Illini Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 Climb: Finger of Fate, ID-North Face/Open Book Date of Climb: 7/10/2004 Trip Report: Last Summer Brock, McKenzie, Ron and I attempted this climb but due to a late start and imposing looking clouds we bailed after the first pitch. Later NOLSe and Brock made a marathon run back to Idaho to successful hit this climb. I’d been itching to try out the Sawtooths again. NOLSe, Pandora, Brock and I left NOLSe’s house 6:00 PM Friday. We hit the trail head ~5:30 am Saturday and were hiking by 6:00 am. With an end run, right, around Hell Roaring Lake, a stop to stash water at the upper lake and a stop for to the punishing return of Mexican food I had previously ingested, we hit the base of the finger a little after 9:00. Brock, having climbed the finger before, insisted on leading the opposite pitches from his last trip. This gave me pitches 1, 3-4, and the summit block. Brock and I agreed that pitch 1 was probably the crux of the climb with its short OW section. Though not the hardest, Pitch 5 was the choice pitch of the climb. NOLSe and Pandora followed behind right on our heels. The summit block was eventful to say the least. After crawling under the summit block, the last pitch to the summit is a short ~15 feet and it protected by a single ancient homemade piton. With Brocks outstanding beta I was successfull in my attempt to test the integrity of afore mentioned piton. Having just pitched off the last foot of the climb and loading a brand new biner across the small ledge in front of the piton, I decide to let Brock finish the climb. He removed my now crooked biner and pulled the move with no problem. Following up I found significantly easier beta. 2 Raps and ~5 more miles out and we were back at the car 11 hours from our start time. Pizza, ~10 hours of sleep, pancakes outside of Boise, and another ~10.5 hours of driving brought us back to NOLSe’s house 49 hours after we left. Yea it far away, but this was a damn fine moderate route. In comparison to Outerspace, I’d say the Finger rocks due to a more sustained moderate level of climbing. The 5.8 pitch on Outerspace is hard to beat but when comparing the whole climbs this route on the Finger might get the higher quality rating. Gear Notes: Medium to large rack to 4 inches, 60M rope to link 3-4, We were able to find a topo for this route if you are interested PM NOLSe or myself. Approach Notes: Mosquitoes chap my ass… no really. 4X4 not required getting to the upper trail head but good ground clearance is highly recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skip_M._Kliphiem Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 I really enjoyed that climb when we were in the Sawtooths a couple of years ago. If you ever decide to do it again, take a look at a variation of the last pitch. From the ledge after you crawl under the summit block, to the left there is an exposed and unprotectable (for about 25 feet) arete. The first move is a kind of sporty 5.8 move and then it backs off to mid 5th to finish. There was a team behind us waiting to watch us on the standard finnish and they were quite suprised to see us on top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunglehead Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 Photos, please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illini Posted July 13, 2004 Author Share Posted July 13, 2004 Photos, please! Forth coming. They need to be developed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Frieh Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 Sorry these took so long (full size in my gallery)… I have some more slides I need to find and scan from 2003. I can’t emphasize how awesome this climb is… I hope the pics give you somewhat of an idea… pm me if you want any other info. Approach: start of 2: Top of 2: Pitch 5 porn: More pitch 5 porn: Pandora following 5: Top of 5/summit block: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCash Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 Wow! Amazing pictures. That looks sweet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Frieh Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 Easily worth the 9 hour drive (10 with time zone change) from PDX... And if one considers the other climbs in the sawtooths it's amazing the area doesn't see more traffic (I have never seen anyone else on the finger). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ireneo_Funes Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 Nice photos... my favorite detail is the sun visor. Start of pitch 2: right-side up and forward. End of pitch 2: backwards and upside down. Pitch 5: right-side up and forward again. I'd like some shots of the transitions! Seriously, great photos. I can't wait to get out there. Love the color and texture of the rock! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Frieh Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 Spungdeeper: If you think that is hot you should check out astro elephant (5.10- ; 10 pitches) on the perch (one valley over)... hotness... I’ll try to dig out some slides. IF: I’m a little embarrassed about the visor… I am a huge helmet advocate as I haven’t met anyone willing to feed me apple sauce the rest of my life assuming I do take a head shot sans a helmet but... in a rush to get out of town I forgot it... best I could do was the visor... When you headed out? Got some routes picked out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ireneo_Funes Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 The helmet police are going to let you off this once...'cause you look so stylish! We're planning an early-September trip to do the standard route on Warbonnet, then maybe Mt. Heyburn on the way out. The Finger of Fate is high on my list though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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