j_from_the_307's Logbook (55 ascents)

Knee bar after knee bar after....

Next time I want to climb the 2+pitch dihedral to the left of this gully. Looks 5.8+

Okay, so my first try at the Diamond didn't turn out that well, and all I found was a severe lack of pro and not so great rock.(see Red Spot ascent)<br><br>
This route was much better, and the Diamond is the most sustained climbing in the Snowies. The route we took was perfect: P1:5.6 120ft (Red Spot), P2:5.7 190ft, P3:5.8 runout slab 145ft, P4:5.9+ 100ft.
<br><br>
Mistake on P4: <br>
When we handed over the rack, I forgot to grab any slings... Whoops! Doubled up on pro before the first crux about 20ft from the belay, then set smallest TCU right before the second crux, another 20ft out. Climbed another 20 ft through second crux, set a nut, couldn't find any slings on my harness... Rope drag would have pulled the piece out in seconds, so, assessed the situation, and climbed the remaining 40 ft to the top. Luckily it was only about 5.7 to the top and encountered just one small loose rock on the way. <br>

Kevin's first alpine experience. First pitch is typical Snowies, second pitch is perfect climbing, then another 5 pitches of mostly 4th class gullies/ridges to the top (crossing to the next "triangles").
<br>
<br>
This has potential to be a good winter route while avoiding the avy potential of most of the gullies.

7 pitches in 6 hours... not our best, but we were making up our own route..
<br><br>
One of the best routes out here, mainly because of the 2 pitches of sustained slab/crack and one of the steeper slabs out here (everything else is somewhat blocky).

Decided to climb this after our ascent of Sidewinder. Got to the base around 5pm. <br>
P1: 5.6, struggled to find my first piece of pro, after that it wasn't bad.
P2: 5.7, Tried to follow Harper's topo... worthless. Was supposed to go diagonally up and right from red spot. Ran into sections of 5.10 whilst run out 80+ft and decided against it. Backed off and headed up and left instead. Ran it out 160 ft to a bad ledge and barely wedged myself in for the belay. Set a #1 DMM and a red tricam as a backup behind a separated block and hoped Waugy wouldn't fall. <br>
P3: Starting to get dark because I wasted too much time trying to find Harper's route... Ran out the full rope length to catch the diagonal ledge leading off to the left. Hit the end of my rope 6ft from my belay ledge, almost dark, looking at a 400+ foot fall onto gear that would probably separate the block even more. For some reason I absolutely love this kind of exposure. Managed to flip the rope over a few blocks, stick in two bomber cams and belay Waugy up. <br>
P4: Had Waugy lead the last pitch, mostly dark by this point, 40 ft of 5.4 to the top. Long walk down, back in Laramie by 10:30. Cheeseburger and greasy fries afterwords never tasted so good. <br><br>
Not one of my best choices to start up this at 5pm, but we handled the situation in expert style and made it down just fine. Learned not to even bother with Harper's topo... it's much more fun up here to pick a line and go... most of the time you'll run into an old piton or two, no matter what you're climbing.

<br><br>
--J

Ascent #1 w/ petsfed: Came prepared to spend a much longer time on the route than we did... took us just a long to drive out there as it did to climb it. 2hrs
<br>Ascent #2 w/ pd_waugy: Ignored the rain and climbed anyway... a slight bit of snow... the quartzite is slick anyway, but when wet makes this 5.7 feel much harder. 3hrs

uhhh.... no, never again. Just a 400 foot pile of dried mud. Quite an adventure though. It was more fun to watch my partner suffer as I walked (no hands) "The Sidewalk" out to the "Diving Board" and mantled up.<br>
The top block is definately getting loose. I got on top of it and felt it shift. Didn't even take the time to admire the view, just got off carefully and downclimbed.

Incredible hand jams... ran it out 15-20 feet and felt completely solid. Missed clipping my cam at the end of the crux not once, but 3 times. Psyched me out, ended up clipping and backcleaning most of the way up the roof. <br>
Had no problem on toprope. Next time we go back its going down 100% free.

Within the first 20 feet my hands were dead again... part of the warmup I guess. After I could move them again it was pretty cruiser and fun. nice to have the offwidthy sections to break up the hand crack and give excellent rests.