Mountaineering Clinic 2008

From WP Wiki

Mount Crested Butte as seen from our camp up the East River

Learning Skills, Having Fun

During the weekend of September 14-15 six Western State students went with Wilderness Pursuits to learn the fine, fun art of climbing mountains. While most of the group had been hiking before, or even done some rock climbing, they wanted to take it up a notch and combine the two. Mountaineering is, in the basic sense, the art of getting to the top of a mountain. Every mountain has a different personality, a different set of circumstances that require us to be creative in using the tools at our disposal to safely summit and return.

On Saturday, we focused on learning, going out to the First Buttress in Taylor Canyon. We introduced our group to travelling on fixed lines, a skill often used in group travel on snow, which we were to later use to great extent on the mountain. We also went over a variety of new knots, such as the prussic, autoblock, munter, girth hitch, and double-fisherman's. We practiced rappelling, placing artificial protection such as nuts and cams, and building basic anchors. We even got a climb in. After a good day practice, we went north, past the town of Crested Butte, past the ghost town of Gothic, to camp in a most beautiful setting. We ate well and settled down early to a peaceful sleep, eager for the next day's adventure.

On Sunday we woke to climb Mt Crested Butte, the namesake mountain of the area. Many of us ski Mt Crested Butte, with the aid of lifts, and many even hike up to its summit via a trail. But having lived here and become familiar with the mountain, many forget their first view of the peak - it is full of cliffs and steep, rocky ridges. Our goal was the aesthetic Guide's Ridge, a sharp, airy fin of rock leading straight to the summit. It is a solid 4th class route, which in climbers' parlance means "it's not that hard, but you'll want to bring a rope". We started off hiking up the mountain from the bottom, and for the first two hours or so we were simply walking, enjoying the views, fall colors, and the abundance of raspberries growing wild beside the trail. At the top of the Red Lady Express lift, we suited up with helmets and harnesses and began the true adventure. After a fun walk across teetering boulders, called talus, we found some solid granite on the ridge and roped up. The climb was exposed, with steep drop offs on either side, and it definitely required some judicious hand and feet placements, a fair amount of courage, and a sense of humor. There were some scary moments but we made it to the top, intact, and celebrated a climb well done.

For more pictures of the Guide's Ridge, check out our pictures from the 2006 WP ascent at http://www.western.edu/gallery/index.php?level=album&id=75