The Lone Eagle Cirque, on the west side of the Continental Divide in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, is known for breathtaking views, beautiful alpine lakes, and the classic north face of Lone Eagle Peak (11,946’), climbed by brothers Joe and Paul Stettner in 1933. The area has abundant rock, but with a minimum seven-mile approach, much of this stone is rarely climbed or still untouched.

In 2024, I began looking over maps, photos, and social media posts, trying to get a feel for the walls around Triangle Lake, at the head of the basin south and east of Lone Eagle. With a semester of school approaching and work winding down, it was time to make a trip happen. I reached out to my good friend Will Beach, with whom I started climbing four years ago; we’ve climbed all over, from the Black Canyon of the Gunnison to the Diamond on Longs Peak. I knew he was the right person for the job.

In mid-August, Will and I headed up there. During the first part of our trip, we were often tentbound, as monsoon rainstorms left the area soaked. When the weather improved, we hiked Lone Eagle’s Solo Flight route (4th class) to get a look at the east face of the informally named “Limbo,” rising between Lone Eagle and the larger Iroquois Peak (12,799’) to the south.

We began climbing Limbo’s east face on ledgy steps that quickly turned to vertical cracks. After the initial pitch (5.8), we found ourselves at a ledge with intimidating corner systems all around. We chose the central one for our second pitch, aiding it to suss the protection; Will then led it free at 5.10d. After our fourth pitch, we descended by a ramp, as the afternoon forecast wasn’t great.

On August 16, we reclimbed the ramp and started up what we later learned was pitch five of a 2020 route called East Face Right (5.10), but instead of traversing to the wide crack out right, as the earlier party had, we continued directly up the dihedral, which pinched down to a seam, with a committing stem corner followed by a difficult mantel. A pitch of scrambling followed by a steep crack led to the narrow summit, and East Dihedrals (750’, 5.10d) was in the bag. 

—Luc Aurand

PRIOR CLIMBS ABOVE TRIANGLE LAKE: On August 30, 2020, according to their post at Mountain Project, Clint Brooks and Dylan Oliver climbed East Face Right (600’, III 5.10) on Limbo—erroneously placing it on the neighboring Iroquois Peak—ascending cracks and corners on the wall’s right side. The 2020 and 2024 routes may share some ground on the first pitch and definitely share about 25’ of the fifth pitch. The large east face of Lone Eagle Peak, half a mile to the north, has been climbed by at least two routes.