Hallett Peak — Culp-Bossier
🚐 Join the caravan
The benchmark moderate alpine rock route in RMNP: ~1000 ft of clean, airy crack-and-face climbing up the north face above Tyndall Glacier, with a short, well-protected overhang crux high on the wall. A coveted Colorado alpine classic for its position, quality rock, and relatively quick approach. Tops out on the shoulder, not the true summit.
🥾 Approach · descent · season
Approach: Bear Lake Trailhead → trail past Nymph/Dream/Emerald Lakes (~2 mi), go left/north around Emerald Lake, scramble talus then a climbers' trail up toward the north face; ~1.5–2 hr to the base of the Second Buttress. Route starts at a white/pink rock band ~100 ft right of a large dihedral.
⬇️ Descent: From the top of the buttress, hike down the ridge ~1/3 mi following cairns to a bolted/chain anchor; make two single-rope (60m) rappels (or one with a 70m). Then scramble down a gully eastward, jog back westward and downclimb a gully back to the base of the Second Buttress — ending a few hundred feet below the start of the route.
🗓️ Season: Mid-July through September, once the face dries out; pitches can stay wet in early summer and snow can linger at the base. Climb early to beat near-daily afternoon thunderstorms.
🎒 Gear & food
Rack: Single rack to #2 Camalot (#3 optional), with doubles in the #0.75–#2 range; a few nuts and ample alpine draws/long slings for rope drag. Some fixed pins exist but back them up.
✅ Before you leave the trailhead
Auto-built from this dossier — ticks save on this device.
⚠️ Hazards · fire · emergency
- Afternoon lightning on an exposed 12,000+ ft north face, compounded by runout 5.6–5.8 face climbing (R) and tricky routefinding on the upper pitches — get up and off early.
🌤️ Live conditions
Auto-updated 20h ago · °F · tap a link for the mountain-specific picture ↓
💬 Comments
Comments are reviewed before they show up.