Top 10 Hard Alpine Free-Climbs in WA State

[marc_leclerc]

How about the Coast Range of SW BC?

 

You mean the Coast Mountains??? How about 'The Smoke Show' on the South Buttress of Combatant. Thats like 5.13a, 3,500 feet or something. I am aquainted with the guys that put it up and they said it was awesome, and they pretty much flashed it in 11 hours or something.

 

* okay, i believe the deal was... Matt sent the 13a pitch with some work but didn't manage to red-point it so he just pulled on one peice of gear to get through the crux move. The rest went free at 5.12d wich they sent on-sight. Thats a pretty outstanding

effort!

 

[video:youtube]v=OaEStJx9bgA

Edited January 8, 2010 by marc_leclerc

[Pete_H]

Again, hard to say what is meant by "top." DOE, for example, has the potential to be one of the raddest free climbs anywhere, but it is still dirty as shit.

 

GP is such a stellar route. Not only because the pillar itself is clean splitter granite, but because it is trully alpine. Its a long committing full-mountain route involving a steep glacier with objective danger. The climbing definitly isn't as hard as the other routes described here though.

[marc_leclerc]

Hardest (completed) route on Slesse is 10+ though across the valley there are a bunch of 11s on the Nesakwatch Spires

 

Rock quality also differs markedly as you cross the valley

 

Individual pitches on the East Face of Slesse have been freed at 5.12d

[G-spotter]

ya but the nesakwatch rock is a lot solider and has splitter cracks where as the east face of slesse is a big exfoliating mess

[marc_leclerc]

ya but the nesakwatch rock is a lot solider and has splitter cracks where as the east face of slesse is a big exfoliating mess

 

totally... but there are people with badass-skillz that can climb hard stuff on that rock. Funny how Craig gets further than Boyd and Stanhope though, theres a difference between Slesse and Squamish granite I guess

[j_b]

 

By "Top" I mean quality routes. A couple harder climbs that didn't make the list due to lack of quality: Tooth and Claw, North Face of SEWS (might by a good route, but a weird start and such).

 

what's wrong with Tooth and Claw?

[j_b]

I can't really comment on the "top 10" in terms of quality routes as I have only done a couple of the routes listed below. Here is a list of a few of the other hard routes out there:

 

1. Liberty crack, Liberty Bell 13-

2. Thin Red Line, Liberty Bell 12+

3. The Tempest Wall, Colchuck Balanced Rock 12

4. Vanishing Point, Dolomite Tower, Mt. Baring 12

5. Northwest passage, Dolomite Tower, Mt. Baring 12-

6. Independence Route, Liberty Bell, 12-

7. Dragons of Eden, Dragontail Pk. 12-

8. Pangaea, NEWS, 12-

9. Tooth and Claw, NEWS 12-

10. West Face, North Gunsight Pk. 11+

11. The Passenger, South Early Winter Spire 11+

12. West Face, Colchuck Balanced Rock 11+

13. The Scoop, Colchuck Balanced Rock 11+

14. The Passenger, SEWS 11+

15. Northeast rib, Dolomite Tower, Mt. Baring 11+

16. Der Sportsmen, Prusik Pk. 11+

17. Devil finds work, Dolomite Tower, Mt. Baring 11

18. Dragonfly, Dragontail 11

19. Supercave, M&M wall, 11

20. Gorilla’s in the mist, Mt. Stuart 11

21. The Girth Pillar, Mt. Stuart 11-

 

 

isn't there also a hard climb on the east face of cutthroat?

[G-spotter]

 

isn't there also a hard climb on the east face of cutthroat?

 

...firefighter

[j_b]

has it ever been repeated? or did Andy's rep scare everybody off?

[layton]

Our route on devil's club is 11-

[Jens]

This list should be at least half on non-granitic walls as grantic rock only makes up like 2% of the range. So many folks only go to Washington Pass or the Stuart Range which are geographically tiny areas.

 

For the future, some of the biggest badest steepest unclimbed faces in the range far to the north aren't granite or granitic.

 

[W]

Again, hard to say what is meant by "top." DOE, for example, has the potential to be one of the raddest free climbs anywhere, but it is still dirty as shit.

 

 

Ditto that for Dragonfly; high potential but lots of lichen and crumbly feet. Has nothing on CBR west face.

 

I haven't done either but have heard lots of good reviews of Solid Gold and Lady Godiva on Prusik- both are 11's I believe and supposed to be very good.

 

Somebody mentioned north face of SEWS- is that the Yoder route? Looks pretty damn hard down low. The nearby Boving route has one 11a pitch but it's far from the route's best pitch.

