Oh boy. Did we get ourselves into it. We took a casual approach when we saw snow in the parking lot. I mean, we were going where it was vertical, shouldn’t be too much snow there, right? Seemed reasonable at the time. Today Luke and I were aiming for Daves to Upper Royals, which was supposed to be a great linkup. We just hadn’t checked the trail report first.
We found the base of the route despite steadily increasing deposits, and engineered a bit of a stance. I hung the pack off the rock, and belayed in my approach shoes. I was really hoping to keep my shoes dry, but the second pitch had other ideas.
The first pitch went smoothly. Until Luke arrived at the belay ledge. He gave me the heads up that he needed to clear some snow, and I put my hood up and leaned against the wall. I was then showered with snow and ice as he cleared the ledge. I followed fairly well, with one almost slip, and several ring locks (though no fingers). We traded gear at the ledge and I started up my 5.8 runout slab pitch.
It was all fun and games, creatively stepping over the puddles and streams from the snowmelt, until suddenly it wasn’t. About halfway up the seepage became a solid weeping river of meltwater. There was no avoiding it, the whole route was completely flowing. I steeled myself, resolved to move slowly and cautiously, and started swimming up the slabby river. At least it was warm, because soon my feet were wet, and my hands were soaked and wicking water into my sleeves. Every foot placement was tested and retested before I weighted it, and I shifted my hips with utter focus and precision. Soon I was cresting the ledge, where I was met with another fun twist. The source of all the meltwater.
At last my runout was over, but there was no gear in sight. I was relieved that the pitch climbed so well, but was ready for some gear. The ledge was completely covered in snow and I couldn’t see a single crack. I slung a dead branch of extremely dubious value, and carefully moved across the ledge. The snow wasn’t compacting well, and so each step across the ledge felt dodgy. Was it going to be a slope? Flat? Ice below? It was slow going with all that mystery, but I finally made it to the tree. I brought Luke up, joked about bailing, and then he moved over and set a belay near the Piton corner.
The next pitch was really exciting. I almost pulled Luke off the wall when he used his Adam Ondra scream. Had to give slack real quick after taking and getting ready to jump. You gotta learn your new partners quirks and idiosyncrasies, lol. I really enjoyed the follow on this one, it felt really steep and technical. I was wondering what 5.7+ meant, and this weird blocky mantel move made it clear to me. I met Luke in a notch and we planned out the next step. I was hoping for Upper Royals, so he took the next pitch, balancing his way up a snowy gully and then threading through a tree. Before leaving the belay I grabbed a shot of the creek flowing down the slab below. What a relief that now we were just dealing with snow instead of water.
This pitch took us up into the afternoon sun, which felt amazing. It wasn’t particularly cold, but we knew we were close to the top at this point. At the next belay, ankle deep in snow, we realized we missed the cut off, so on my pitch I set out exploring to the left. Walking out along a small ledge and around the corner I saw the dihedral we were looking for. I dropped in a bit late to the line, but managed to get most of the awesome corner.
As the crack thinned out I moved onto the face, cruised around a bit, and then headed for the overlapping roof. One or two moves at good pro took me over the top to the finish. Luke followed quickly and topped out impressed by the exposure on the previous pitch.
We packed gear up and headed down, feeling hyped and accomplished. The south side had great views of the snowy slopes, but the rock and trail were completely dry. We were treated to awesome late angle sun and views of Open Book and the valley below. Back at our packs we looked up to see the route lit by golden alpen glow. An incredible sunset on an incredible day. With packs loaded we started down the trail. It had been really fun climbing with Luke and getting to know him, but this felt like a real adventure, and definitely tested our limits and abilities. A headlight finish and driving back in the dark. One of the shortest days of the year yielded a outsize adventure.
Dave’s Deviation
5.9 – 300′ – Two pitches
with Luke
More ring locks than fingers.
Slippery feet on the crack.
Piton Pooper
5.7+ – 100′ – One and a half pitches of original
with Luke
We missed the cutoff to Upper Royals, so look left next time.
Upper Royal’s Arch
5.8 – 100′ – Final two thirds
with Luke
So good. Microcams for slab section.
Easy roof pull.
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