JeffreyR Posted October 7, 2009 Posted October 7, 2009 Are there any first ascents left in the Olympics. It would appear that everything has been done, but there are some spots that see few visitors, if any each year. Quote
OlympicMtnBoy Posted October 7, 2009 Posted October 7, 2009 (edited) The guidebook says Mt. Olympus is awaiting a first winter ascent. I'm pretty sure both the north and south faces of the Nun don't have any routes on them either. 8D There are also many unnamed spires in the interior . . . Edited October 8, 2009 by OlympicMtnBoy Quote
johndavidjr Posted October 8, 2009 Posted October 8, 2009 A currently nearby post resurrects old, highly intersting thread about Olympus winter ascent. :Apparently it's been done at least several times, which reflects somewhat poorly on guidebook editors. Various "faces" in Olympics don't have recorded routes. If that's the standard, there are nearly endless first ascents available. Perhaps in early season, many of these would be reasonable, though minor and utterly inaccessible. That there are at least a few minor points in Olympics that haven't been reached by any route, does seem quite possible. They are probably too "minor" for records & perhaps that is just as well. Quote
olyclimber Posted October 8, 2009 Posted October 8, 2009 i'm certain the Olympus has been climbed in winter, and multiple times actually. there are some peaks that i'm sure haven't been climbed, but anything notable with out a record, just go climb it. i'm sure if you post about it someone will claim they already did it. been through that myself already lol. go climb all the peaks in the Vahallas in winter. maybe that hasn't been done yet. Quote
RJRiha Posted October 8, 2009 Posted October 8, 2009 After I discovered what it was like to be scared on 5.3 (Tran Spire...dunno what was to be scared of, if you didn't like a hold, just throw it off the spire and dig until you find one you like), a buddy and I went back to that area and tried our hands at some of the "unclimbed" spires (per the guidebook). We climbed one short one, and thought we had a first ascent until we found a class 3/4 downclimb (but we probably did have a first ascent on the line). It was utterly scary, and the gear was probably worthless. We went to the next spire and found a nice low fifth class dihedral with a short handcrack that was surprisingly solid with great exposure. We congratulated each other on our "first ascent"....until we found some old tattered webbing.... Moral of the story: there is much unrecorded about the Olympics. A lot of stuff that you would think has not seen human feet in fact have. Some of the more difficult to reach spires most certainly have not been climbed. There are some potential unclimbed spires even near roads, but they're painful to get to and certain to contain shitty rock. There are even still potentially unclimbed spires in the Hamma Hamma valley. Post it if you climb some of them, because there are guidebook committee members that check this site. Quote
Reilly Posted February 1, 2010 Posted February 1, 2010 This is a joke, right? I can think of at least 3 or 4 good lines on Constance. They might be harder than 5.6 though. Quote
dberdinka Posted February 1, 2010 Posted February 1, 2010 Reillys post about his FA (Ulf's Arete) on Constance was awesome. Amazing looking route.... Quote
johndavidjr Posted February 2, 2010 Posted February 2, 2010 A question might be whether there are any peaks in Olympics that haven't seen an ascent as of 2010. This depending mostly on definition of "peak." Winter FAs would be another question of interest. Not being particularly informed, I'd assume for obvious reasons, there are fair number. On the other hand, who cares? Seems there are "lines" that haven't been ascended. Given nature of Olympics, this may remain true until whenever humans go back to knawing on fungus for sustanance and survival. Still 'n all, as extremely pedestrian mountaineer mu'self, here's to y'all discovering the "New Classics" and certainly to those writing "rock climbing guidebooks" for the area. Quote
keenwesh Posted February 2, 2010 Posted February 2, 2010 the olympics are terrifying, you never can fall, because for one, gear is sketch in shitty basalt, and two, there aren't any cracks to place gear! Quote
RJRiha Posted February 2, 2010 Posted February 2, 2010 A question might be whether there are any peaks in Olympics that haven't seen an ascent as of 2010. This depending mostly on definition of "peak." Almost certainly a yes to this one. I can think of some spires off hand that MIGHT have never seen human foot on top. In terms of major peaks in the Olys, no, they have all been ascended. I used to be more interested in such things until I started climbing more on granite. Quote
G-spotter Posted February 2, 2010 Posted February 2, 2010 A question might be whether there are any peaks in Olympics that haven't seen an ascent as of 2010. This depending mostly on definition of "peak." Functionally equivalent to a summit Quote
chirp Posted February 3, 2010 Posted February 3, 2010 A question might be whether there are any peaks in Olympics that haven't seen an ascent as of 2010. This depending mostly on definition of "peak." Functionally equivalent to a summit Quote
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