EISPIRATEN

Taco's Snow Creek TR and the subject of climbing speed got me wondering. So how fast do you all climb on a high angle alpine slope (30-40°)?

All my alpine climbs have been solo so I don't really know how fast other people climb. Well, I have climbed Baldy Bowl several times and sometimes I pass people and other times people pass me. So I figured I'm about average or probably on the slow side.

I think I climb at about 500-600 ft/hr. The fastest I've ever climbed was maybe 800 ft/hr. It depends a lot on the snow conditions, how safe I feel and how exhausted I am. When the slope angle gets to 40° or more, I slow down a lot so that I can be more careful and deliberate. When the snow is hard, my ankles and calves really get worn out so I have to take more breaks.

Thoughts?

The fastest I've ever climbed was one step at a time. hardly ever two steps. I eventually got there.

All joking aside, I've never timed myself. But Zach and I just did Baldy Bowl on March 10. I don't know how steep the center of the bowl is, but from botom of bowl to top, Zach did it in about 35 minutes. So if you can tell me how high the bowl is, we can figure his ascent speed. I was about 10-15 minutes behind him.

i think the bowl is about 1600ft

Holy smokes, I guess I am slow.

The top of the lip if you're going up the center and you pass the large rock formation on the left is about 9600 ft. The Ski Hut is 8200 ft. The part of the bowl where you really start to climb is probably 8400 ft. So I'd say it's around a 1,200 ft climb.

i dont think you're slow. what enfuego said us about is not really a sustainable pace if it were on another route, plus that approach is easy, most people go about 1000 vert feet per hour i think... again i could be wrong. and again, it depends on conditions, the route, and how your body handles the climb.

Lotsa factors.

I climb faster solo than with a group, mostly because I push myself till I'm out of breath when I solo.

I climb faster on alpine ice than I do on snow, mostly because I love it so my motivation moves up. The lack of uphill swimming in powder also contributes. Gotta love that.

In the end, I like to take it easy and chill with the peeps, and take in the scenery. Lotsa folks go fast and honestly miss a good deal of the views and experiences.

I'm rather slow, though.

TacoDelRio wrote:In the end, I like to take it easy and chill with the peeps, and take in the scenery. Lotsa folks go fast and honestly miss a good deal of the views and experiences.

Tell that to all my hiking/climbing partners. They don't beleive me when I lag 5 minutes behind. I'm not resting, jsut taking in the scenery.

Just as Taco mentioned, there are a lot of factors. Soft snow, styrofoam snow, breaking trail.....etc. The biggest factor I think is the Altitude your climbing at.

GigaMike wrote:Just as Taco mentioned, there are a lot of factors. Soft snow, styrofoam snow, breaking trail.....etc. The biggest factor I think is the Altitude your climbing at.

Yes, the higher the elevation, the slower you go.

I'm never fast, but I drop from a steady 1200' gain per hour below 8000' to sometimes as little as 500' gain per hour above 11000'.