For decades I assumed someone else like Bill Forrest, George Lowe, Noel Childs, Jeff Lowe, or Dan Hare had done this route. Maybe we all thought: "Naaah! It's too easy." Surprisingly, the apron has 3 really good pitches following thin cracks and dikes.

Originally the route ended with a terribly dangerous friction run out on the most suspect holds of the climb. Later, I rapped in and added a bolt. The first three belays are equipped with rappel hardware on double bolt anchors, so we can all get down with single 60 meter rope if it rains (hand drilled). The first pitch starts at 12,000 feet above sea level in an alpine paradise close to a paved road.

LINCOLN LAKE APRON TOPO

Zoom.

ROUTE DESCRIPTION

First ascent afternoon shade.

Pitch one is only 30 meters long and ends at a nice ledge with two bolts.  Start up a thin crack, step right to another thin seam that dead-ends, and then move left to a corner.  The gear in these seams is tricky.

PITCH ONE, THE LONG REACH

First ascent.

It is possible to make a long reach to place a #3 Camalot in the corner's big crack, before committing to the leftward step-across. Another big cam is handy a few moves up, before committing to a mossy, left hand jam and another big step out right to better holds. A few moves higher, move left again across the top of the corner and up left even more to the belay (5.7+, PG-13).

PITCHES TWO AND THREE

Pitch two, first ascent.

Pitch two has a tricky step left to change cracks. There is a two bolt anchor on a dike foothold at 30 meters, handy for escaping storms. Or just use one of the bolts for pro and keep going up a beautiful dike to the top. Near the top, the nice holds thin out and the rock gets crumbly, but a bolt protects that bit. There is a third bolted rap anchor at the top of the slab. Alternatively, you can belay off fat-finger-sized cams up left on a nice ledge.

4TH CLASS TO THE TOP

First ascent.

I like to do one more roped pitch straight up. It is mostly very easy, but there is a final, 5.2, squeeze/bulge where a hand or finger-sized cam is nice.

It is possible to connect to a harder sport pitch for an exposed finish on

Emancipation Arete

. Traverse left and down until a semi-hanging two bolt belay is found.

The exposed finish marked in yellow.

LINCOLN LAKE ROUTE SUMMARY

Overview topo.

Lincoln Lake Apron

Uncle Puffy

Easy Flakes (name unknown)

Keasbey Nights

Codeine

Dan Hare's Route

A Line

Double Exposure

B Line

Easy Corner

Golden Slab

Pika

Goat Yoga

Dear Sergio

Sport Dike

Another Load of Ginormous Excitement  (aka The Cichon Variation)

Secret Ramp

Ewoks Don't Sport Climb

Sick Puppy

Strobe Light Rodeo

Unlisted Corner

The Gorilla Steps

Short Arete

Kneel Armstrong

West Colfax

Gettysburg Address

Columbine Crack

Emancipation Arete

Marzipan

Loose Bolt Slab

Jabba

Pneumoxia Crack

Jack & Sally

Big Horns

Start a few feet left of

Lincoln Lake Apron

on the bolted slab. The rock quality is good, and the route is fun! The second pitch needs some gardening.

P1: follow three bolts using golden chickenheads to reach the right-facing corner. Make a couple insecure slab moves above bolt 3 to get gear in the corner, follow the corner up to the fourth bolt step left, and follow more bolts to the anchors of P1 of Lincoln Lake Apron, 6 bolts plus gear/ (5.9, 30m ish).

P2: step right, and grovel over a grassy ledge above the belay. Place gear when you get it in the crack, small cams protect the moves to the bolt "reasonably". Getting to the bolt is PG-13, clip the bolt, and move up and right to establish yourself in the seam/arete. Follow the grassy crack until it reaches a lower angle, right-facing corner. Find a chickenhead to your left, sling it (or place gear in the corner), and step left. Follow left-angling seams to the anchors of Lincoln Lake Apron, one bolt, gear /(5.9 PG-13, 50/55m ish). (I originally led this pitch without the bolt, so enjoy it.)

Descent: it is possible to rap with a single 60m rope using

Lincoln Lake Apron's

intermediate anchor to get you back to the top of P1. When rapping to the ground with a 60m, swing uphill to meet the ground, and knot your ends! A 70m rope is recommended for the descent.

