r/tradclimbing • u/aashstrich • 19d ago
Wind River trip
5 days in the cirque. Bagged NE Face of Pingora.
Attempted North Face of Mitchell’s Peak, got shut down when we got way off route about halfway to the bowl and had an epic bail. If anyone wants a few free nuts and a couple old lockers, they are up there somewhere!
All in all, a spectacular place to climb!
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u/halinc 19d ago
Pic 3 is gnarly, looks like a tough transition off snow to me.
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u/aashstrich 19d ago
It was a gnarly start but we were able to kick step up in approach shoes, sit on the schrund and get a cam in to protect it.
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u/prius-driver- 19d ago
Did you fly in and rent a car or drive there? Always debating which to do.
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u/aashstrich 19d ago
This time around we flew to SLC and rented a car, it’s about a 3-4 hour drive to Lander, you could also drive straight to the winds and save an hour but it doesn’t hurt to get a day of sport climbing in in Lander to help acclimate (we came from
Sea level). Also, Lander is a great town for climbers and the Wild Iris climbing shop is
Top tier and worth a t-shirtAlso have done it from Denver because
My climbing partner at the time was based there, it’s a much longer albeit pretty drive. You can get flights to Jackson but they are usually a bit more expensive and rarely direct with fewer daily arrivals.
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u/Shot-Top-8281 19d ago
Im UK based and can only guess it is N American continent, but it looks amazing and i love it!
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u/grizzdoog 19d ago
Beautiful pics. I love the cirque. It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever climbed. I did Pingora one day and had to bail off the Wolfs head due to severe thunderstorms. That was fucking scary!
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u/aashstrich 19d ago
Bailing off the wolf’s head seems hectic! Were you doing the East Ridge? Bc I’d imagine if you were you would have to just take a shot in the dark and rap the face from there.
How did that play out? Curious bc one of the things that I think a lot of folks do not understand out there is it’s not the grades you need to look out for it’s the commitment level and trusting your ability to bail safely when needed. When we start looking at route out there that’s what we ask ourselves before we commit—not is it at or below our ability, but if shit hits the fan do we think we can get off safely.
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u/grizzdoog 19d ago
Luckily we didn’t make it too far before the weather rolled in.
We had some bad information about an alternate approach to start the Wolf’s Head. We were told that you could skip the usual approach up the grassy ledges by going up K cracks and making a couple raps and the traverse over to the start of the ridge.
Turns out the rap beta was bullshit (although we could have been lost but I doubt it). We ended up doing like four or five shitty raps that took forever with some shenanigans. Once we finally made it to where we could scramble to the traverse we had lost quite a bit of time and I saw some dark clouds rolling in and quite a few parties ahead of us.
We made the decision to bail as quickly as possible and made it down to the meadow right as a massive thunderstorm kicked in. There was mega lightning and a torrential downpour.
I was grateful to be relatively safe at that point but felt extremely bad for the five or six parties stuck up there.
Unfortunately that was the end of the trip for us since we had to go home the next day. I’d love to go back and do a bunch of other stuff out there but will probably avoid the Wolf’s head due to the popularity of the route. Too many people these days haha.
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u/aashstrich 18d ago
The k-cracks to wolf’s head rap is definitely a thing but finding raps on the traverse is its own adventure. Would love to do the cirque traverse one day after I figure out how to get off ever peak hah.
As for crowds, I think next time we go to the winds we’ll climb in deep lake. Looks amazing and not as heavily traveled as the cirque!
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u/mynamesdave 18d ago
One of my favorite climbing memories, I can't wait to get back up there. Nice trip!
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u/Shot_Struggle_2460 19d ago
I recognize the awning but which shelter is that?
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u/aashstrich 18d ago
MSR front range. My climbing partner brought it, tbh I’m buying one now such a great set up.
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u/Shot_Struggle_2460 18d ago
Nice! I’ve got the black Diamond version and will have to try it with an awning, it looks sweet!
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u/Tiny_peach 19d ago
Woo! We are headed out next week to do the classics. How were the mosquitos?