DALLAS PEAK
13,809'
July 30, 2005
By Tim Briese
This was the big one, the major obstacle that stood in the way of completing Colorado=s centennial peaks, at least in my mind. Reputed to be the hardest peak to climb among Colorado=s highest hundred, I had never thought that I would climb Dallas, until Brian and I formed a plan and made a commitment to do it several months before.
Neither of us had done any technical climbing before, which this peak requires, so we had our work cut out for us. I bought a copy of John Long=s book, How to Rock Climb!, and read it during the long evenings of the winter before. Then I took a couple of private climbing lessons at a local climbing gym, called The Rock, in Monument. I explained to Joe, my instructor, my interest in preparing to climb the technical centennial peaks, and he was most helpful. In early July he took me to the Garden of the Gods to try some real outdoor climbing, including a climb and 100 foot rappel off the face of Montezuma=s Tower. These things were all very helpful, but I had still never climbed a technical peak before our attempt of Dallas. Meanwhile, Brian took an introductory climbing class at his local REI in Minneapolis.
Our plan was to hire a guide to take us to the summit of Dallas and then tackle the other two technical centennials, Teakettle and Jagged, on our own. We hoped to learn as much as possible from our Dallas guide to prepare us for the other two. Several months before the climb I made reservations with San Juan Mountain Guides in Ouray for our Dallas climb. Early in the summer our friend Jason decided to join us for this adventure as well.
All went according to plan until the afternoon before the climb, when my cell phone rang about 4 p.m. as we were driving back to Ridgway after climbing Gladstone Peak. On the phone was Andy Sawyer, a guide with Telluride Mountain Guides, who said he was going to guide us up Dallas in the morning. Our guide from Ouray had suffered an ankle injury, so his boss had called the other guiding company in Telluride and arranged for someone else to take us up. Andy asked to meet us at 5:30 a.m. in Telluride the next morning, but I requested an earlier start in order to bolster our chances for a successful climb, so we agreed on 4:30. I felt complimented when Andy said later that he knew from this request that we were serious mountaineers!
We rose early the next morning at the Ridgway Lodge and made the 45 minute drive to Telluride, where we met Andy at a gas station on the west edge of town at the prescribed time. With him was Kenny Fuhrer, a fellow guide who was going to accompany us today in order to learn the route to Dallas from Andy. After brief introductions we drove behind them up to the Mill Creek Trailhead, and hit the trail at 4:50 with our headlamps.
Andy set a brisk pace as we rapidly cruised up the trail. I was puffing a bit more than usual because of the pace but managed to hold my own. We engaged in interesting conversations with our new acquaintances all the way up the trail.
Andy was a muscular and fit fellow, about 40 years old, and a local legend of sorts, it seemed. He had climbed Dallas 22 times before, he told us, including one speedy ascent that took only two and a half hours! He had climbed virtually all the surrounding significant peaks, and nearly all of the bicentennial peaks in the state. An accomplished rock climber and skier, he was featured in a nationally televised credit card commercial filmed in Telluride a few years before, which earned him tens of thousands of dollars in royalties. He related these facts about himself matter-of-factly during the course of our conversation, without the slightest hint of swagger in his voice. We were pleased to be in such skilled hands for this climb. I had hoped we wouldn=t get some young daredevil to lead us up our first technical peak!
Kenny was a friendly and likeable young thirty-something, and kept us entertained with stories of life in Telluride. He guided outdoor tours in Europe during part of the summer, and was a ski instructor at Telluride in the winter. During the day as I listened to stories from Andy and Kenny I developed a mental image of Telluride as a singular town inhabited mostly by free-spirited adventurers.
After two hours we had climbed to about 11,400' on the Sneffels Highline Trail, having come nearly three and a half miles and gaining 2000' from the trailhead. At this point we paused to admire Dallas= cliffy south face towering above to the north. After a brief break we left the nice trail and headed directly toward the peak, climbing up steep grass and scree toward a gully that cut through a cliff band on Dallas= south face at about 12,600'. We did a Class 3 climb on solid rock just to the right of the gully up through the cliffs and then angled northeast up a climber's trail on very loose scree to Dallas= southeast ridge at 13,200'. After another short break we began working our way up across the mountain=s rugged east face, crossing a couple of gullies and scrambling up some rocky areas that required Class 3 or 4 moves. We were gradually working our way all the way around the mountain from its south side to its north side, climbing gradually as we went. I was having a lot of fun, and it seemed so simple just following Andy=s expert lead, not concerning myself about the details of routefinding as I had always done on other climbs.
