Capitol’s Northwest Buttress via Early Times

After last September’s successful climb of the original line up Capitol’s Northwest Buttress with Chris Baldwin, I really wanted to go back and try the harder 5.10 variation called Early Times established by Jeff Jackson & company circa 2010, which ascends climber’s right of the original route’s 5.9 pitch in four awesome pitches up the initial steep headwall. I had promised J I would go with him as he wanted to visit Capitol’s summit again after not having been on the mountain in 15+ years. After weeks of trying to get a perfect fall weather window and shifting schedules within our busy lives, we targeted the same date that Chris and I had climbed the route the previous year, September 14. Now having 2 kids each, the less time away the better and easier on our spouses. So, I picked J up at 2am on a Saturday morning and made the drive over to Capitol with very heavy eyelids. After some coffee, oatmeal, & bananas on the drive to pep us up (well, J doesn’t drink coffee for whatever crazy reason and never has), we left the trailhead around 4:30am making our way up the familiar Capitol Ditch Trail under headlamps. We cruised the 6 miles to Capitol Lake in maybe 2 hours and 20 minutes and got our pre-dawn glimpses of old Capitol Peak’s north face and northwest buttress.

Capitol’s northwest buttress is the right skyline

I was a bit disappointed to see the fresh dusting of snow on the north face and what seemed to go close to the northwest ridge itself as well as the shallow 4th class bowl below Unicorn Spire. However, we were still confident we could mostly avoid the snow. We refilled a bit of water in Capitol Lake and made our way up to Capitol Pass at around 12,000′. It was then a grunt up the final few hundred feet to the top of the talus cone to the base of the initial headwall and our intended route.

The route is sure intimidating from the talus cone here, but excitement was high!

We caught up with another party of two who were attempting the original line to the left of Early Times. I gave them what beta I had on the initial 5.9 pitch and route-finding up the route itself above the headwall. It was pretty chilly no doubt and the wind was whipping a bit. Climbing hard 5.10 in these types of conditions plus being in the shade at over 12,000′ is a far cry from cragging in warm sunshine at 7,000′. We racked up and I led on up the 1st 5.10c crux pitch maybe around 8-8:30am. The cold was tough to deal with, but got better the higher I went. There were several distinct cruxes in my opinion and some tricky moves protected by only a nut in some places, but I made it to the anchors after 100′ of climbing or so and set up to belay J.

The initial crux headwall. The 1st pitch of Early Times goes up the center dihedral

Me on the initial, easier climbing of pitch 1

J in the thick of it on pitch 1

I don’t know how J climbing this pitch wearing gloves

J getting close to the belay approaching the upper crux of pitch 1

The other team of two were heading up the 5.9 pitch on the original route and actually were trying to dislodge the #0.5 purple cam Chris and I had lost exactly a year ago on that route. We could communicate with them and had a good laugh at the fact that it was mine.

The follower on the original 5.9 pitch to our east

A more scenic shot of the climber on the original 5.9 pitch as seen from the top of the 1st pitch on Early Times

We swapped the rack and I belayed J as he led off up the mentally taxing 5.9+ pitch 2. The climbing initially surmounted a small roof protected by a bolt and then angled up and right following discontinuous cracks.

J on lead up pitch 2

The crux came near the anchors at the top of pitch 2 where J was making the moves first and then placing gear below him. A scary way of leading. He really persevered and did so well and made the onsight.

I’m down there somewhere following and cleaning pitch 2 as seen from the pitch 2 belay

Pitch 3 was 5.8ish and after an airy, no-pro traverse west to a small crack, I led on up this short pitch to a decent belay.

Me leading up pitch 3

J back down at the pitch 2 belay

We then did the final swap of the rack and J took us home up the 5.8 pitch 4 to the anchors at the top of the headwall. The moves at the top of pitch 4, or at least the moves we did, were certainly not 5.8 in the least. Maybe we were off route, but they were much harder than 5.8, that is for sure!

J doing the initial traverse east on pitch 4 before heading straight up past an old piton

As J brought me up to him, the other team of two was finishing up their 2nd 5.8 chimney pitch down below us to climber’s left. Another team of two had started up the original 5.9 route as well below them. We stowed the rope and began the really fun class 4 climbing up and right avoid the snow in the easiest terrain which Chris Baldwin and I climbed in last time.

J on the class 4 climbing up and around Unicorn Spire to its west

After climbing the scariest, loosest, & blockiest pitch (in my opinion) below the actual arete from the west, we crested out on the arete itself slightly above Unicorn Spire. We roped up and began the 500′ or so of awesome simul-climbing. The climbing on the arete really ranges anywhere between 5.0 and 5.7.

Me leading up some 5.7 terrain on the arete

J climbing the awesomely exposed arete with Unicorn Spire now seen far below

What made the upper part of the arete a little more sketchy than last time was the fresh snow. The snow was a little more covered and deeper towards the top of the arete bypassing the small tower to its left (east) when the angle eased up a bit. I was essentially tip-toeing on the dry exposed rock, brushing off small ledges, etc on 5.4 terrain. J did not enjoy this part one bit. His feet being blocks of ice didn’t help either. Nonetheless, we topped out at the small saddle above the heart-shaped snowfield and took a sigh of relief. What was next was the 5.7 upper headwall pitch, which I told J he should do since I led it last time.

J managing (or not managing) the rope as we walked the 4th class terrain saddle above the heart-shaped snowfield

J leading over the mini-roof on the 5.7 upper headwall pitch

Me on this same pitch enjoying the sun

At the belay, I told J we were really close – just a few hundred feet below the summit – and that we should just simul-climb from here. I led on away, but belayed J up to me briefly to protect a few exposed moves and not risk them in a simul-climb.

