Sawtooth - Class 3 climb off of Mt. Bierdstadt

Hi Big Bear-

I will start with the easy question. There are infinite number of hikes or climbs across this mountain, Colorado, the US and the world. For example, to get to the top of Mt. Evans, there are probably 20+ routes that are documented and many other variations that you can take. The difficulty ranges from easy (you can actually drive to the top of this mountain), easy hike (class 2 but fairly short) to class 4. In Colorado, there are hundreds (thousands?) of mountains each with tons of different ways (and level of difficulty) to summit.

“Class” defines the difficulty of a hike/climb. This is a subjective measure; as some things that are considered hard by some are considered easy by others. According to Gerry Roach, the author of several great Colorado hiking books, classes are loosely defined as follows:

Class 1 - trail walking, or hiking across open country

Class 2 - off trail hiking, hiking on a talus (loose rock) slope, upward movement but not using handholds (not climbing)

Class 3 - climbing or scrambling is involved instead of walking, handholds are easy to find, falls from class 3 climbs are typically not deadly, however, some class 3 climbs have exposure, like the sawtooth above which can (will) be deadly. This doesn’t make the climb more difficult, just the consequences of slipping.

Class 4 - still easy climbing but you have to search for handholds and test them, movement is more focused and slower, a fall from a class 4 climb can result in serious injury or death. Can be difficult to come down, many will rappel down a serious class 4 route.

Class 5 - technical climbing (rock climbing) involving climbing techniques and equipment. Most will rappel down.

Again, these are very subjective and all routes/difficulty are greatly affected by other external factors such as wind, rain, snow, etc.

Thanks for the compliment. Had to shave yesterday for a meeting but growing it back again. I hate shaving.

Scott