Wham Ridge

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Page Type: Route

Location: Colorado, United States, North America

Lat/Lon: 37.68930°N / 107.6022°W

Route Type: Technical Rock Climb

Time Required: Half a day

Difficulty: 5th class

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- 9 Votes

Page By: nickd

Created/Edited: Aug 28, 2003 / Aug 28, 2003

Object ID: 158680

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Page Score: 84.77% - 5 Votes

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Table of Contents

Approach

From the meadows (11,300') Arrow Peak, ascend an obvious draw to the south that leads to the broad Arrow/Vestal saddle. This draw has a trail that follows a small stream. From the lower saddle, proceed left to the middle of the Wham Ridge face - aiming for the highest point where grass meets the rock . If camped at Vestal Lake (12,200'), proceed directly to the aforementioned point.

Route Description

Climb the middle of the low angled face to an obvious right facing dihedral . The rock is quartizite, and can be deceptively slippery if even slightly wet. Once at the top of the dihedral, proceed slightly right of the large cleft in the middle of the face, and pick a 4th class route thru cracks and blocks. Exposed short low fifth-class sections appear in a steep band around 13,000'.

Moving left or right of the cleft offers fun variations to 5.8 - the right side of the face close to (or on) the ridge is particularly interesting.

After arriving at the top of Wham Ridge, descend a small gap and climb a small wall to the true summit.

Descend either by the southeast couloir (scree) or Wham Ridge itself. If weather is good and time is available, the Wham Ridge descent is fun. It actually is a good way to find the ascent "path of least resistance". The southeast couloir leads to the south side of the Arrow-Vestal col - from there descend scree to the lower saddle and down to the meadow at 11,300' or Vestal Lake (12,200').

Essential Gear

Experienced climbers in dry weather need only good approach shoes, confidence and the ability to move fast over 4th class and low 5th class terrain.

For most parties intending to follow the path of least resistance, an alpine rope (i.e. 30-50 m) and small rack (cams to 3" and some small nuts) will suffice to belay around exposed 5th class spots in the upper-middle of the face.

For fun variations, a 60m rope and a fuller rack (full range of cams) will let you go wherever you want on the face.

Miscellaneous Info

If you have information about this route that doesn't pertain to any of the other sections, please add it here.

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