J almost to me on the upper headwall. The heart-shaped snowfield and 4th class saddle can be seen below

I then told J to take us home to the top and he led the final few hundred feet of mid 5th class terrain in the sun to the summit ridge.

Me on the summit ridge with Mt. Sopris in the distance

Capitol Peak summit (14,130′)

What a gorgeous summit it was. We arrived maybe around 2:30pm though I cannot really remember. The weather couldn’t be better – my favorite weather of the year. Warm sunshine with a tint of cool, crisp fall air. We probably spent 30 minutes on top texting Kristine & Megan that we were just fine and may be late getting home.

Looking southeast from Capitol’s summit to Pyramid, the Bells, and the wildfire near Salida

Me on Capitol’s summit – my favorite in Colorado, by far. I think this was my 6th visit to its summit

J and I descended the standard northeast ridge pretty quickly and had fun across the knife-edge ridge one more time. J had not crossed that ridge in over 15 years and really didn’t remember it at all.

J walking the ridge with K2 beyond

Me just taking a sit and enjoying the view from the knife-edge ridge

I always forget how long the descent from K2 back to the Capitol-Daly saddle can be and just hard on the body, especially a torn meniscus (me), with all of the boulder-hopping. No matter though as J and I just took our time and chatted about past climbs, future climbs, and life in general. It was a beautiful sight seeing the sun actually beginning to shine on the lower crux headwall of Capitol’s northwest buttress at around 4:30-5pm. Maybe that’s the time to actually climb the lower headwall!

Cap’s northwest ridge in profile with the sun beginning to shine on the lower crux headwall

The lower crux headwall in the sun as seen from the Capitol Lake area all zoomed-in

Happy to be on the way out and have an easy 6 mile stroll back to the car, but the weather was so unbelievable I sort of wanted to stay out all night!

It was a nice hike out and we just made it back to the car around 8pm having just turned on our phone lights making for about a 15.5 hour RT day. Definitely longer than Chris and I took exactly one year before, but more technical pitches take time! It was a phenomenal day. One for the books. A big burger at the Glenwood Springs brewery was just what the doctor ordered and we finally arrived home about 11pm. I’m so happy my meniscus did well on a long day like this. I guess we’ll just continue to see how it goes and if it gives me further problems. Maybe it will just lie dormant for awhile. The older I get the more physical ailments will come about, but as long as I can continue to enjoy days like this, I’m a happy man.

Reunion on Thunderbolt

Since our good pals Baba and Lizzie has moved to Truckee, California, we have been trying to reunite and climb some California 14ers like the good ole days back in Colorado when they lived in Vail. Finally, after not being able to get a Whitney permit, J and I booked a flight to Reno to see Baba and head down south to the Bishop area and try our hand a California’s hardest 14er, Thunderbolt Peak. In the end, we thought this plan was worlds better anyway than the highly popular Mt. Whitney further south, the tallest peak in the contiguous US. However, our sights are still set on one of Whitney’s classic rock climbs as well as neighboring Mt. Russell for next summer 😀 Our other long lost Colorado pal Mikey Johnson, Kristine and my ex-roommate, and good pal and climbing buddy of all of us, came up from his surf life in San Francisco and joined us as our 4th. A reunion tour indeed this would be and we were all excited. Personally, for J and myself, to get into a new range altogether was amazing in itself. Especially, such a dramatic, jagged range of wonderful alpine rock.

Baba picked J and I up in Reno on a Thursday night and we spent the night at the Aldrich Residence in Truckee catching up with Lizzie and the kids. I even got to cuddle with their golden retriever, Khumbu, who we all like to think Rainie and Kona taught how to climb mountains back in Colorado. One thing drastically different than Colorado in planning for peaks is the whole summer permit system. Mikey had driven to Bishop the night before to be in line at the ranger station first thing in the morning for a camping permit for the North Fork of Big Pine, the more standard way of approaching Thunderbolt and the Palisades. However, somehow those permits were taken but ingenious Mikey somehow got a permit for going in from South Lake and out the North Fork of Big Pine figuring maybe we could play dumb (if caught by a ranger) going into Sam Mack Lake or perhaps say we were on our way out. Anyway, Baba and J and I took the minivan south on 395 to meet Mikey in Bishop. After grabbing street tacos in 100 degree heat and a few more supplies we all drove up about 4,000’ into the hills to Glacier Lodge at about 8,000’, a 20 minute drive west of Big Pine. One thing about the Eastern Sierras is the big vertical relief above the valley of around 10,000’ considering Bishop is around 4,000’ and the tops of these peaks are over 14,000’. Pretty impressive. We get to the Glacier Lodge parking area and begin to pack our backpacks and sort gear. We were hesitant about going in this way but I figured these California guys can handle it and do the talking in case we confronted a ranger. As luck would have it, a ranger had just finished hiking out and asked to see our permit. Mikey did the talking and explained to her we were setting up the shuttle, which clearly it didn’t look like 😀 Whatever. She took the bait and then we asked another hiker who had just finished about possibly seeing rangers and he responded he thought there was one camped way up there. That solidified it – we were going to go in from South Lake, which started at a higher elevation of 9,800’ but was a lengthier and more complicated approach. We thought about daytripping it as well but we had brought all our backpacking gear and were all looking forward to getting remote in the backcountry for 48 hours. So we drove back out to the valley and headed back to Bishop and up to South Lake and the trailhead.

The four of us about to set out from South Lake on Friday afternoon

The mosquitoes were pretty bad, but we tried to move fairly quickly and the higher we got the less present they were. We passed several beautiful lakes including Long Lake and a phenomenal peak called Mt. Goode, a lowly low 13er, with an imposing yet inspiring north face.

