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 Capitol Peak is reputed to be the hardest Fourteener in Colorado. From a technical standpoint, that may well be true. As I
pursued my Sunrise from the Summit project, however, I found peaks with difficult route-finding in the dark to be more intimidating
than Capitol. With my extensive background in high-standard rock-climbing, I didn't expect to get stopped by fourth-class
moves. And after all, once I was on the famous Knife Edge, the exposed granite arête on Capitol's northeast ridge, there
would only be one possible route. Since I planned to shoot sunrise from the summit, I expected to be back down in camp long
before the usual afternoon thunderstorms fired up. What I hadn't anticipated was bad weather at sunrise.
 After my Eolus and Sunlight shoots, I spent a couple of days photographing abundant fields of lupine in the Sneffels Range
near Ridgway, then backpacked to Capitol Lake, basecamp for Capitol Peak, in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness near Aspen.
By 1 am the next morning, I was ascending the serpentine trail constructed by the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative. A short
ways past the Capitol-Daly saddle, I encountered the first of a series of steep, snow-filled gullies that cut across the traverse
into the basin below K2, the bump on Capitol's northeast ridge that marks the beginning of the serious scrambling. These gullies,
and the rocky ribs that separated them, turned out to be the first route-finding challenge of the night. I quickly decided
it was time to strap on my crampons and deploy my ice ax, as the snow was very firm just an inch beneath the barely-frozen
surface. I left my crampons on as I crossed the remaining granite ribs and started up the long snowfield leading to K2. I
shed the snow gear a few hundred vertical feet below K2 and arrived on top of this steep, rocky knoll as the first faint light
began to show in the east. That dim glow revealed that ominous clouds were already building to the west and north of the peak.
This was not going to be a day to linger on the summit.
I tried one route down from K2 to the
Knife Edge and backed off - too steep and gnarly in mountain boots with nearly 20 pounds of camera gear on my back. I tried
a second line and backed off it too. The route-finding was starting to look more challenging than I had anticipated. I considered
traversing around K2, but the traverse still held a 50-degree patch of snow perched above huge exposure - no place for a single
ice tool and soft leather hiking boots even if I had put my crampons back on. I tried a third line down the rock. Now everything
clicked. Holds led to more holds and soon I was confronting the Knife Edge.
It was still
dark enough that I could see clearly only within my headlamp's 20-foot range. On either side, cliffs and slabs dropped off
into a dark abyss. The granite arête is truly a knife edge, sharp enough to be a great handhold as my boots sought out
small footholds with friction slabs in between. For me, it was exhilarating but for someone not used to exposure, the Knife
Edge could be terrifying.
Now the climb became a race between the rising sun and the gathering
storm. The base of the clouds was only slightly higher than the summit of Capitol - a sure sign that abundant moisture in
the air was likely to fuel a vicious cycle of thunderstorms. The scrambling over talus, cliff bands and loose blocks was tedious
but not too difficult and I arrived on the summit half an hour before sunrise. That gave me just enough time to set up the
tripod and panorama head for two 360-degree panoramas, followed by some single-frame shots of the enormous, snow-filled Pierre
Lakes cirque and Snowmass Mountain as the sun danced in and out of the billowing clouds.
 After a short and hurried call to my wife Cora to let her know where I was, I headed down, glancing nervously
over my shoulder every minute or two to see if I should start donning rain gear and safeguarding camera gear. The weather
threatened again and again, but the dark clouds kept passing north and south of me. Three hours after leaving the summit,
I reached my camp just as the darkest cloud yet rolled down the valley toward me. But it too missed, and the sun soon made
my tent sweltering. I gave up on napping after a sweaty hour, packed up and headed down to the trailhead six miles away. The
weather didn't truly cave in until I was driving through Glenwood Springs, heading home after an 11-day shoot that had been
the most productive I'd had in years.
Capitol Peak Panorama is available as a 14x30, 18.6x40 and 28x60
inch print. All prints are available loose and as gallery floats. In the gallery float style of presentation,
the print is first mounted onto high-quality 1/4" medium-density fiberboard, then covered with a UV-resistant,
anti-glare, protective laminate. The edges are lightly beveled, and a decorative black trim is applied. In
the final step, strips of one-inch thick MDF are attached to the back. These strips are recessed two
inches from the edge of the piece so that the finished piece appears to "float" one inch away from the wall. The
piece is hung from a French cleat, which is positioned atop a mirror bar attached to the wall. All mounting hardware
is included. Other presentation options (such as traditional matting and framing) are available on request. For
more information on special orders, please call 303 499-3009 or email me.
To order any of the loose sizes, or to order a 14x30 or
18.6x40 inch gallery float, please visit my product catalog by clicking the link beneath the appropriate thumbnail.
These prints are available to order online.
Important note on shipping: All gallery-float prints longer than 40
inches are too big to be shipped via FedEx ground and too big to fit in any standard-size art box. While these prints
can be shipped, they require a custom-made crate and the cost is exorbitant ($300+). I strongly suggest that all customers
who live outside the Denver metro area and who wish to purchase a print larger than 40 inches in length buy the loose
version and take it to the custom frame shop of their choosing.
For customers who live in the Denver metro area,
I will personally deliver any matted-only or framed print for a delivery charge of $1.50 per mile based on round-trip
mileage. Alternatively, Denver-area customers can arrange to pick up their print at my home office in south Boulder.
For more information, please call 303 499-3009 or email me.
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28x60 gallery float of Capitol Peak Panorama. To
order this print, please call 303 499-3009 or email me.
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