Billy Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 Climb: SEWS and NEWS-East Butt/ NW Corner Date of Climb: 8/20/2004 Trip Report: Myself and Dick Pumpington headed up to WA pass last week to do some fine granite climbing. Not being able to convince any of our esteemed collegues Hal Burton and Mr Machiatto to join us, we went alone. After an auto epic with a failed alternater my mighty Saturn delivered us to pass and to salvation. On the first day we woke up when it got light, had some quick breakfast and hiked up the loose gully to the base of SEWS. The approach to a little over an hour. The first couple pitches of the route were easy to mid-fifth, and were very enjoyable. Dick took us up the fine 5.9 cracks to base of the bolt ladders. What great pitches those were, solid cracks, good pro and increasing exposure on the way. I took over at the bolt ladders and barely managed to free the moves. Kudos to whoever placed the new bolts! The alleged short pitch between the bolt ladders was no pushover. The second bolt ladder was intially tough to locate, as the bolts really blend in the distance. Also, the way the topo is written, it looks like the ladder starts right off the belay, but really you have to climb up quite a ways with minimal pro until you hit it. This pitch was fantastic with small crimpers and steep rock. The mantels were casual, maybe 5.8, not 5.10, especially if you compare them to the mantle on the Nutcracker in Yosemite. We then followed 2 wandering pitches to the summit. A classic climb that we both felt was way better than Liberty Crack. Some folks may want to consider this route as a good alternative. The next day we climbed the NW corner of NEWS. The flakes and liebacks on this route are outrageous. The 20 ft of offwidth crack kicked my ever-loving ass, but it was fun in a weird sort of way. It drizzled a bit on the climb, but the rock didn't really get wet. When we got to the top the sky opened up for a brief spell, and we were glad to be heading down. Another great climb. The West Face is on my future hit list. Gear Notes: Rack to 3 inches for East Butt of SEWS and Rack to 4inches for NW Corner, but we had a 4.5 camalot, and were happy to have it (I'm an off width weenie) Approach Notes: pretty short Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourteenfour Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 sounds like a solid trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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