Long Lake and the north face of Mt. Goode

Our evening approach was so relaxed and mellow

Baba heading up into the upper basin

Camp with Mt. Agassiz (13,893’) behind

High 13er Mt. Agassiz

We reached Bishop Lake at around 11,200’ after 2-3 hrs and maybe 5 miles and found a nice place to set up camp. This was the last decent place to camp and lake for that matter before the 12,000’ Bishop Pass. We settled in and had a great time reliving old memories and catching up like we never skipped a beat. Up at 4:30am, I started up the jetboil for coffee and oatmeal. The sky was amazing and the weather even better. You don’t get this kind of high pressure systems in Colorado often except maybe in September whereas here in the Eastern Sierra apparently it’s pretty typical for the summer months.We began the hike up to the 12,000′ Bishop Pass and then left the trail veering due south across snow and rock along the west side of Mt. Agassiz, Mt. Winchell, and eventually Thunderbolt Peak. We made our way to Thunderbolt Pass and took a break.

Traversing under the west faces of Mt. Agassiz, Mt. Winchell, and Thunderbolt Peak ahead to the left. Thunderbolt Pass is center of picture

Here we are at Thunderbolt Pass staring down the Southwest Chute 1 route

The Eastern Sierras remind me of the Wind River Range

A cool little ridge out to the west from Thunderbolt Pass

The Southwest Chute 1 begins in the obvious snow apron at left in the picture

We donned our crampons and began the climb up the couloir until we reached a chockstone, but I had read that there was a 3rd class ledge to the right to bypass this obstruction in the steep gully.

Getting on snow

Gaining the 3rd class ledge when the snow ran out at the chockstone

It was then a good 1,200’+ climb up a steep, loose, and dry chute to a small col between the north & south summits of Thunderbolt Peak.

Southwest Chute 1

Fun, easy scrambling, but a bit loose with no snow

Our original intent was to climb the North Couloir up Thunderbolt from Sam Mack Lake, but this Southwest Chute 1 route seemed more remote and more of an adventure than just kicking steps straight up the North Couloir. I think we were all sort of glad the North Fork of Big Pine approach didn’t work out. Once at the little notch, J and I climbed up class 4 (would have been low 5th class in Colorado) slabs for about 60′ to a little ledge and set up a belay for Baba and Mikey. I then set up a belay and brought big Baba up to me. Keep in mind that J and I rock climb all the time…well, as much as two dads ever can. Mikey and Baba rarely ever rock climb, especially Baba, so this whole deal of rock climbing at 14,000′ was a bit of a new deal for them. However, they did fantastic and brought a great sense of accomplishment (I think).

Me belaying Baba up the class 4 pitch in a spectacular setting

me at the belay with the north summit of Thunderbolt behind me dubbed the “Lightning Rod”. And, it was at this point that I saw some webbing at the top. I knew if we didn’t traverse onto Starlight Peak, I’d want to climb this tower 🙂

It was then a short scramble to a nice viewing ledge of the final 5.9 summit block. It was then another 40′ of scrambling up to the summit block. This summit block is the part of the climb I was really looking forward to. Its about a 15-20′ boulder problem of 5.9 moves with no protection. There are, however, anchor bolts at the top to top rope the summit pitch and lower off of. I led off up the block with my 30m/8mm rope tied to my harness and made the super fun moves topping out at the anchors.

Baba took this pic of J belaying (well, not really) me climbing the summit block

Summit of Thunderbolt!

J then wanted a crack at the lead, so he took off. Got several shots of him making the moves.

Getting on the block

Getting the feet set

Right hand on a crimp and left hand up over the lip

Right foot up on small ledge

Mantle over

J on Thunderbolt’s summit!

Now, it was Mikey’s turn. He top roped it clean (as in not hanging on the rope).

Mikey on top of California’s hardest 14er

Last but not least, it was Baba’s turn. He later told us he was concerned all that morning about whether or not he could make the moves to summit Thunderbolt. He stepped up to the plate and gave it 110% of everything he had. After a few attempts and some beta from J and myself, he made it!

Baba on the block

Reaching over the lip, bringing the right foot up

Doing the mantle

Baba on top of Thunderbolt!

J and I then played around a bit and tried a really hard slab, crimp route on the block’s north face.

Me climbing the north side of the summit block

J & I on the summit of Thunderbolt Peak (14,003′)

Once everyone was down back at the large ledge, J and I scrambled south to the edge of the ridge looking down at the downclimb to the Thunderbolt-Starlight saddle. “Not today” we thought. We would need to move fast and unroped and feared we would be belaying a lot and time just didn’t allow. Next time, we may come in from Sam Mack Lake and climb that Underhill Couloir to the Thunderbolt-Starlight saddle and start south from there climbing Starlight, North Palisade, and Polemonium all the way to Mt. Sill at the end of the Palisade Traverse. This was absolutely fine because I wanted him to go with me up Thunderbolt’s north summit since I saw rappel webbing at the top. The primary objective was Thunderbolt, anyway, and everyone was satisfied with that.

Scoping lines and ridges

We backtracked and rappelled the class 4 slab pitch above the notch between Thunderbolt’s two summits.

Baba rappelling

Upon all of us reaching the notch and pulling the ropes, I racked up and J belayed me from the notch on a traversing pitch to the south to get on the Lightning Rod. Mikey and Baba sat back and enjoyed the show.

Looking back at the notch on the traversing pitch

Its hard to know what this north summit is rated (maybe 5.8?), but it was fun nonetheless. A small intermediary pitch was necessary to get in place for the last pitch. I placed two pieces on the last pitch and then ran it out maybe 40′ on much easier 5th class terrain to the webbing.

