The Winds

Just returned from an awesome trip to the Cirque of the Towers in the Wind Rivers of Wyoming. Aaron Miller and I made plans to climb another one of the 50 classic climbs of North America, the North Ridge of Wolfs head IV 5.6 1,000 Ft "traversing". We also planned to climb Pingora by way of the East Face Left Side Cracks, IV 5.7 1500ft ? And for a bonus the day after our ten mile hike into the cirque we climbed the South Buttress 'K cracks' of Pingora for a good warm up to get accustomed to the style of climbing to be expected. Cory and Liz were along as well as our gracious hosts since this was there 5 th trip to the Winds.

First sight of the Cirque....


Ant Man !! Hiking just past Big Sandy Lake..The first easy six miles are behind us now...



Nice view of both of our objectives for the trip ...Wolf's head (left) and Pingora (right)









Resting up after the long hike in..

Aaron walking through a field of wildflowers on our morning approach to Wolf"s Head ridge..

After simul -climbing the first 300 feet of easy grassy ledges we ended up on a large bench with a short vertical pitch separating us from the start of the "sidewalk pitch"

Aaron going through the rack before the classic run out ( but easy) sidewalk pitch...2ft wide and about 40ft long no pro, just friction...Probably 5.2 climbing but in an incredible position...
"Sidewalk pitch"

Looking down the sidewalk....

Great shot of Aaron following the traverse around the first tower which is followed by a sketchy step around the exposed boulder...

One of the most striking towers that we climbed around, the " Darth Vader" tower, could easily be seen from camp below resembling the helmet of Darth Vader...

Aaron leading the downward hand traverse pitch, which finished with a tight squeeze through a gap in the ridge.... A truly unique and memorable pitch.

Looking through the gap......

Last pitch of the climb. A great route, truly classic, and one that I would definitely climb again....


View of the ridge catching the last bit of sun....

So after climbing Wolfs Head we were in agreement on taking a rest day before climbing Pingora.

Our one rest day was pretty relaxing, went on a short hike , did some sweet bouldering in the cirque, and tried not to eat all of our food for the rest of the trip.....

Pingora continued below.......

Petit Grepon

One of the 50 classic climbs of North America the Petit Grepon has been on my to do list since I first started climbing. Finally this past Thursday Aaron Miller and myself headed up and climbed this awesome alpine route by way of the classic south face, grade III 5.8 800ft. Solid rock and breathtaking exposure throughout the climb, I cant believe its taken me so long to get this route done.. Roping up and getting psyched...Although the recent monsoon flow throughout the front range has left "the Park" quite wet...Trails on the approach were running with water and when we reached the start of the route the lower pitches looked as if they were running with water as well..




The start was a little wet, but we kept our hopes up that the upper pitches past the chimneys would be dry..The chimney on pitch 2 was definitely running and wet when we climbed through.

Aaron toward the end of pitch 3 leaving most of the wet rock below us now. Sky pond visible below....




Mr. Marmot keeping me company at the belay....I think he was scoping our line!!




Aaron sending the crux pitch...

Looking down from the extremely exposed pizza pan belay ledge...Single serving, room enough for one, no room for seconds!

Aaron getting his slice of the pie....

Aaron leading the final summit pitch.....

Yours truly finally on the summit of the Petit Grepon.... Totally Sweet!!

One hour and 5 rappels later we were back at the base of the Petit...Me actually smiling while pulling ropes...I hate rappelling!

Chillin back at the base of the route...Feeling good!

Walking out, the Petit on the left and the Saber on the right....

Till next time...

Peace, Jason

P.S.

All this moisture in RMNP has sprouted up some interesting looking mushrooms.....