Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 8:55 pm
rhyang wrote:tradmonkey wrote:We ran up on 6-27-09...
Got a late start, but the friendly folks ahead of us on the 4th pitch let us pass on through as they took a break and we got back to Bishop in time for a Whiskey Creek Works Burger.
The snow is still there all the way from Gem Lakes, but it's getting thin and you'll posthole into the talus as it softens up. A few small patches of snow on the route itself, but nothing you can't easily avoid. An ice axe is a good idea for the descent if you're coming down late in the day. Mosquitoes are still minimal, but hatching fast! Bring your bug juice.
Here are the pix!
http://picasaweb.google.com/tradmonkey/ ... pireJune09
Enjoy.
Adam
Looks great ! From what I've read, the 5.8 pitch (offwidth / stemming big flakes) isn't as harsh as it first appears. What did you all think ?
This one was actually my first multi-pitch route ever about 5 years ago. We ended up soloing the upper half of the route on that trip. The route is very easy and not very sustained considering how impressive the Arete looks from below. The "5.8" pitch has one awkward move around a flake that's well protected and more liebacking/stemming than anything. There's no OW climbing involved anywhere on the route.