J on the final of our short little 3 pitches up the Lightning Rod

J with Baba & Mikey seen way below

We then belayed each other up the final 5′ to the actual tippy-top with supreme exposure.

J on the summit of the Lightning Rod with Starlight in the background to the right

Me on top of the Lightning Rod

Looking down Thunderbolt’s North Couloir to Sam Mack Lake and beyond

After a rappel snafu and me reverse rapelling up to get the knot unstuck (I could not be belayed by J due to length of rope issues and where the knot was located), we retrieved both my 30m/8mm ropes and made our way down the chute.

Baba glissading – been a LONG time for him

Regrouping on Thunderbolt Pass, we made our way across the lengthy traverse on the west side of three peaks (upper Dusy Basin) back to Bishop Pass. Crossing deep sun-cupped snow and rocky terrain with a torn meniscus (me) is not the fastest. I had town this guy maybe 5 weeks prior with too much mountain running, especially the downhill. Baba heard a pop in his leg too on this high traverse and was a bit gimpy as well on this terrain. I believe we arrived back at camp around 5pm maybe and all went for a super frigid dip in the icy Bishop Lake. Sure did make the knee feel better, though.

Looking north from Bishop Pass area down to our camp at Bishop Lake and beyond

What great pals…so glad we were all able to make this happen together

Mt. Goode’s mellow backside (south side)

After a great evening and a long night’s sleep, I got up Sunday morning thinking I may wanna go summit Mt. Goode. However, I couldn’t get any takers. Baba wanted too, but his knee was not feeling the best. After lots of coffee and breakfast, we leisurely packed up and made our way back to South Lake and the trailhead by early afternoon. We all just had to take a dip in the frigid South lake and man was it awesome. I tried to walk these logs out into the lake but failed miserably when they started spinning in the water. I made one whole log though. Ninja Warrior-esque 🙂

Goode’s north face and north pillar up close

This thing looks perfect – got to come back for that route

Log walking on South Lake

We drove into Bishop blasting 80s like we used to do a decade or more ago in Colorado and ate enough pizza to feed a small army (primarily, J and Baba). After discussions of what to do next, we decided to go rock climbing near Mammoth on the way home. Granted I had never cragged and led 5.10/5.11 with 8mm ropes, but now I can say it does work. Not ideal, but it does work. Mikey had a full-fledged climbing rope in his car, so we put up a few routes and made pals with the locals. They were great folks and wanted us to stay for some concert, but we had to head out as J and I flew out at 7am the next morning.

Baba climbs crack?

We said our goodbyes to Mikey who got a room in Mammoth before heading back to San Francisco the next day. It was so great seeing Mikey again. As much as I wanted to cuddle and sleep with Khumbu again, J convinced me we should stay in Reno at a casino and that he would pay for it. J really does LOVE casinos. there is no denying it. Obviously, this plan was better for Baba too as he could just drop us off at the airport in the morning. After many drinks and some Mexican food and margs, we turned in around 2am.

Just a phenomenal weekend with all these fellas. Its just what we needed to kickstart an annual California 14er trip. I cannot wait until next summer to head back out.

Monolith Spire

Well, being under the weather with the flu makes for good time to catch up on a nice Grand Junction day out back in early November. I had always wanted to climb to the top of this tower within Colorado National Monument called Monolith Spire, but had only ever climbed its first lengthy pitch several times without continuing on upwards. The first pitch, called Dewar’s Dihedral, is a fantastic 5.10+ crack in its own right, but the real adventure comes in the 2nd & 3rd pitches. Good pals J, Ryan Marsters, & Mikey Santoro joined me for the daytrip from Edwards to climb this sucker – finally! We rolled down in my Tahoe to the familiar Monument Canyon Trailhead and made the hour hike into the base of the tower. It was chilly, but actually warmed up just enough. I led on up the familiar Dewer’s Dihedral and belayed Mikey up to me.

Me leading up Dewar’s Dihedral. Pic by Marsters

Mikey almost up to me at the top of the first 130′ pitch

Mikey was pretty exhausted and not feeling it this day, so we re-rigged things at the belay and I lowered him to the ground. J had started leading team J-Marsters and Mikey just lowered right behind him. It all worked well.

J leading Dewar’s Dihedral

J anchored off at the pitch 1 belay and we figured J would belay me up the unknown (to us) off width pitch 2 while Mikey would belay Marsters up pitch 1 on top rope from the ground. I led off horizontally east from the hanging belay and got a #0.75 in high to protect the unknown traverse. After studying where to go I figured one had to make a leap[ of faith and completely let go of the left hand and hope your right hand went into something solid. Fortunately, my right hand went into a perfect hand crack and I climbed my way up to the bottom of the obvious off width when seen from afar. I placed a #6 high in the off width and chimneyed my way up using my horrible off width techniques. It was tough for me  – a true battle. I mean 5.9 off width is tough enough for me, but 5.10 off width is another level. I was able to get in another #5 and then a #4 up high where I could fist instead of the awkward chicken winging and buttterfly hands I was doing below. After 40′ or so, I topped out and then did another 25′ of much easier 5.8 climbing to the belay ledge. After some radio calls with J and me ready to belay him up, J began climbing. He made the leap of faith traverse and then really climbed the of width well.

J beginning the traverse up and to the base of the off width. Pic by Marsters

J topping out on top of the off width

J cruised on up to be trailing the 2nd rope. I took J off belay and he set up to belay Marsters up the 2nd rope. After a lot of grunting and some choice words, we see Marsters emerge from the belly of the off width and make his way up to us. We told J he should lead the final 5.10d A0 bolted face/arete climb to the summit. He was excited. He led out onto the arete and clipped the first bolt. He actually climbed this pitch super well and didn’t rest on a bolt until the final 2 bolts.

