Space Shot - Summer Climbing in Zion

Andy and I both had the last 2 days of August off and were planning on returning to the Grand Traverse.  We had the majority of it scouted and were feeling pretty good about our chances of firing the route in a day.  Feeling good that is, until Andy twisted an ankle at the Hidden Peak Hustle.  We waited until the last minute to see if he would be in good enough shape to try the GT but on Wednesday his ankle was still purple, swollen and tender.  We figured running and free climbing were out of the question.  This left us with the option of aid climbing which, even though is the opposite of  the light and fast style we typically seek out,  has always been fun for us.  There are a select few who can free climb the trade route aid climbs in Zion, this is certainly not us. We went down with the intention of burning up in the sun, standing in our aid ladders all day, and protecting Andy's ankle. 

Double rainbow!  Near Beaver

Niether of us had been on Space Shot and it seemed to be relatively straight forward.  From the few climbs we had done on the other side of the canyon we had been able to look over and see the meat of the route trending to the right following a large arch.  It is quite aesthetic.   

The meat of the route, from http://www.mountainproject.com/v/107744286

The first 3 pitches are easy free climbing.  Since Andy had a bum ankle these were my job.  They were as billed, easy, but I forgot how horrible free climbing with a full aid rack is.   Again, not light, not fast.  Pitches 4 and 5 are the "crux pitches of the climb.  I was planning of leading all day and having Andy protect his ankle but when we got to the top of pitch 3 and said he wanted to add his contribution to the day and take 4 and 5.  At that point we were on a ledge and still in the shade.  Without hesitation I agreed.  

Andy on a hook, pitch 4

Pitch 4 went smoothly and before I knew it my ledge was gone and I was hanging and belaying Andy on pitch 5.  The hanging belay is another misery of aid climbing we had forgotten about. Pitch 5  is the aid crux of the route with about 20 feet of C2.  Not hard but having climbing twice (Andy) and 3 times (me) in the past year made trusting body weight placements a little unnerving.  Andy took a couple small falls onto a blue (smallest) ball nut which luckily held while trying to figure out the "tricky nutting" described in the guide book. Even though my hanging belay was uncomfortable I was perfectly content listening to relaxing music and watching Andy timidly weight crappy nuts as they popped out. 

Pitch 5 

Top of pitch 4, hanging belay

After the short C2 section the rest of the climbing is either very easy aid or freeable 5.11-5.10.  I've always had trouble switching out of aid mode and yesterday was no exception.  We just continued outr heavy and slow aiding to the top.  It's a shame too because pitch 7 looks fantastic and moderate.  It's a #1 camalot size and slightly overhanging but has abundant patina, widens to a #2 and the location is top notch.  I doubt I'll go back but if I do, the second is taking the majority of the junk and I'm climbing with 4 #1's, 3 #2's, and a couple #3's.  For those of you in better climbing shape, this looks amazing.  

Andy topping 6

Andy on Earth Orbit Ledge on top of pitch 7.

Climbing off of Earth Orbit Ledge and up the final bolt ladder is spectacular.  By this point you are at the apex of the arch and the wall has kicked back to overhanging leaving nothing but air between you and the ground.

Final bolt ladder, photo by Andy

We topped out and it was in the mid 90's, sunny and we were HOT.  We had the idea to head back into town, eat some food, take a nap, and then go back and start up Moonlight.  There was a full moon and we figured we could aid easy C1 by moonlight and headlamp.  We must be getting old.  Both of us complained about being tired and thirsty and not psyched to go jug up another trade route.  Instead we jumped in the river and drove home as fast as we could so we could sleep in our own beds and watch movies all day. Kind of lame but sitting in air conditioning right now with sore arms and swollen fingers is pretty nice.  

The only idiots in Zion climbing in the middle of the summer

Peaches and a swim, photo by Andy

Cathedral Traverse Video

Here's an amateur video I put together with footage from the Cathedral Traverse, enjoy.


The Cathedral Traverse from Jason Dorais on Vimeo.

Cathedral Traverse - A consolation prize

With plans of completing the Grand Traverse we headed to the Tetons.  Our preparation was poor to say the least.  In the past year, Andy and I had climbed once, Jared and Chad had climbed 3 times each. We figured the traverse was more of an aerobic pursuit anyway.  