This requires 3 raps to make it to the ground with both a 70m and a 60m rope.

Climb

Jabba's

spine at around 5.8 to reach the business of this route.

The harder climbing begins with a tricky throw from thin feet to pull a difficult mantle.  Once the ledge is gained traverse right then around the corner.

To reach the anchors pull the roof crux; high step into an undercling, crossover right to thuggish laybacks, clip the last bolt, and finish on a cool hand rail.

This is easy, fun climbing that is a good beginner's trad lead. Climb a series of left-facing flakes that lead to the anchors on

Golden Slab

.

This is the obvious, right-leaning crack with varying sized roofs on a slab.

Start on a ramp under a long, angling block. Climb the block up and left until it reaches a quick, broken overhang (crux) that protects very well. Then, follow the crack right up the leaning wall toward the major roof. Navigate the roof, and follow the clean, leaning crack for another 35 feet to a large ledge with a bolted anchor.

The route is completely protected from rain with the exception of the last 20 feet or so. All the gear is great, but a fall on the upper slab could be rough. Due to the sustained leaning nature of this route, it's best to have a follower clean.

Start on the ledge.

Two options to start: either carefully climb jug flakes up and right to the first bolt (big holds, one 5.9ish move), or start on the far right end of the ledge, plug some bomber small cams in the flake, then make a move up and left to the first bolt.

Pull through the bulge and climb the slab (crux). Tackle a short, steep section before the anchors. There is an optional cam placement before the final bolt.

The first pitch was Dan's, mostly clean and nice (5.9).  His friend led #2, which was more run out due to tundra vegetation in cracks (5.8).

This is not my route, but I'm not the only one who thought this or the

B Line

was

Dan Hare's Route

. So I'm rounding out the database. This route is a little runout to a not-so-great, shallow dihedral to its top where you can step right to the

B Line

anchors. Maybe it would clean up with some travel.

Rappel (BTW, I rapped to here from the top of

Double Exposure

).

This stellar alpine route climbs thin cracks past two bolts on the first pitch (5.9) and offers two distinct finishes for the second pitch.  Easy does it passing the giant, wobbly flake after you launch up the second pitch.

(Take heart, despite our best efforts, the flake only wobbled but wouldn't come off.)

The second pitch passes two bolts and the wobbler to reach the intersection of two possible finishes:

Head right and a perfect crack angles out right up a ramp providing an easy finish keeping the overall grade around 5.9.

For a bit more of a challenge, after conquering the wobbler follow bolts up, out left, then up the face to anchors, 5.10.

Both alternatives are incredibly exposed and scenic with great rock. Climb the route twice, and hit both finishes for bonus points!

This is not my route, but the upper crack is so obvious, and there are anchors: gotta be something, right? Ken called it "unknown anchor, 5.8?" on his 2014 topo. It is NOT

Dan Hare's Route

(I suspect it may have started as a convenient 2nd rap' anchor from

Double Exposure

). Maybe the story will be told now that there is this placeholder?

Depending upon snow cover, it could be a long way to the first good placement, but I led it as an entirely separate route from

A Line

and found it to be runout but reasonable. You can cut left early and place some gear on

A Line

, but I'm not sure it would help much later on....

This is not my route, but Ken Trout's 2014 overview topo shows it (I referred to it as No Exposure in my notes before I found his topo). It's almost a plumbline directly to the

Double Exposure

anchors via slab and an obvious dihedral (sort of a

D.E.

direct, but that's what he named the upper pitch 5.10 variation).  Anyhow, this line misses the bolts and exposure of

DE

and is worthy of its own spot on the list. Ken rated it 5.7.

I heard some folks on TR call it 5.8. What do you think?

Climb the golden panel with three bolts and lots of gear in seams. The anchor are visible from the base.  This has the best quality rock in the area.

Visit Jabba's Dark Side.

This route follows cool features on Jabba's shady North face.

This is the bee's knees, the cat's pajamas, about as good as climbing gets! It is long, difficult, well-protected, and extremely exposed. This route has been done from the ground with an 80m rope, but a 70m rope can be used in 2 pitches.