J leading the final 3rd pitch

Marsters took this of J from the edge of the large belay ledge

J on the super tough upper portion of the 3rd pitch. This was much much harder than it looked from below! Pic by Marsters

After an aid move near the top, J topped out and set up to belay me up.

Me beginning the 3rd pitch. Pic by Marsters

So, all I got to say is that with the extremely sandy and slick crimps, this pitch has to be at least 5.11+ free. I definitely had a rest or two on the rope. However, I did dyno the move J aided at the top. Finally, I topped out with my dignity between my legs. Fortunately, Marsters thought it was just as tough.

Marsters on the upper portion of the final pitch

Marsters perfecting the chin hold

Me on top belaying Marsters up. Pic by J

J and Marsters on Monolith Spire’s summit

Gorgeous Colorado National Monument. Pic by Marsters

Group shot on top of Monolith Spire

Mikey took this pic of us on the summit of Monolith Spire from below

We then readied the rappel down to the big belay ledge at the top of pitch 2 with a single 60m rope.Back at the belay ledge we double rope rappelled down of the back side of the tower to the ground where Mikey was waiting for us. We wrapped around the base of the tower and sorted gear and ropes and packed up.

Monolith Spire from below with Dewar’s Dihedral is on the left side and the off width pitch is seen above the center of the picture

Out just before dark at the cars, we reflected on another adventurous day in the high desert. I just so love these winter days in the desert. Not only because there is never another soul around, but the colder temps always feel so good on the sunny sandstone.

Capitol’s Northwest Buttress

Where to start with this one. This route has been on my radar for years. My good pal Jesse Hill and I attempted this route in late July 2015, but little did we realize what late afternoon downpours would do to the first 2 pitches the following day. We got shut down, but I salvaged the day by taking a run up neighboring 13er Mt. Daly. That whole account can be read here.

Capitol’s Northwest Buttress Route shown in red as seen from Mt. Daly’s south ridge in late July of 2015

Anyway, I had heard the Northwest Buttress up Capitol was a bit “loose” and objectively dangerous because of rockfall, but honestly now having climbed it I can say only one small 100′ section gave me any pause with regard to loose rockfall potential. I think any climber who may think this a “death route” probably spends most of their time in climbing gyms, at crags, and not in the alpine. If you are a rock climber and regularly climb peaks, especially in the Elk Range, and are used to loose rock being just a part of climbing mountains, then this route likely wouldn’t feel too objectively dangerous. I extremely enjoyed this route and think it is potentially the best alpine adventure I have done. I would definitely do it again and plan to do the Early Times (5.10) initial headwall variation next time.

J and I were trying to make this happen all summer, but schedules and weather forecasts kept getting in the way. I knew we needed a great forecast within a dry spell so as to not repeat my previous mistake. I kept thinking we needed to wait until the fall and the bluebird days of September. However, this is when J and Megan were expecting their second daughter, so it may not work out timing-wise. Fortunately, good pal Chris Baldwin was taking on this whole climbing activity full-throttle like he did everything else and said he would love to go with me. I’m so happy Chris and my paths crossed earlier this summer as he has been a super friend and climbing buddy. I have so enjoyed “showing him the ropes” so to speak. Anyway, unfortunately for J, we targeted Friday, September 14, which was Megan’s due date. He understood, but was obviously bummed. However, I promised him we’d go back and do the 5.10 variation. Chris and I would attempt the original 5.9 Northwest Buttress.

After a 4 year old birthday party at the park with Sawyer and a lost key incident in the Baldwin family, Chris and I were on our way in my Tahoe to the Capitol Creek TH late Thursday night. We arrived at the TH around 11pm and promptly got some shut-eye. Up at 2:50am, we had some awesome glazed croissants and Nescafe instant coffee courtesy of Mr. Baldwin and set out up the Capitol Ditch trail around 3:35am. I had my 60m/9.8mm rope in my pack while Chris had my alpine rack in his. We cruised to Capitol Lake in about 2 hours via headlamp under the still night sky. We took a pit stop at the shore of Capitol Lake en route up to Capitol Pass for a quick water refill and a bathroom break. It was chilly out for sure and a bit breezy, but we reached Capitol Pass maybe 7-7.5 miles in around 6:30am. The wind was really making things rather chilly and after scrambling up 400′ to the base of the initial headwall we took shelter on the leeward side among some rocks. We racked up, flaked the rope out, and had some PB&J again courtesy of Chris’s chef skills. We probably waited until 7:30am before we started climbing just to see if the wind would die down and for the outside air temperature to rise a few degrees. It was still chilly. We made our way out the ledge and I set off up the 1st pitch.

Me setting off up the 1st pitch. Photo by Chris

After 50′ of climbing I came to a nice stance on a ledge and the old pin I bailed off of 3 years ago when the route was essentially a waterfall. I slung the pin and moved off across the wide horizontal crack, which I basically laid back and really ran it out as the crack was too large for any gear I had with me. I then plugged a #3 cam and moved vertically into the crux “off-finger’ crack which went for 30′ to the anchors. This remaining crux felt harder than 5.9 to me. I’d give it a 5.9+. Usually, an “off-finger” crack is not 5.9 and the cold and wind only further sandbagged the rating. Nonetheless, there are a few facial features for the toes especially on the left side of the crack, which helped, but it was so slick given how chilly it was out. There is a small “thin hands” pod that is a nice hold, but other than that its poor face features for your feet and finger holds. I led it cleanly to the anchors (only one pin, really) and had a good stance where I set up my self-equalizing anchor with the help of two #2 cams. I shouted down to Chris and he was ready to climb. He really really did well having not much experience at this. The crux finger crack section gave him pause and a few issues, but he pulled the moved and made it to me just fine. He was a bit frustrated because he hung on the rope thinking he wasn’t ready for this, but I did my best to settle the good lad down by saying that the pitch was a lot tougher than the 5.9 rating.

