappel method").

Other Photos

It was Labor Day weekend and the forecast was for splitter weather, so Nate and I snatched the opportunity to spend three days and two nights in the spectacular Upper Glacier Gorge. We had secured a bivy permit for Upper Glacier Gorge (need to be climbing a route that is at least 4 pitches to qualify for a bivy permit), and we bivied up there for two nights (Friday and Saturday nights) below The Spearhead. What a spectacular place to hang out for the long weekend.

Our bivy

Miscellaneous

Intro

A wonderful late summer climb of The Barb. We had the entire Spearhead to ourselves, and the fall colors were out.

Time Stats

Glacier Gorge Trailhead to base of route: 2 hours 35 minutes
Climb route (base to top of Barb Flake): 3 hours 45 minutes
Descent (rappel to base): 48 minutes
Hike out (base to trailhead): 2 hours 15 minutes
Total car-to-car (includes breaks): 10 hours 20 minutes

Pitch-by-Pitch Photos

Approach

2nd

Hike Glacier Gorge trail to Black Lake and continue up into basin below base of The Spearhead.

Pitch 1

5.6 or 5.8, 160'

Climb the left (5.6) or right (5.8) side of the flake. Continue to the lower tier of Middle Earth Ledge.

We linked Pitches 1&2.

Pitch 2

4th, 130'

Scramble up to upper tier of Middle Earth Ledge and traverse 50 feet let to belay at a flake. (Without the final traverse, it is possible to link this with Pitch 1 with a 70.)

We linked Pitches 1&2.

No photos. See other trip reports for possible photos of this unremarkable pitch.

Pitch 3

5.4, 120'

Wander up the face and climb a left-leaning 16-inch slot and belay at its top.

We linked Pitches 3&4.

Pitch 4

5.6, 100'

Move left on face moves and climb the left of two right-facing corners.

We linked Pitches 3&4.

Pitch 5

5.9, 110'

Climb a left-leaning thin crack and belay on a ledge beneath a roof.

Pitch 6

5.9, 130'

Pitch 7

5.10b, 150'

Start up the corner, then move right into a crack angling up and right. The crux is some thin moves protected by a piton. End at a belay on the crest of the Barb Flake.

Pitch 8

5.7

Pitches 9&10

5.6

Climb the last two pitches of the North Ridge route.

The last two pitches of the North Ridge are the standard finish to The Barb. However, we chose to stop at the top of the Barb Flake and rappel. See other trip reports for The Barb on this page or my North Ridge trip report.

Descent

3rd

From the top of the Barb Flake, rappel The Kingfisher or you can downclimb off the back side of the Barb Flake (tricky 10a) and finish on the last two pitches of the North Ridge route. In that case descend via either the SE Ramp (4th) or SW side (3rd).

We rappellled The Kingfisher. To rappel The Kingfisher, a 70m rope will work EXCEPT for the final rappel to the ground. Once the snow is melted, the final rappel is about 40m. On the climb in this trip report in late July 2022, Nate and I were not quite able to rappel all the way to the snowfield; so we made use of a Beal Escaper for the final rappel. It also would have worked to have the first rappeller lengthen the rope with a cordelette and act as a counterweight for the second rappeller (a longer piece of rope than a single cordelette would be needed once the snow fully melts) (this is called the "Reepschnur rappel method").