Skies remained clear and blue, just what we needed for this difficult climb. Soon we reached the eastern base of the summit tower, and stopped for a short break to drop our packs and put on our harnesses and helmets. Then we climbed up around to the north side of the summit tower, to a dramatic perch on a very exposed ledge.
As I gazed up at the cliffy face above that we had to climb, and turned my head to glance at a thousand feet of air below, I realized that this was unlike any place I=d ever been on a Colorado mountain! This was a far cry from the easy walk-ups or even the scrambling routes that I had typically been on before. My mountaineering had just been elevated to a more serious level!
We roped up here and I belayed Andy as he climbed across a bank of snow on the ledge and then proceeded to climb up a 40 foot, fifth class crack to the summit, setting a few pieces of protection as he went. Andy told us that he usually free-climbed this pitch, so my belay seemed little more than a mere exercise to me. Once Andy reached the summit he tied in and top-roped the rest of us up, first me, then Brian, and then Jason. I found the first 20 feet of the crack to be the hardest, but nevertheless quite doable. Above that was a small alcove, then an easier climb up over broken rock within the crack on up to the summit. There was quite a bit of loose rock, and we were roped only about 25 feet apart, so we had to be careful about sending rocks down upon the climber below. Last up came Kenny, who had helped coordinate the roped climb from below. I now realized that there was a second reason he had come along, to help our party of inexperienced technical climbers safely reach our objective. By 10:45 we all stood victoriously upon the airy summit.
What an exhilarating place to be! I could hardly believe that I was standing on top of Dallas Peak! The summit was surprisingly flat and reasonably roomy, about 20 feet by 30 feet, with cliffs dropping precipitously away on each side, except for a rugged ridge that ran off toward the west. The views were spectacular on this beautiful sunny morning. There was a grand view of Sneffels off to the northeast, as well as Teakettle, which was our climbing objective the next day. Around to the south and west lay the rest of the rugged San Juans and the Wilson Group. Far below to the north the Blue Lakes shimmered with a remarkable aqua color.
Although it was great to be on this dramatic summit, I was a little nervous about the descent, because I knew that the standard descent involves an 85 foot rappel, much of it free-hanging, off the northeast face. Andy had asked earlier about our experience and if any of us had ever done a free-hanging rappel before, and I replied that I had done so only in a gym. Jason had done a little rappelling years before in the army. Brian, however, had never done a rappel before in his life! I=m sure Andy wondered how this was going to go!
While the three of us admired the views from the summit, Andy and Kenny quietly prepared the rope for the rappel over at the northeast edge of the summit, tying into an existing rappel ring there. Then they called us over and coolly began to explain what was about to take place. Once again, it was good to have Kenny along, for he went down first, leaning back out over the precipice and rappelling down, demonstrating that it could indeed be done without loss of life. I went next, trying to mount an air of bravery and confidence in order to reassure my climbing partners. Andy offered to top-rope me with an additional rope he had along, for my peace of mind, but I declined. I walked backwards down the vertical cliff just below the top, rope in hand, and then found myself freely dangling in the air for the next 30 or 40 feet, until I dropped into a snowbank in a big hole beneath a chockstone, where Kenny was waiting. I continued rappelling down the steep snow to a gravel slope below, where I gained my footing and unhooked from the rope. This rappel was one of the most thrilling things I have ever done on a mountain climb. I was almost giddy from a big rush of adrenalin. Next came Brian, and I thought to myself, AWhat a place to learn to rappel!@ I admired the fortitude that he displayed! Then came Jason, and after he rappelled down the slope of snow we all stood together at the bottom of the summit tower.
I felt lighthearted and ecstatic as we continued the descent. Andy set up a long single-rope rappel to allow us a quick descent down through some of the rugged terrain on Dallas= upper east face, then he untied the upper end of the rope and trotted down through the rocks like a mountain goat to rejoin the rest of us waiting below. A few clouds built up and dropped a light shower of rain on us as we hiked down the scree slope toward the lower cliff band, but it did not amount to much. When we reached the flowery slopes below the cliff band we stopped to rest and admire the grand views spread out below.
Upon reaching the Sneffels Highline Trail we headed back down toward the trailhead, all the while continuing interesting discussions of local lore and personalities.
Just before 4 p.m. we returned to the trailhead, completing the eight and a half mile, 4600' climb in about 11 hours.
What a climb it had been! Dallas may be called by many the hardest peak among Colorado=s highest hundred, but it seemed relatively straightforward under the leadership of our skilled guide. I cannot say enough good things about Telluride Mountain Guides, and Andy Sawyer in particular. He made possible one of my most memorable days in the mountains.