Chris down low on the 1st 5.9 pitch

Chris making the tricky moves before the final rest stance below the finger crack

Chris in the thick of it!

Chris stoked to be with me at the pitch 1 anchor

I gathered my gear and slings from Chris, he put me on belay, and I set off up pitch 2 (5.8). It was a fun 5.8 move to get into the chimney and then it was cruiser climbing for a good 90′ to where the angle eased off and I set up an anchor to bring Chris up.

Chris climbing pitch 2

Nearing the top

I think Chris felt much better about things after pitch 2. He goes “see Brandon, now that’s much more in my wheel-house.” He is a funny one. Anyway, we stowed the rope in Chris’ pack and set off up the super fun and enjoyable class 4 scrambling for 600′ up and around to the right of the base of Unicorn Spire.

Good scrambling!

Me making my way on the 4th class rock. Photo by Chris

Chris moving around on looser rock to the right (west) of Unicorn Spire

The nastiness of the route really only reared its head in the final 100′ or so of climbing to get to the ridge crest above Unicorn Spire from the west. It was definitely low 5th class climbing on boulders seemingly held to the mountain only by sand. Chris took one line and I took another. Each of us securely tested each hold and came out alright up top on the ridge proper. What lay before us was probably the best and most fun climbing of the entire route. About 700′ of 5.0-5.7 simul-climbing up an exhilarating and airy arete that can be seen from the Capitol Creek TH!

Ready to take-off up the arete! Photo by Chris

Making my way up. Photo by Chris

Airy exposure looking down

Chris doing his thing. What amazing climbing

We reached the top of the 2nd tower and got our first sunshine of the day which felt oh so nice and rejuvenating. We de-roped and scrambled across the ridge above what was left of the heart-shaped snowfield over to the base of the 5.7 upper headwall pitch.

Chris on the 4th class ridge

A short walk/scramble to the base of the final headwall

There was a pin at the base of the headwall likely to protect the belayer because the first 50′ of the pitch is pretty run-out with no gear. I believe I climbed the small roof more to the right (west) than other folks have noted in their pics, but it felt more solid to me. I set up a belay about 30′ above the roof where I could still see Chris.

Chris on the upper headwall 5.7 pitch

We then decided to simul-climb the rest of the headwall above us. I set off and finally got into the glorious sunshine again.

Setting off on our simul-climb of the remaining upper headwall. Photo by Chris

Chris simul-climbing the upper headwall on mostly solid rock

Its a long way down

Chris said he really loved this climbing

Chris almost to me on the ridge

Chris reached me on the ridge and we literally only had 30′ to the summit. We were both pretty ecstatic with everything (the weather included) and we de-roped and scrambled the rest of the way to Cap’s summit.

Chris shot this of me on Capitol’s summit

So happy to have climbed the Northwest Buttress – finally!

We summitted around 11:30am so it took us close to 4 hours to climb the route. We saw no one on the summit or for that matter on the entire mountain this day. Unbelievable to me, really. We spent close to an hour on the summit relaxing and taking in the sunshine and the moment.

Relaxing and texting Kristine we are all good. Photo by Chris

Capitol summit (14,130′)! This was Chris’ first time up Capitol, which was extra special

Looking out towards Snowmass Mountain, the Bells, and Pyramid

Capitol Lake about 2,500′ below

The fire north of us near Steamboat

We figured it was time to roll around 12:30pm and so reluctantly we departed the summit down the familiar knife-edge standard route. It was super fun cruising down the standard route with no one else on the mountain.

Me taking the ridge-proper down the northeast ridge. Photo by Chris

Chris descending the standard route

And out across the knife-edge. I think he really enjoyed the standard route as well as he wants to go back at some point

We took a sigh of relief on top of K2, stowed our helmets, and let Kristine and Kimberly know we just had the slog out now. We made our way down the never-ending boulder field that I hadn’t been on in years and over to the Capitol-Daly saddle to reach the most welcomed trail. After a refill of water and a snack/sandwich at Capitol Creek just below Capitol Lake in the warm sunshine, I guess we had to motivate to hike the 6 miles out. It was pretty darn hot and my Lowe Alpine pants were heavyweight. So, I decided to take em off and hike out in my boxers. I mean my Patagonia silkweight boxers look like shorts, right? Hopefully, I didn’t embarrass Chris, but this wasn’t my first rodeo in just my boxers. He just had to get used to it. We arrived back at Capitol Creek TH around 4:30pm for a total time of 14 hours, but we did take several breaks on the way down and a good hour on top. So, maybe not all that shabby. We packed up, stretched out our backs (we ain’t so spring chickens anymore, that’s for sure) and made the trip back to Edwards. We met up with Kimberly and the Baldwins’ friend Patrick as well as Kristine, Sawyer, & Kona at the Craftsman around 7pm in Edwards for some celebratory beers and dinner. This was a fun day.

All in all, I just plain loved this route. I can’t wait to go back with J and climb Early Times (5.10). Maybe next September. I’m just so glad it finally worked out before our second child (yep, Sawyer will have a baby brother) enters this world come Halloween. Thanks again to Chris for a fantastic climb.

