The Spearhead- The Barb

back to home page

July 19, 2026

The Spearhead is a distinctive formation sitting near the top of Glacier Gorge in Rocky Mountain National Park. It's northern and eastern faces are home to several high quality routes, many of which tend to involve a lot of face climbing. The Barb is a classic route on its north face with an old-school feel to it and only one fixed piece of gear (a pin at the crux).

Routes climbed

Name	Grade (YDS)	# Pitches	Quality (1-5)	Type
The Barb	5.10c	9	3.5	trad

Peaks/Towers climbed

Peak	Elevation	Topographic Prominence	Summit Coordinates (lat/lon)
The Spearhead	12,559 ft	233 ft	40.25592, -105.63828

Gear

- 60m rope
- cams: doubles 0.2-2, single 3
- small-medium nuts
- 11 alpine draws

Total Stats

12 miles

3,600 ft gain/loss

Approach
Seth and I started from Glacier Gorge Junction Trailhead just before 5am, traveling well maintained trails and following signs that pointed towards Black Lake. Starting from Black Lake, the trail became less maintained but was still easy to follow up and around the eastern side of a cliff band which sat south of the lake. A fast moving creek provided the last running water source here. As the trail faded, the north face of Spearhead was clearly visible and we headed straight for it across mostly slabs. The entire approach to the base was about 5.7 miles.

Pitch 1 (5.6, 150 ft)

I headed up an easy left facing flake and kept climbing straight up when it ended. At about 120 ft, I intersected a narrow grassy ledge and kept climbing straight up for another 30 ft, reaching the large grassy Middle Earth Ledge. I continued to link into pitch 2.

first ledge (keep going, do not turn left yet)

Pitch 2 (class 2, 50 ft)

I turned left and walked along Middle Earth Ledge for 50 ft, belaying where the grass ended and was replaced by rock.

Pitch 3 (5.6, 120 ft)

This one was slightly tricky to navigate but not that bad. From the belay, there was a right-facing corner visible about 45 degrees up left. There's a few ways to get there, none of them very difficult. Seth led up and left under a large flake, then face climbed out to the right-facing corner and belayed just above its start.

Pitch 4 (5.9, 120 ft)

This was the first of the good pitches. I followed a diagonaling crack which headed left off the belay. This crack was pretty sporty, and was not climbed like a typical crack. I belayed at the first ledge I came to about 90 ft up, but there was a better little alcove 30 ft further that I should've belayed at.

Pitch 5 (5.9, 110 ft)

This was better than the last pitch. Seth led up a left-facing corner for about 20 ft above the alcove, then cut right aiming for a small A-frame shaped roof above with a thin hands crack cutting through it. About 30 ft above that he belayed at a small ledge with some flakes around it.

Pitch 6 (5.10c, 120 ft)

This was even better than the previous pitch. I continued up the flakes, placing good nuts, then reached left to access a splitter finger crack. The crack jogged right as I continued placing a couple finger sized pieces. A pin marked the sporty crux. I clipped it, made the move, then continued up a hand crack and belayed where it intersected the slabby north ridge of Spearhead.

Pitches 7-9 (5.5, ~400 ft)

Now on the north ridge, we turned a corner and romped up easy terrain, generally staying right of the ridge. There were several ways to go and the routefinding was a no brainer. Just follow the paths of least resistance.

After the terrain really eased up, we unroped. I scrambled the last 150 ft to the summit (class 2). 

summit views from Spearhead

Descent
The descent involved a little bit of navigation but was not bad. From the summit we descended west, following a series of climber trails until they cliffed out. From there we scrambled south around some class 2 rock ribs before veering back west and then north on a large ramp which deposited us on the west side of Spearhead in a talus field. We rock-hopped around the north side of Spearhead to re-join our approach route.