Crestone Needle lies in the heart of the Sangre de Cristo Range. This route begins at the South Colony Trailhead. The approach is right next to the near the popular Ellingwood Arete route. Once at the west end of the lake scramble up the face using the cliff bands. The crux of this climb is in the cracklike couloir 800 ft. south of the Ellingwood Arete. This is a 500 foot couloir climb rated 5.8 with both snow and rock climbing. It leads to a notch where you have the option to climb to the summit or descend down the standard south face route.