Book of Thor

Its been forever since I have posted something due to various reasons – buying and selling homes, moving, settling-in, work, no notable trips, and just life in general 🙂 However, I need and want to get back to some blogging. I need to play catch-up a bit. Last weekend I finally got back into my beloved Gore and climbed a line I had spied 2 years ago while deep in the remote South Rock Creek drainage below Valhalla Peak’s east face. This is the location of the beautiful Asgard Meadows flanked by Vahalla’s two eastern ridges: the north being the infamous Asgard Ridge and the southern being the locations of Loki, Thor, & Freya Towers.

Hiking along the southern flank of Asgard Ridge into Asgard Meadows with our destination being Thor Tower

I got a close-up of this guy and its web with a blurred Valhalla Peak and Thor Tower (with its shaded north face) in the background

I recruited my super strong, young, triathlete buddy, Dylan Friday to go with me and he was excited as well. Dylan hasn’t led anything in his life (yet), but he would follow me up anything and is a great partner. We left the North Rock Creek TH around 6:15am and did the normal approach via the southern flank of Asgard Ridge into Asgard Meadows in about 2-1/2 hours with loaded packs of climbing gear.

Looking down on Asgard Meadows

Profile of Freya Tower

Looking up at the mighty Thor Tower from Asgard Meadows

So, close to 2 years ago, after Ryan Marsters, Mike Santoro, & myself made the first ascent of Freya’s east ridge, we contoured around to the south of Thor Tower to head up and climb Stan Wagon’s western 5.6 route up Thor. Upon our contouring, I spied a nifty, clean-looking dihedral on Thor’s south face that grabbed my attention. I knew I had to go back and try and climb this line.

The dihedral

This picture is borrowed from Stan Wagon and is taken from Rain Peak to the south. It shows well the southern faces of the towers and our line up Thor is drawn in red

Dylan and I scrambled our way up to the Freya/Thor col and then scrambled around to the south to the base of the dihedral. The base of the dihedral was full of snow, so we decided to scramble up some 4th class/low 5th solid rock to the left to gain a small ledge 40′ up to begin the actual climbing.

Dylan climbing the fun 4th/low 5th rock to the left of the dihedral proper to avoid the snow at its base

We reached a small ledge and racked up. Dylan, being the strong ox he is, put my backpack in his backpack on his back to lighten my load significantly. I took off up our 1st pitch on some fun 5.7 climbing for the first 50′ or so placing two pieces. One thing I do look for in lines to climb is always the objective danger, i.e. falling rocks, and one of the alluring aspects of this dihedral was the apparent absence of potential rockfall. There were a few 5.8 moves and then a nice section of 20-30′ of 5.9 climbing towards the end of our first pitch involving some finger layback moves. I was running out of rope and looked up ahead, but there were no obvious belay spots with the upcoming roof crux. I wasn’t on a great ledge or anything, but figured it would do since I had a good crack to build my anchor to the left and at least a few tiny ledges to put my feet on.

Looking up the dihedral from our small belay ledge for pitch 1

Looking down our pitch 1

My anchor at the top of pitch 1

I put Dylan on belay and he followed up pitch 1 cleaning my gear. He really climbed well especially given his loaded backpack.

Dylan on pitch 1

Dylan on the 5.9 portion of pitch 1

Dylan reached me, swapped the cleaned gear back over to me, and he put me on belay for the seemingly harder pitch 2. I was hoping and pretty sure I could reach the ridge crest of Thor and set up a belay.

Looking up at the crux roof of pitch 2 above from the top of pitch 1

The first 30′ off the belay was some interesting and thought-provoking 5.10 climbing. Especially getting into the dihedral and stemming below the roof and pulling the roof into a super thin seam where I could only get a nut to protect the moves. The right face was slick, lichen-filled granite, which didn’t inspire confidence when laybacking. All in all, I did it clean and made my way onto easier climbing above and moved right to the base of a pillar. I placed a small 0.5 cam at the base of the pillar, slung it, and climbed up maybe 5.7 rock for a good 25′ feet before getting another cam in a solid crack to the left. I reached the ridge after another 10′ of climbing and set up a belay. Dylan climbed it well and reached me at the ridge.

Dylan on the final moves of pitch 2 below the ridge crest

Dylan excited to be at the ridge crest and close to the summit of the elusive Thor Tower

The terrain from the top of pitch 2 to the east looked a bit spicy, so I kept the rope on and led out and up to the east across some 5th class terrain. I didn’t place any gear, but soon reached much easier terrain on the ridge crest and belayed Dylan up to me. Just not wanting to de-rope and all I just continued onto the summit and Dylan followed me.

Dylan beginning the traverse over to the summit

Dylan ridge walking

Dylan on the summit of Thor! And via a new route at that!

Once on the summit, we took in the views and opened the small summit cannister where Stan’s business card and a patch from father’s and my made-up “Chalk Hill Expeditions”. I would highly doubt anyone had been up here in the 2 years since I was last here – at least there was no evidence that I could find.

Valhalla Peak from Thor Tower’s summit

Thor Tower summit (12,500′ or thereabouts)

One of the fires near Winter Park to the east was noticeable

We then descended a bit down to Stan’s rappel webbing and I threw our rope down to rappel.

Dylan on the short rap

Dylan rappelling with a portion of Asgard Ridge as a backdrop

We then stowed the rope and our climbing gear and traded our TC pros for Hokas. The descent down the north from the small col was loose as always but relatively short-lived until we reached what I have come to call “Asgard Lake”. Its a beautiful, completely clear, glacial blue lake.

