Trip: Wheeler Peak, NV. NE Face. FA "Siens et de la Biere" IV 5.9 R/X Layton/Waters

Date: 9/20/2008

Trip Report:
James Garret, Brian Waters, and I drove to bumf@ck Nevada, next to the Utah border in the extremely remote West Desert to check out the North East Face of Mount Wheeler. James had put up the NE Couloir which is supposedly a great late spring/ early summer alpine ice route (it was still "in"). Unfortunately, Jame was recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon, so he was there for moral support.

The NE face of Wheeler is 1800 feet tall, mostly vertical, and composed of bullet hard and super chossy (at the same time) Quartzite. This made it incredibly loose (loosest shit I've ever seen) and devoid of cracks. The only route up the face is called "stella by starlight" and was put up in a two day solo effort by Wade Mills in 1977. Robbins, Choinard, and a party in the 50's made have also climbed this same route. This route is on the left side of the face and follows gullies and ramps, and was done during mixed conditions which may have helped glue the face together and allow for better protection.

We, however, were dumb enough to try and force a new line up the center steepest (overhanging) part of the face in Summer conditions.

Our line started out well, albiet run-out and scary, but then nose dived into a rising traverse almost across the entire right side of the face! We kept looking for a way up, but were pretty well screwed without bolts to put in. The only way to make this go would be to do it in winter/spring conditions with some botls, or in summer with a very small rack and a shit ton of bolts, bits , and batteries. Since we weren't down with that and it wasn't winter, we did what we could to finally find a weakness up after traversing a ton. The traversing pitches were horrifically loose and awful, and finding gear for even the sketchiest belay took at least 45 minutes per pitch.
It was freezing ass cold, very very windy, we were climbing between 11 and 13,000 feet, and it threatened rain all day- making the climb one of the more unpleasant days in the hills I can remember. Good times!!!

For those interested, the road is closed until June...but the area offers some of the best spring and summer corn skiing imaginable. The hiking route to the top looks mind-numbingly boring. We weren't back in camp until dark.

The next day we made up for it by climbing at Ibex. Expect a new guidebook for Ibex and the climbs in the West Desert in a few months. Ibex offers some of the best roped climbing (and bouldering) anywhere in North America. The golfing on the hardpan is bar none as well.

Pics below. I'll add Brian's if he gets around to it.

is the rock as loose as it looks

that's the kind of stuff i say when i look at the pics before reading the tr.

Sweet traverse. Where's all the mung?

A valiant effort. That rock looks awful.

Didn't Ken Edsburg (sp?) climb it many years ago too?

Nice work, do you even know about this stuff called granite?

Nice, Mike. I've been curious about this face ever since reading a Park Service recommendation that rock climbers not bother with it. It looks so nice from afar but your pictures from on the face make it look sandy and chossy.

By the way, thanks for not making it a 5.10 FA.

Here are some pictures I took on Independence Day 2003.

This is the left side of the face as viewed from the notch west of The Pinnacle:

This is the face as viewed from The Pinnacle (the horn in the left side of your first photo). This could be a good photo for you to annotate your route onto:

interesting terrain and cool photos. trading your machete for a roto-hammer will probably yield the same results.

I hiked Wheeler the last time I visited my dad in Ely (now he rests up there in the wind). The hike only takes a few hours and wasn’t as boring as you’d think. I saw a few big bucks in velvet, a bunch of Bristlecone Pines, and a pack of rabid boy scouts... Looking down from the summit I remember thinking you'd have to have a screw loose to want to climb that face. Huge loose blocks teetering for eons (and being tested & trundled by rabid scouts)... It had never occurred to me that someone would climb it. That being said, do you need a screwdriver? Seriously, it looks like an interesting day out. I really enjoyed reading your TR and seeing pictures from an area I grew up around. Thanks!

P.S. Did you guys see any bristlecone pines? You can find big crystals in that approach basin too.

For real though? That looks horrid.

another lost pic



Hopefully next year we can go straight up with the addition of warmer temps and a few bolts.

Ill second that!

what about that notch peak? I got a copy of the ibex guide while climbing down there from a friend...that route looks super fun. If it wasnt for the booze laws and mormons i think everyone would want to live in Utah!

Wow, at least when I did the Willis Wall everything was frozen in place! Nice going! At least you won't have to worry about somebody repeating it and dissing you! :-)
But seriously, choad and cheap wine are good for you 'cause then the reasonable varieties seem so good.