With a 70m rope: start in the corner below the

Sick Puppy

roof, climb up 2 bolts, and a few pieces of gear, arching right to a bolted anchor on the slab roughly 30' up. This anchor is perfect for a 70m rope. From here, continue up the easy corner until the crack turns and heads out the overhanging face. This is the crux. The crack turns into a thin seam and is protected with 3 bolts. Boulder your way out of the steep, and finish on one of the coolest moves I have ever done, a hand jam campus move to pull onto the hanging slab. Once on the slab, relax, and then tech your way up some thought provoking moves saving a 0.75 for the very end of the route. Lower to the mid-anchor and then rap to the ground.

With a 80m rope: do the same as above, just back clean the best you can for the first 30' or so, and use runners to prevent rope drag. Get it done.

The route starts with a low bolt on the slab a few feet right of

Jabba

. Climb past six bolts up a dike. The crux is making the third clip and moving past. There is a double bolt anchor with mussy hooks.

Per

Ryan Gajewski

: an extension to the route has been red-tagged.

Pull the initial roof on

Kneel Armstrong

, then an exciting traverse left leads to the vertical crack.  Like a monkey on a pole, climb the very edge of the thin crack to an amazing solution jug then head on up to the anchors for

Kneel Armstrong

.

Hike down from the road along the top of the slabs.  A few cairns exist to mark the path.  Use the photo to find the anchor bolt panel.

Approach is best via a 30 meter rappel to a hanging belay.  The anchors are easy and safe to reach, just below some tall boulders; about 15 feet above the last real moves.

Getting to the belay is not too bad from the bottom; 5.6 maybe.

The crux is between 2nd and 3rd bolt. It's all good but needs one more bolt up high, so it's a little run out up high, but the terrain is easier. I led it ground up and mostly aided the line with a mixed bag of techniques. I hand drilled all bolts from hooks or free stances with a hand drill! Fun stuff.

Ken Trout, Kirk Miller, and I believe Richard Ashert found and prepped this awesome line. Ken was kind enough to share it with me and was under the impression it had not been done. The crux is the obvious, large roof resembling the Great Roof on El Cap, and it climbs like it too.

Start on the first pitch of

Double Exposure

(an awesome 5.9 pitch on its own). Once at the first anchor, do a techy, delicate, 5.11 traverse clipping a bolt along the way to the corner. Some back cleaning of gear will be necessary to reduce rope drag. Work your way up the progressively steep corner until you get to the 15' horizontal roof, and the feet disappear. Undercling and jam your way out the roof, being strategic about gear placements as to not have it all eaten by the crack. I placed a 0.75 sideways about 2/3's the way out the roof to prevent the rope from pulling the gear in. At the end of the roof comes my favorite part. Throw a thin jam around the corner and above your head, then mantel into the dihedral behind the roof. A 2 bolt/rap ring anchor sits in the alcove behind the roof.

There is now a direct start (same grade), it follows the crack in its entirety from the ground.

For the direct start, use a mandatory 80m rope and doubles from 0.5 to #3. This is less quality than traversing in from

Double Exposure

, but it is a much longer pitch and is more straightforward.

This one is for the slab assassins! S.L.R. is a 3 bolt extension to

Sport Dike

, following an elusive right-leaning seam. This route will require some cryptic movement, that once discovered, demands precise footwork and unique body positions to get you to the top. It is a must-do for the area!

This is not my route, but it is nicely marked on Mike R.'s 2018 West Colfax topo' photo. He rated it 5.9+. It is definitely not a slab route.

Perhaps the original ascensionist will share a name and history sometime. (And a few hours later, they did!)

Walk down along the top of the cliff with a bit of a drop into a gully.  Reach over the knife-edge summit of the slab to reach the rappel anchor.  The rappel in is less than 30 meters.  The belay on the slab below is pretty much anchor-less.  A few cams might be nice to protect getting to the first bolt, as much for the belayer as the leader.

This is a friction route up a blunt arete.  I pitched at the crux when a hold crumbled; not really sure what to rate it.

Plug gear and pull the first roof to get established on the face climb above.  Clip the bolts, enjoy the moves onto the grassy ledge, and cruise to the anchors.

This has excellent rock with many many bolts. Most of the climbing is 5.6 or so with maybe a 5.7/5.8 friction move in there. Stop at the anchor at 100', or keep going up and left past several more bolts to a second anchor at 140'.