Asgard Lake with Valhalla Peak on the far left and Asgard Ridge trending down to the right

Making our way down the boulderfields and back through Asgard Meadows was a treat and then we ascended back up to the southern flank of Asgard Ridge. We made it back to my car by 3:30pm for a roundtrip time of 9 hrs and 15 minutes. This was a great day and I’m so grateful that it worked out. Always nice when things come together. Special thanks to Dylan for partnering up with me for this adventure. On the way out, Dylan was asking me what a “dihedral’ really stood for and I explained essentially it was a rock feature in the shape of an “open book”. Then, he suggested “why don’t we call the route ‘Book of Thor’?” Perfect. Book of Thor (5.10) it is.

Sister Superior via Jah Man

Been awhile since I posted anything, but the boys and I had a superb day up on a tower in Castle Valley, Utah near Moab two weekends ago that I thought I would share. The weather has been just so amazing this fall – warm days and cool nights with very little precipitation. Perfect for rock climbing and, in particular, desert crack climbing. J and I had been climbing when we could at Wolcott and doing a few days down in Grand Junction at Tiara Rado. I had always wanted to climb Sister Superior Tower’s classic Jah Man route which goes at 5.10c. It looked like an amazingly exposed crack line up a seemingly impossible face. And, at 5.10c, I figured its well within our capabilities.

Sister Superior Tower in Castle Valley, Utah. Jah Man pretty much climbs the lower left part of the southwest face and then in the center part for the upper three pitches.

We recruited Mikey Santoro and old Steve Cizik, some of our fellow crack buddies who love towers. We all rolled down late Friday night and cowboy camped in some dirt cul-de-sac near the access 4WD dirt road. Unfortunately, a few parties of two got early starts and started hiking the dirt 4WD road well in front of us. It was still pretty cold and we decided to just relax and drink coffee and sort gear. It was a relatively short route and we had all day and the weather looked to be spectacular. We got in my Tahoe and drove the rough 4WD road, which is really a wash at the bottom of a valley, as far as I felt comfortable in driving. I then carefully turned the Tahoe around and parked it. We hiked for an hour uphill to the base of the tower and observed three different to-man partied on it. No matter, though, as they were all pretty proficient and efficient. We really only waited 30 minutes and befriended the nice duo in front of us from Boulder and Salt Lake City.

Steve at the turn-off the wash to go up to the Sister Superior Group

Mikey and I teamed up as did J and Steve. I started up the pretty cool short 1st pitch (5.9) linking it together with the great 2nd pitch (5.8) dubbed the Sister Squeeze. It was a super fun pitch of chimneying up between too fairly featured walls.

Me starting up the short 5.9 1st pitch

Me at the top of the Sister Squeeze 2nd pitch

Next up was the crux 3rd pitch at 5.10c. The crux was short but strenuous. I think if and when I could climb it again, I would lead it clean, but its thin hands to a traverse left out with decent holds and once you can get the sequence down its much easier as with anything. The exposure definitely adds to it as well and plays a few tricks on your psyche. Nonetheless, I made the traverse and pulled over the lip and followed the easier sloping crack up to the anchors. I brought Mikey up to me and he agreed it was a tough crux section.

Looking down at J at the top of the Sister Squeeze 2nd pitch and Mikey following the crux 3rd pitch

J leading the crux 3rd pitch

Stevo climbing the 3rd crux pitch as seen from J at the belay ledge

The 4th pitch was pretty tough as well, but very cool thin hands and a lengthy pitch at that. I ended up at a nice belay ledge just below the summit and brought Mikey up to me.

Mikey finishing up the 4th pitch. I think this pitch would be a 5.10b or so

Finally, we were set for the short 5th pitch (rated maybe 5.10a or so). It was a bolted pitch with only 3 bolts and sort of a one move wonder. It was fun.

J leading the 5th pitch

Stevo following the 5th pitch

I am not sure what time we were on top, but man what a summit it was and the weather was just perfect. We probably spent 30 minutes on top taking it all in.

Mikey on the summit of Sister Superior

Me on top with the Rectory and Castleton in the distance

Group summit shot

We then single rope rappelled down to the top of the 3rd pitch and it was a struggle to get to the bolted anchors. I’d recommend rapping to the top of the 4th pitch anchors first and then to the top of the 3rd pitch anchors with a single 60m rope. Or, a 70m rope or a double rope rap from the summit to the top of the 3rd pitch anchors. A single 60m rap from the top of the 3rd pitch anchors to the top of the 2nd pitch anchors went fine and then a double rope rappel to the ground from there.

Me on the double rope rappel to the ground

Stevo on the last double rope rappel to the ground

We hung around at the base of the tower and packed up and took pictures. The alpenglow was amazing on the Rectory, Priest, and Castleton.

Alpenglow

We hiked down and returned to my Tahoe right at dark for the fun drive out the wash. Back in Junction we went to our staple Red Robin for burgers after any tower. Mikey and Stevo cruised back to the Front Range late that night while J and I lapped S-crack (5.10d) in Escalante Canyon the next morning. We were hoping to get on our favorite Willy’s Hand Jive as well, but a crew from Boulder and the Front Range were camped out on it all day and wouldn’t let us get on. C’est la vie. Poor ole Escalante ain’t so much a hidden gem anymore when hoards from the Front Range are weekend tripping it to this secluded canyon. It is what it is, though a bit sad. However, we are all part of the problem. I’ve definitely been in that big group camped out on Willy’s before so I am not one to say anything. Climbing S-crack 4 times was a work out in itself, so we had fun and were back in Edwards mid-afternoon. I definitely have better beta now to lead it maybe clean next time.

J finishing up the cruxy fingers portion of S-crack

J getting into the offwidth portion to the anchors

Always wonderful to do a desert weekend and towers are a special experience. I would definitely go climb Jah Man again.