Intermediate Alpine Climb - Liberty Bell/Beckey Route

The approach to the base of Liberty Bell was covered with snow, which made quick work because we didn’t have to follow the summer trail.  The party donned crampons to cross the snow. Nearing the base, the snow was melting away from the rock, which made navigating a few sections difficult.

We were the first party on the route, so we started climbing straight away.  The first pitch was easy going and the initial chimney was fun. The second pitch proved to be more difficult with some exposure.  The third pitch was more straightforward than the second, but a short horizontal finger crack made that section of the pitch committing.  The fourth pitch included a 10-foot slab section that didn’t leave much for hands. The remainder of the climb was a walk-up with a nice undercling/lieback on the left that acted kind of like a underhung handrail.  Several members of the party were able to enjoy the sunshine on the summit.

A 70-meter rope was handy to get past a mound of snow at the based of the first rappel.  From there, we walked down to the second rappel station. The third rappel station wasn’t that far below the second station, but there wasn’t much space at it so we only allowed two people there at one time.  The last rappel took us back to the notch.

The party moved slowly up Liberty Bell, so we didn’t have time to climb Concord Tower.  

Descending the notch to the trailhead was a bit arduous as the snow was soft from the afternoon sun and the gaps between the snow and the rocks had become larger.  This made the initial descent slow-going. Once we were past the rocks, however, we moved much faster. Post-holing was the only other issue we experienced on the way out.

Car-to-car, the climb took about 12 hours:

• TH to notch = ~2 hours
• Notch to summit = ~7 hours
• Summit to notch = ~1.5 hours
• Notch to TH = ~1.5 hours