Northeast Face, Left

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Northeast Face, Left

Northeast Face, Left

Northeast Face, Left [side] of Warbonnet route, a grade II class 5.7 outing - as seen from the Warbonnet-Plume Col. Approximate line of (our!) ascent indicated. Think we were grossly correct in our route finding as we encountered two pitons (near top of P4 and P5) and two pieces of fixed pro (as well as a bail sling or two). I did mess up twice (P3 and P5 I think) which resulted in my downclimbing and traversing. Since we were climbing on two ropes this was not an issue for my second - she simply pendulumed across on the second rope. Note that Kelsey's guidebook mentions a "dihedral" which the route supposedly follows for "several" pitches. I've enumerated the prominent dihedrals you'll see on the face - quite a few to choose from. As it turned out, the route does not really follow any of them. The closest is labeled D5 and it is also "The Dihedral" in this photo. I will try to supplement this "topo" with a sketched one later. The ratings go approx. as: P1=4th-5.0; P2=5.6; P3=5.7; P4=5.7 (felt harder, see caption in subsequent photos); P5=5.7; P6=5.6-5.7.....yes I'm sure these will be debated without end once others here on SP do this route...as it is, these are MY interpretation. For a slightly different view of the route, see this photo (August 2, 2004).
rpc
on Aug 11, 2004 7:32 pm
Lat/Lon: 42.76110°N / 109.2144°W
Image Type(s): Alpine Climbing
Image ID: 64370

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b.

b. - Aug 25, 2004 1:15 pm - Hasn't voted

Congrats

Finding this route is something to be proud of. My wife and I climbed 4 or 5 pitches of this and went too far right on the traverse. We were getting chased by weather, too, so we rapped a line of perfectly placed slings between this route, and the NE Face Left route. After the traverse, it looked like a difficult link to get back over to the chimney. Some of these pictures look familiar, like that little ledge. I thought that some of the 5.7 was a little stiff, too, considering the loose nature of some of the flakes on the first pitch, and the traverse.

rpc

rpc - Aug 25, 2004 1:31 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Congrats

Thank you.

It's good to hear from someone who had similar impressions of this route. I'm not even sure how "on-route" we were - just sort of guessed our way up this thing and we did luck out with the weather (getting caught on descent doesn't qualify as "punishment"). Can't imagine trying to finish this on soaked moss! That ledge you mention atop P4, actually the going was much easier from there onwards (I thought that P4 to reach this ledge was the hardest pitch of the route) - the traverse rightward could be made over mostly easy ground. Yeah, agreed about the rating - maybe the .7 rating is OK but the loose rock, mossy cracks, and route finding uncertainty made it feel harder for me.

Misha

Misha - Mar 28, 2005 3:17 pm - Hasn't voted

Great beta!

Nice one, Radek! Is this considered to be a better route up this peak? I am thinking to try this or something cleaner (if available) this coming summer.

rpc

rpc - Mar 28, 2005 4:33 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Great beta!

Thanks Misha.

From memory, I think the Kelsey guidebook lists something like 4 routes on this peak (+the class 3 scramble on the "backside"): 2 are 5.7's (NE Face Left and NE Face Right with the latter having more issues than the foremer), 1 is in the 5.10's (Feather Traverse or something like that?) and 1 in the 5.11 range (Black Elk). Don't think there's much more on this (at least published). Fun route. You'll love the Cirque.

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