Today I...
Climbed an incredibly fun variation of The Improbable Traverse on Guye Peak with Jason. The climbing was generally pretty relaxed, but ridiculously exposed through the upper piton traverse (IE: balancy, no-hands moves over 300 feet vertical to steep 4th and 5th class with an absurdly sketchy knifeblade for protection and a BIG pendulum fall). Our variation bypassed the lower leftward traverse in favor of a more direct steep dihedral with slightly more difficult moves (but still very easy - I did it in my approach shoes and belay gloves), mostly liebacking and jamming. Despite the occasional wetness and general sketchiness of the route and our complete lack of preparation, it was an extremely fun climb. The deep snow forced us to find our own route down, which ended up being an odd mix of rappelling over cliff bands from trees and glissading (climber language for sliding on your ass) down steep chutes. The hour and a half long sketchy talus and snow approach took all of 5 minutes for us to cruise down.
Our next goal is an intimidating overhanging crack that bypasses the piton traverse, but that'll probably wait until the weather is better and we're stronger.
Al-in-all, one of the better days I've had.
Our next goal is an intimidating overhanging crack that bypasses the piton traverse, but that'll probably wait until the weather is better and we're stronger.
Al-in-all, one of the better days I've had.