This is a pretty bare-bones page for a premier route, how about what season you can do the route in, and some descent beta would be nice.
bobpickering - Mar 6, 2020 11:31 am - Hasn't voted
Re: More info
Sorry you found my page so disappointing.
I hope you don’t need me to tell you that a rock route like this is best climbed in the summer, when the snow is gone. However, climbers who are better than I will ever be could do it as a mixed climb. 2020 has been a dry year, and I’ll bet that it was almost completely dry at times last month (February). I’ve seen lots of snow there in September, but it was dry well into November last year. What should I have said?
I started mountaineering when you were wearing diapers. In those days, the only information was Roper’s guidebook. The entire route description read “Curved Arete. III, 5.8. Stay close to the very prow of the arete for its entire length.” By the time I got around to climbing the Fishhook Arete in May of 2000, there were more guidebooks and more detailed (meaning complicated) descriptions. We found them confusing, if not misleading. This is a spectacular and straightforward route. I deliberately wrote a “bare-bones” description, because that’s all you need. Once you get onto the arete as I described, just “stay close to the very prow of the arete for its entire length.” If you need more than that to find the summit, you probably don’t belong there.
Diggler - Aug 7, 2007 1:44 pm - Hasn't voted
Recommended gearA rack of cams (singles or doubles) from BD .2 Camalot to 3" & one set of nuts worked well for this route.
atavist - May 1, 2008 3:32 pm - Hasn't voted
season?Is the route possible in May or still have a lot of snow?
SKI - Nov 8, 2010 10:30 pm - Hasn't voted
5.8 or 5.9...How hard of a 5.8 are we talking here...
bobpickering - Oct 11, 2013 1:25 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: 5.8 or 5.9...I would rate it 5.8. And I apologize for not noticing your question for almost three years.
geosean - Mar 6, 2020 9:02 am - Voted 1/10
More infoThis is a pretty bare-bones page for a premier route, how about what season you can do the route in, and some descent beta would be nice.
bobpickering - Mar 6, 2020 11:31 am - Hasn't voted
Re: More infoSorry you found my page so disappointing.
I hope you don’t need me to tell you that a rock route like this is best climbed in the summer, when the snow is gone. However, climbers who are better than I will ever be could do it as a mixed climb. 2020 has been a dry year, and I’ll bet that it was almost completely dry at times last month (February). I’ve seen lots of snow there in September, but it was dry well into November last year. What should I have said?
I started mountaineering when you were wearing diapers. In those days, the only information was Roper’s guidebook. The entire route description read “Curved Arete. III, 5.8. Stay close to the very prow of the arete for its entire length.” By the time I got around to climbing the Fishhook Arete in May of 2000, there were more guidebooks and more detailed (meaning complicated) descriptions. We found them confusing, if not misleading. This is a spectacular and straightforward route. I deliberately wrote a “bare-bones” description, because that’s all you need. Once you get onto the arete as I described, just “stay close to the very prow of the arete for its entire length.” If you need more than that to find the summit, you probably don’t belong there.