Owen Spalding 

I did this without roping up a number of years back. I was in a Colorado 14er mode and thought I would skip the hassle. Not smart.

The climb is quite easy but there is a stretch just after the "belly roll" with a 5.4 move and about 2000 feet of exposure. I believe you would land somewhere near the bottom of the Black Ice Couloir if you goofed up.

You need a rope anyway because you have to rap down - or down climb the exposed 5.4 move, which you wouldn't want to do.

So take a light rack and enjoy yourself. Beautiful climb!

When dry, this route is not difficult although you can still get off-route. However, it faces NW and after a snow or hail storm it can take many days (if not weeks) to dry off. There was one summer when it kept getting snowed on, and the route was in "winter condition" all summer! The guides had a really bad season that summer. Even on a good year by September it usually receives a dusting of snow.

From above this route is difficult to find and it appears improbable. I've downclimbed it once unroped when dry, but this was with a person who had gone up it the week before. This is a quick way to bypass the crowded raps, but I wouldn't recommend it.

To add a little spice to this route, try the Wittich Crack variation (5.6). It is the obvious crack that starts about 10 feet before reaching the belly crawl. P1, follow the crack to an obvious ledge under a roof. P2, climb past two fixed pins out and around the roof to the left and up easy climbing to the catwalk. Stay as straight as possible to avoid heinous rope drag. Awesome route and a lot of fun.

On the descent, it is possible to make the main rappel (the one that avoids the "Belly Roll" and "Double Chimney") in a single rappel with a single 60m rope. This is from the well used slung-horn anchor.

Just make sure to trend to rappeler's right as you descend, and you'll land on walking terrain a few feet right and uphill from where most folks (with 2 ropes or a single 70m) will land. It's probably a 95' rap.

-Scott

Great summit -- not much technical climbing, but a strenuous adventure with some amazing exposure and a lot of Class 3 & 4 climbing above the "Needle." We left our rope at the Sargent's Chimney rappel on the way up -- but still had surprising amount of somewhat exposed Class 4 climbing left to get to the summit. And I want to reiterate what Jason said in his route description above, "Pay careful attention to your assent path from Sarg's, you will need to find it on the down climb and it isn't obvious!" True, True, True!

While it's not for the faint of heart, the Grand is fine solo free climb for many individuals, even for those who aren't avid climbers. It's common to see folks doing the round trip in one day when the weather & route conditions are good. You really just need to be a strong hiker and not afraid of exposure.

You don't need to use the rap to get back down if you solo unless the conditions demand it. This isn't a risk-free climb, but it's certainly not as difficult as some would have you believe.

Route finding can be difficult for those who go up the Upper Exum and then come down the Owen-Spalding if they haven't done it before. Usually you can follow the crowds, but not always for solos. Also, with YouTube and other sites, route finding has become much easier. Site for Solo Free Climbers