As we pulled into the Lupine Meadows trailhead for a couple hours of sleep we bumped into SLC hardmen Jake Trauscht and Joe Knuth.  They were planning on the Grand Traverse as well.  We decided to leave the trailhead at our separate predetermined times, likely to meet up somewhere on the route.  

Myself, Andy and Jared on Teewinot's small summit

 A 2 AM start time had us walking up Teewinot in the dark.  The plan was to summit in the dark and start the 11,840 raps at first light.  High on Teewinot's East face we caught Jake and Joe as they were 4th classing large sections after missing the easier trail.  Once we were together, it was clear our paces were matching up so we moved as a party of six.  Teewinot's summit in the pitch black of night with five other friends was a party.   All we could see were small circles of swirling clouds illuminated by our headlamps - spooky.

From there we moved well to the top of Peak 11,840 and started the raps in the dark.  All 6 of us shared ropes and hit the ground at first light.  Considering there were 6 of us, the raps went smoothly. A team of 2 would clearly be much faster though.  Anytime we were moving unroped the size of our party was great but if we had to pull a rope out everything would grind to a halt.  No worries though.  Having so many people in the group kept spirits high and the mood light.  It was also a treat to see the large group cruising along together.

Raps on Peak 11,840

Jared, psyched(?) after the early morning raps

Joe and Jared traversing the north side of East Prong 

Views the whole time over East Prong and up Owen were limited.  We didn't see the Grand once. As we hit Koven Col we were totally socked under.  Luckily Chad and Andy had both gone from the Col to the summit of Owen before.  They were able to keep us moving in the right direction even though visibility was nonexistent.  Without any major mistakes we found ourselves on the cloudy summit of Owen feeling pretty good.  We just nailed the first part of the traverse in the dark/clouds in reasonable time and were optimistic. 

Down climbing steep snow towards Koven Col, photo by Chad Ambrose

Chad and Jared heading up Owen in the Clouds

Andy doing a dance? Summit of Mt. Owen

Trying the find the notch and head down to Gunsight in the clouds proved to be difficult.  We walked up and down the southwest side of Owen trying to get a feel for where to go but couldn't.  We pulled out topos but just couldn't see any landmarks.  As we floundered in the clouds someone let out a a shout of joy as the skies suddenly began to clear.  Chad said he shed a tear he was so happy. We found ourselves a little bit out of the way but at least we could keep going.  

First view of the Grand

The high consequence down climb to Gunsight was a little loose but went smoothly.  We opted for 2 short (25') raps towards the end.

Setting up a short raps on the way to Gunsight

Jake a few moves before the last rap into Gunsight

Gunsight Notch

Gunsight Notch is amazing.  It's narrow, surrounded by steep walls, and marks the beginning of the real climbing. We decided 2 teams of 3 would be the fastest option.  Jake got the train rolling and blasted the first "knobby" pitch out of Gunsight. 

First pitch out of Gunsight, photo by Chad Ambrose

Andy on the second pitch out of Gunsight

We made quick work of the Gunsight pitches before things really slowed down on the N. Ridge.  I'm not sure what exactly happend but getting all 6 of us to the top of each pitch kept taking longer and longer.  Somewhere in the middle of the ridge it was clear we weren't going to be able to finish the Grand Traverse before our 24 hour cut off (time to get back for work) so we decided to settle for the Cathedral Traverse.  No one was too disappointed.  This meant we'd eat dinner sooner, get back to SLC sooner and actually get a decent nights sleep before working the next day.  Maybe we're just getting lazy.

Chad and Jared on the Grandstand

One more on the Grandstand, photo by Andy

Andy (red), Jake (blue) and Joe (yellow), Pitch 1 of the North Ridge

Half way up the Italian Cracks, photo by Andy

Chad on the second Italian Cracks pitch

Once we hit the second ledge we had the option of taking it around to the OS and then up or taking a chimney system directly to the summit.  Chad was set on taking the chimneys so Jared and I agreed to go with. I'm glad we did, popping over directly on the summit is certainly a fitting end to the N. Ridge.  Andy had already climbed those pitches so he agreed to do a little recon and check out the exit ledge to the OS.  Sounds like that's the quicker option, good to know for future efforts.

Summit of the Grand,  happy with the Cathedral Traverse,  photo by Andy