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.....

The Ten Essentials

Ventured back up to RMNP last week with Aaron Miller to climb a lesser known route on Spearhead 12,575. called, The Ten Essentials III 8+ . The route starts with the first three pitches of the more popular Sykes sickle 9+ and then veers right into some broken flakes and cracks for the remaining 2 pitches to the ridge crest. The route pretty much runs parallel to the barb flake formation, at one point climbing behind the huge hanging flake of "the barb". Exciting old school 5.8 climbing at about 12,000 ft, with the crux coming at the end of the route. We then finished with the last 2 pitches of the North Ridge. A nice long day car to car..




About 6am almost to Spearhead which is the large spiked buttress in the background....





The 800 ft. east face of Spearhead.....




Aaron Miller following the 1st pitch....



Aaron starting the 2nd pitch. The route moves right toward the end of this quite run-out slab pitch, over to the hanging flakes and corners seen above Aaron to the right....


Good view of the upper pitches. The crux pitch climbs beneath the HUGE hanging flakes of The barb. Sweet stemming and lay-backing throughout the climb...










West side of Longs Peak and the Keyboard of the winds looking over your shoulder the whole climb...




Aaron following the crux pitch.....



Pull'in the crux...The look of excitement, or concern on Aarons face??



Looking down the last 2 pitches of the North ridge and the top of the barb flake.....I combined these last 2 easy pitches due threatening weather....

Aaron eating candy soon after finishing the climb....Spearhead's summit seen in the background... The weather still holding... Sweet views of McHenrys peak and stoneman pass from the Spearhead summit...Awesome climb!!!

Peace, Jason

Zowie

Its alpine season once again, too hot to climb even on Lumpy Ridge one must gain some elevation to keep things on the cool side. I climbed Zowie by way of the standard South Face route, Grade III 8+ with my old roomate Beth Andrews at the end of last season, one of the most enjoyable routes of all year, and now I decided to start the alpine season off right and climb Zowie first with my good buddy Mike. With this being Mikes first alpine climb I was totally excited to share in that experience with him.. So the typical alpine climb start, at least for Zowie due to the shorter approach. Wake up call 2am, pick up mike leave Boulder 3am, drive at a high rate of speed to Estes Park and then through the park to Glacier Gorge trailhead 4am, start hiking 4:05 am, roped up and climbing by 6am, 6 pitches and approx 700 feet later on the summit 10:45 am, back at base of climb 11:45 am. Lunch, meditation, reflection back at truck for a cold beer 2pm....So with the details out of the way here are a few pics from the climb..

Sun coming up over the Loch....

Morning Alpen glo on the tip of Zowie, the large buttress in the foreground that narrows to a spire.

Mike climbing up one of the early morning pitches of the climb. I think the smile on Mikes face is from finally being able to escape the hoards of mosquitoes that were at the base of the route. They were pretty bad. I think Mike said some thing along the lines of" I think you need to lead this pitch as fast as possible dude!" as he was dawning his rain coat for defence.





Mike following pitch 3


Great Views of The Gash and Sharkstooth from mid route, looking south west towards Andrews Glacier....

Mike enjoying himself, no more mosquitoes!

Looking up at the final crux pitch. The left of the 2 cracks splitting the overhung headwall above. The right one goes too..Just a little bit harder, #4 Camalot crucial if you want to sew it up.

Mike climbing up the last difficult bit to the summit....

Looking down part way through the descent of Zowie...

Mike descending the boulder field in front of Zowie ....Good perspective on the size of the climb..

A great climb and the perfect start to this years alpine season...

Peace, Jason