Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Summer Becomes Fall: Transformation on the West Face Wall of Mt. Stuart

 Approaching Mt. Stuart's incredible West Face Wall
Photo by Sol Wertkin
 
Last week Sol Wertkin, Blake Herrington, and I had planned on attacking a project on Mt. Stuart's West Face Wall. Even with our storied history on this wave of stone, the ultimate line, glimpsed from previous missions, awaited our eager hands and fingers. Even though I had just been there a week before, I was excited to go back as the WFW is one of my favorite features in the Stuart Range.
 
Unfortunetaly, the weather for that day was predicted to be, well, total shit. Blake bowed out and I was on the verge. I was busy with work and almost pulled the plug. Then I talked with Sol. He was stoked to spend his 34th birthday experiancing whatever nature might throw our way. Repsyched by Sol's pure desire to get high, I too, felt excitement growing in my gut. Mountains are awesome. Mountains in storm are even more so!
 
We hopped in the car as rain danced on the streets of Leavenworth and headed for the trailhead. In short, we had a wild day just topping out the wall's easiest line in very Patagonian weather with windgusts to 50 mph and swirling snow. Although we didn't snag the proj, we did enjoy the mountains on their terms, fighting with all our might just to slither out of the wall's powerful grip.
 
Check out the full story and some really nice pictures of our day on Sol's blog:
 
Fighting the rime on the last pitch
Photo by Sol Wertkin


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