Climb the face through 3 bolts to a rest ledge, and get ready! Figure out the moves past the overlap, hang on, fire  to the arête, and go to the top of the buttress! This is a wild ride. It has awesome holds in a supreme setting. Get on it!

A TR can be set up from

Pika

on the right.

Thanks to Kirk for finding the line and giving me the opportunity to get the FA. I will always remember this one.

Big, steep pulls lead to a final, desperate, crack in a leaning corner.  It was very difficult to protect with stoppers and hexes on the first ascent.  We did it after a failed first attempt on the Black Wall's

Road Warrior

.

This fun route ascends clean, exposed, alpine granite.  From the bolted belay, climb onto the arete and follow it up to an engaging face that tops out on a beautiful ledge system.

Scramble up to a grassy ledge with a single loose, but usable, bolt. Handy for keeping packs and climbers from slipping of the ledge.

From the belay, move right into an easy corner and solo up 20 feet to a ledge.  From the ledge, make an unprotected move left onto the face to reach the first pro in a horizontal crack (small cam). Move left along the seam to even bigger, better pro.

Once this gear is in, it is possible to back-clean the first piece or two.  The crux is near the end of the pitch, that's why the back-clean hassle is worth the trouble.

From the last good gear in the horizontal seam, move up to the first protection bolt, 30 or 40 feet above the loose bolt.  The second bolt is just above, after which a long runout is done up right to a grassy ledge and bolt #3.

Four or five more bolts protect some thin crumbly/cruxy moves.  A small/medium cam helps protect the run out to the anchors (40 meters).

Mike Cichon makes the long reach, 2013.

On the first ascent the start felt slimy - like Jabba the Hutt from the movie

The Empire Strikes Back

(opened 1985).

After 20 feet of 3rd class approach, pull onto the real climbing with big reaches past tundra clumps. Then a short finger crack, sunlit in the photo above, leads to the big reach into the main crack (right).  The best pro blocks a necessary finger pod.  Not restful to hang on and work in the alternate gear just before the big reach (first PG13-). Once across and committed, there are better cams but still no feet! Steep jams lead to the rest pod.

The second half of Jabba has critical blind gear. The crack faces right and the body needs to lean left. Before succumbing to the temptation to cut and run for the anchor, please remember: gear has been known to fall out. Also, long falls have been taken!

There is a bolt anchor at 35 meters for lowering off. Because the crack arches a lot, it is best to have a follower clean the gear. A single 70 meter rope just reaches the tundra.

LINCOLN LAKE ROUTE SUMMARY TOPO

Beta.

Pneumoxia Crack is short 'n' steep! It manages to pack quite a bit of quality into its few body lengths. The crack starts at fingers and goes up to big hands at the lip, and it is excellent. I'm not going to tell you to make the hike just for this route, but it would make a very nice addition to a day of bouldering down by the lake or cragging up at the slabs.

P1. Climb a slab with one bolt to a crack, and follow this crack to a ledge. Then climb the next obvious crack to another slab with two bolts to a horizontal break in the wall with a 2 bolt anchor. This is a good warm-up, 5.easy climbing to the 5.8 bolted slab. Protection: 3 bolts, brass and microcams (5.8, 100 feet).

P2. Friction and smear your way past 5 bolts up the path of most resistance (slab daddies, beware). Find another 2 bolt anchor below a shallow roof. This has awesome movement on less-than-vertical, nearly featureless slab. Protection: 5 bolts (5.10a/b, 50 feet).

P3. Place gear in the shallow roof, and move up and slightly climbers right into a flaring crack, place gear here (where you get it), and move up to the first bolt. Be careful not to move too far right off the belay as there is a large hollow sounding flake that appears to be completely detached from the wall, tread lightly. Tiptoe up the slab past two bolts trending up and slightly right to another shallow roof, place gear, and trend up and right to the next bolt. One more gear placement is possible before continuing up and right to the anchors of P3 of

Lincoln Lake Apron

. Protection: 3 bolts, finger and thin hands-sized cams (5.7, 100 feet).

Descent: rappel

Lincoln Lake Apron

. There is also a set of anchors 20 feet climber's left from the top of P3 of

Lincoln Lake Apron

that allows Jack & Sally to be rapped. Currently Jack & Sally's P1 & P2 anchors are equipped with quick links for rappelling - 3 raps, a 70m rope is recommended.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Lincoln Lake Slabs