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[TR] Chimney Rock - East Face Direct 7/17/2010


JasonG

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Trip: Chimney Rock - East Face Direct

 

Date: 7/17/2010

 

Trip Report:

I'm getting soft, no two ways about it. Armed with Klenke's excellent annotated photos and description (search TRs), Chris and I marched in there this past weekend and were humbled a bit. 4th and low to mid-5th? Psssssht, no problem.

 

While it isn't very difficult, I found the dirty, compact rock less than enjoyable at times, with some fairly long run-outs on 5th class terrain. It didn't help that the moat and snow patches gave us trouble with wetness and access issues. Did I mention that I'm soft? The last 300-400 hundred feet of the face is pretty fun, and has better pro. Bring a fair bit of webbing as this doesn't get climbed much and the stations need some maintenance. We beefed up some, but ran out of webbing (used 30')- I think we did 8-10 raps with a 60m rope and scrambled a bit between. I've wondered for years how Mr. Potterfield ran into trouble on this face, now I understand. It's "easy", but it could also easily ruin your day.

 

OK, enough whining, here are some photos- it is a beautiful, off-the-beaten track type of climb.

 

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The massive avalanche swath you go up to the right of to access the peak.

 

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The North peak is seriously impressive. Has this face been repeated? Looks full value.

 

 

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The East Face of Chimney Rock

 

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Steep snow on the 3rd class ledge.

 

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Dirty, compact goodness.

 

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Somewhere in this photo are Steph, Jason and Steve. Hi!

 

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A picturesque rap. North peak of Chimney Rock in the background

 

 

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Fun moat action.

 

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WhoHoo, crossed that off the list.

 

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Chilling at Pete Lake with Lemah in the background.

 

Gear Notes:

60m half rope, small gear, webbing. "Bring some thin pins and don't expect to be back for tea". Just kidding, but they may be useful.

 

Approach Notes:

We did a 2.5 day trip which allowed plenty of time for whining. Follow Klenke.

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Top Posters In This Topic

Juan- Ha!!! The approach was also hot, but at least I was out of shape.

 

Trickery is important, but not nearly as much as having a VERY understanding wife.

 

Tom- considering your climbs as of late, this would be pretty darn mellow. I think you'd enjoy it.

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Sorry, I never checked back on this . . .

 

Jens- Nope, never did run into a nest, that would have added to the fun for sure.

 

Layback- Maybe PG13? Certainly there were sections that were pretty darn thin as far as gear goes, but maybe if you were wearing rock shoes it would be PG. I was trying to be tough and only brought boots, but rock shoes may have given some piece of mind for average joes such as myself. Although, there was a fair bit of dirt that boots were good for . ..

 

Tread- Bummer about the fall! Were you able to hike out under your own power? Thanks for the correction about Potterfield, I read his account a long time ago. We went over to look at the traverse from the U notch and it looked . ..interesting.

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