Concrete Shoes: New Mixed Route Near Mt. Evans

Rob Gonzalez-Pita starting the second pitch of Concrete Shoes. Photo by Greg Mionske

By Greg Mionske

My cell phone rips out a startling harmony and stirs me from my slumber. I flip open the nagging device. Rob Gonzalez-Pita is on the other end with the dangerous question.

“You still wanna go?”

I hesitate, momentarily thinking of what a reply of “no” would yield: at least five more hours of sleep in a warm bed and filling meals throughout the day, interlaced with steaming cups of black coffee. It all seems so sweet.

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

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Moderate Mixed Below Mt. Evans

The bottom section of The Road (WI3 M4) near Mt. Evans; the icy upper gully is hidden. Photo by Ben Collett

Ben Collett and Eric Zale have climbed an attractive, moderate mixed line (possibly a new route) above the first Chicago Lake near Mt. Evans. The Road (WI3 M4, 5 pitches) follows a gully system in a west-facing rock buttress. The two approached Chicago Lake via the trail from Echo Lake, and then, after the climb, hiked over a ridge to the Mt. Evans road and walked down to the car.

This fun-looking route probably comes into condition many years after a big fall snowstorm. It’s impossible to say for sure if it had been climbed earlier—ice climbers have been prowling this drainage for decades—but regardless of its history, it’s a good one for Denver-area climbers to know about.