Thielsen for a lightweight

[markv]

Well we did it yesterday. Thanks for all the hardcore climbers here who made me feel like i'd be a wuss if i chickened out! If you're the type of climber like my partner Emma who likes dangling off of a nearly-vertical cliff face with no rope and a few thousand feet of air beneath you, Thielsen is your mountain. For me, all i can say is i did it. A long, lovely, but unremarkable ~5mile walk through an Oregon dry forest trail and scree slope brought us to the scariest looking summit pinnacle i've faced. Apparently most people climb Thielsen with no rope or protection, and that's how we did it. Emma helped me with suggesting holds and the route, and 2 climbers did the same for her (and in turn me) on the much more difficult DEscent. The books and reports rate this climb as everywhere from Class 3 to Class 5.3. I'd have to rate it a 4, but with extreme exposure. For me it was like Idaho's Chicken-Out-Ridge, but chopped to 1/4 its width, and then rotated so it's up and down instead of side to side. It was a rush, but i'm not hoping to go back anytime soon. I think nwhikers.net is more my speed!

[kurthicks]

Glad you like Thielson. That was my first climb when I was 11. Did you see any bolts up there on the route? I heard mention of some...

[thelawgoddess]

the scariest looking summit pinnacle i've faced.

anybody got a pic? i'm curious!

[Ducknut]

[Ducknut]

[markv]

i saw a bolt at the bottom of the pinnacle. it actually was helpful to me in marking where to start the ascent.

 

ok great....NOW i see pictures of it with people roped up! why didn't anyone tell me that beforehand!

[Ducknut]

well, it was a group of a zilion folks on a handline. Most were not roped.