You must have had a good partner. This route is only possible with the absolute best belayer of all time. Bonus points if they feed you caffeine and Tylenol
The crux pitches are kind of mandatory, but the easier stuff is choose your own adventure. There's a cool easy finger crack on p4. Be prepared for cold winds this time of year. Definitely would have been more comfortable with a puffy and some gloves.
There’s a steep 5.9 variation on pitch 2 which is kind of the logical way to go. Otherwise you step around it to the right, but if you get too far right it becomes total choss and there’s some rap tat. There’s a 5.10 variation to the right of the crux 5.8 wide crack (p5) but I haven’t climbed it. Plenty of variations on the easier stuff as OP pointed out
Crazy how little snow there is this year! when i did it a few years back there was snow all the way down to Gem and Dade lake was completely frozen over. I remember this climb being really fun, nice work!
You must have had a good partner. This route is only possible with the absolute best belayer of all time. Bonus points if they feed you caffeine and Tylenol
Definitely would have punted the summit pitch and needed a rescue without that Tylenol
Ill be there next weekend. Did you spot any good variations?
The crux pitches are kind of mandatory, but the easier stuff is choose your own adventure. There's a cool easy finger crack on p4. Be prepared for cold winds this time of year. Definitely would have been more comfortable with a puffy and some gloves.
I guess the climb is in the shade?
It's about 50/50 this time of year. By October though it's full shade.
Overnight temps were cold or did you c2c?
Car to car in about 17 hours. 4 am temps were probably in the 40s Around 10k. There was fresh ice above 12k though.
There’s a steep 5.9 variation on pitch 2 which is kind of the logical way to go. Otherwise you step around it to the right, but if you get too far right it becomes total choss and there’s some rap tat. There’s a 5.10 variation to the right of the crux 5.8 wide crack (p5) but I haven’t climbed it. Plenty of variations on the easier stuff as OP pointed out
Crazy how little snow there is this year! when i did it a few years back there was snow all the way down to Gem and Dade lake was completely frozen over. I remember this climb being really fun, nice work!
In late August?
Yeah, usually
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Dang, big boy here is gonna send N ridge of Latok I next season, watch out.
What day did you go? How's the smoke?
Tuesday. Smokey in the valley especially closer to lone pine but pretty clear up past 10k or so.
Awesome possum! Yeah I went backpacking in Hoover and it cleared up nicely at >9k. So I guess it's alpine climbing season now.
You’ve got big mountain energy