[Sol]

I can't really comment on the "top 10" in terms of quality routes as I have only done a couple of the routes listed below. Here is a list of a few of the other hard routes out there:

 

1. Liberty crack, Liberty Bell 13-

2. Thin Red Line, Liberty Bell 12+

3. The Tempest Wall, Colchuck Balanced Rock 12

4. Vanishing Point, Dolomite Tower, Mt. Baring 12

5. Northwest passage, Dolomite Tower, Mt. Baring 12-

6. Independence Route, Liberty Bell, 12-

7. Dragons of Eden, Dragontail Pk. 12-

8. Pangaea, NEWS, 12-

9. Tooth and Claw, NEWS 12-

10. West Face, North Gunsight Pk. 11+

11. The Passenger, South Early Winter Spire 11+

12. West Face, Colchuck Balanced Rock 11+

13. The Scoop, Colchuck Balanced Rock 11+

14. The Passenger, SEWS 11+

15. Northeast rib, Dolomite Tower, Mt. Baring 11+

16. Der Sportsmen, Prusik Pk. 11+

17. Devil finds work, Dolomite Tower, Mt. Baring 11

18. Dragonfly, Dragontail 11

19. Supercave, M&M wall, 11

20. Gorilla’s in the mist, Mt. Stuart 11

21. The Girth Pillar, Mt. Stuart 11-

 

 

Great list Matt. Swap out one of the redundant Passenger routes (11 and 14) for the firefighter, and that pretty much sums it up; the tick list. Should be some additions in the next couple seasons.

 

Speaking of The Firefighter, anybody ever get on that thing?

 

jb, nothing wrong with tooth and claw (except maybe the last two pitches), it just didn't make my top 10.

 

Is there no 5.12 in the Wine Spires?

[layton]

I'm pretty sure there are some 5.9+, 10s, and 11s out there that are way harder than 12s in WA....numbers don't tell the whole story.

[rat]

burn him , he's a brujo. technical skill must always trump your heresy.

[JensHolsten]

Your right Mike, numbers don't tell the whole story, but I have to disagree with you about 9's, 10,s, and 11,s in Washington being more difficult. If you climb solid Yosemite 5.12 then any 5.9, 5.10, or 5.11, while they may be heady, are not so difficult.

[layton]

no no, i didn't mean that WA ratings were hard! just the opposite....but I bet there's some moderately graded climbs with 5.12 cruxes on them that don't get mention...also some 12's only have a short crux whereas some moderates are full on brutal the whole length of the climb. I don't think it's possible to make a list without actually climbing them all

[G-spotter]

 

I see your point. A cruxy move of well protected 5.12 is easier to french-free thru than a runout wandering 5.10 pitch on suspect rock above a shitty belay type of deal right

?

 

I know that Bold Bob pitch with hooks for pro on lib bell sounds kinda badass!

[Sol]

I agree with you Mike, there are plenty of big gnarly alpine rock routes in WA that have serious 5.9, 5.10 pitches, that would challenge nearly any climber regardless of what grade they climb. If they could even make it to the face.

 

It's a different style, different list, just as challenging...

 

 

 

[mountainmatt]

I don't think it's possible to make a list without actually climbing them all

 

In terms of making a top ten list, I agree with you Mike. However, having a list of the "hardest alpine" by grade provides an interesting tick list.

 

Since numbers don't tell the whole story, what are some of the scariest/boldest alpine leads?

 

.

[spiderman]

Dragons of Eden is Very Dirty and full of Kitty Litter. I don't feel like it should make the "Top List". Hell, it might even be "The Very Best" if it were cleaned up by someone.

 

With the amount dirt, and the mount of traffic it will likely get over the course of time, it might take 20-30 years before it becomes an uber classic Top Route.

 

For the purposes of this discussion, we are talking about "Quality" routes, which refers to how clean and aesthetic a route is.

[matt_warfield]

IMO Liberty Crack using the Lip free version done by Sandahl should not be on the list. The protection was contrived as previously noted and the pitch is out of character with the rest of the climb which is fantastic.

 

Include the free version from the right and then it is numero uno!

[rat]

"I know that Bold Bob pitch with hooks for pro on lib bell sounds kinda badass!"

 

i don't recall any hooks on the bold bob pitch...maybe i wouldn't have fallen so far if there were. the hooks pitch was lower down as i recall.

[Sol]

Interesting tidbit of info concerning Liberty Crack courtesy of bigwallben:

 

Just thought I would let you know that Brooke definitely freed that thing. In detailed email correspondence he explained that the alleged rope was used to back up the shitty old 1/4" bolts. His free ascent followed the original bolt ladder (now upgraded), and he clipped his draws through the old hangers, which were in turn backed up with a rope from above. His rationale was that he didn't want to rebolt the ladder because of historical precedence and for the possibility that it would become the subject of much ire amongst the "old gaurd" alpine crowd. Recently Mikey climbed the route and freed a variation out right of the original bolt line with a fixed line with knots for protection; however, this is very much different than what Brooke had done in my opinion. It is too bad that Brooke's ascent was never recognized by locals. But, whatever.

 

 

[matt_warfield]

I stand corrected and agree that the facts get obscured through the media and some mouths.

 

What is the grade of Mikey's variation and has Brooke's direct free of the Lip ever been repeated?