Lackawanna Peak - 13823' - South slopes class 2
january 2012

Looking up the south slopes route from Highway 82

Josh and I had an open weekday and we were trying to find something quick to climb neither of us had done. We probably talked about it for hours the night before then after a quick glance at the Roach book he noticed a short steep climb up the south slopes of Lackawanna Peak. I realized that was perfect and we left Golden for the climb. We were up all night and ready to go so off we went. A couple hours later we got to the start of the route and just parked along the side of the highway. The only post-holing through we did all day was the first 20 steps just off the road and from then on, the bushwhacking through some willows seen in the photo at left wasn't bad and we continued right aiming for the ridge. Once we got to the ridge, we ascended the steepest part of the climb through some aspens and around treeline we were hit with the sun and it felt very warm. It was another calm day. Around 12,500 feet in elevation the grade became much easier and we walked on a small ridge all the way up to the false summit of Lackawanna Peak. From here it was only a five minute ridge walk to the true summit, which had a fun little move to top out on. We sat on the summit for at least a half hour identifying all the Sawatch Peaks we saw. Views across to Elbert were really nice. Once we got cold we descended. Both of us felt great and this climb had to be one of the fastest possible winter climbs.

Hiking the ridge to the false summit

Mount Elbert from the summit

Panoramic view to the north from the south slopes below treeline

Casco Peak and French Mountain from Lackawanna Peak

Map of the south slopes route