Final moves to Storm Peak's summit

View High-Resolution Image
Final moves to Storm Peak's summit

Final moves to Storm Peak's summit

My partner making the last few very exposed moves onto the summit of Storm Peak after traversing the rotten knife-edge on the east ridge. The horrible quality of the rock is obvious. There is a vertical drop of several hundred feet directly to climber's left. It took us a while to get up the courage to finish the climb. Thanks to a bad case of summit fever, I remember this as the stupidest thing I did in the mountains without a rope. San Juan Mountains, Colorado. August 2008.
SarahThompson
on Feb 12, 2009 1:16 pm
Image ID: 488899

Comments

Post a Comment
Viewing: 1-12 of 12
andreeacorodeanu

andreeacorodeanu - Feb 12, 2009 3:34 pm - Voted 10/10

hmmm

i done this once, i mean without rope, with instabil rocks too, and after i remain with a piece of rock in my hand (thanks God my foots stayed good) i said wow i will never do this again but we had a rope to us cuz without was impossible to descend and we start to use it :). Cheers and happy and safetly ;) climbs!!! Andreea

SarahThompson

SarahThompson - Feb 13, 2009 3:50 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: hmmm

I guess one can find crappy climbing like this all around the world :). Lucky that you had a rope. I really wish we did that day!

yatsek

yatsek - Feb 12, 2009 8:19 pm - Voted 10/10

Why

Why not give it a rest and cling to something more solid?

SarahThompson

SarahThompson - Feb 13, 2009 3:47 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Why

I climb solid stuff too, trust me! My goal of climbing all 584 of Colorado's 13ers requires getting used to crappy rock. 250 of those peaks are in the San Juan Range, notorious for rock like this. A friend once joked that my idea of a great rock climbing gym would be a room with all of the holds thrown into a jumble in the middle, attached to nothing :)

markmahlum

markmahlum - Feb 12, 2009 11:14 pm - Hasn't voted

Sketchy

The first time I tried to climb Storm Peak, I thought I'd approach from the east ridge. Lightning chased me off and now I'm glad it did. It looked pretty sketchy anyway.

Great pics!
Mark

SarahThompson

SarahThompson - Feb 13, 2009 3:52 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Sketchy

Thanks Mark. Now you know for sure that the east ridge isn't worth messing with! The general consensus is that Storm Peak is the toughest mountain in the immediate Silverton area.

shknbke

shknbke - Feb 13, 2009 2:27 pm - Voted 10/10

gnarly

Wow, that makes UN 13222 and El Punto look like a piece of cake! Glad I was on mellow Handies that day. That shot really captures the exposure well. I'm not looking forward to this one.

SarahThompson

SarahThompson - Feb 13, 2009 3:53 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: gnarly

Don't be scared Kevin. The SW Ridge is reportedly MUCH better. In fact, I'd probably even go back to check it out with you one of these days :)

spoliquin - Mar 8, 2014 11:53 am - Hasn't voted

Re: gnarly

SW ridge is the way to go. Only a few hairy spots and no ropes required. A great peak, I'm sure I'll be back

rpc

rpc - Feb 13, 2009 4:28 pm - Voted 10/10

great shot

you'd love oregon rock.

neghafi

neghafi - Aug 3, 2009 2:03 am - Hasn't voted

fun

You can find many of such mountains in my country (IRAN). I don think it's stupidity, It's fun!

hightinerary

hightinerary - Mar 8, 2014 1:44 pm - Voted 10/10

Storm Trooper

That is one crumbly mess.

Viewing: 1-12 of 12