Dave on the 18th pitch of Adler Auge (Eagle Eye), ...
Description
Dave Anderson had scoped this line and envisioned all the pitches long before he and I went up there late in the Fall of 1997 to climb it. Dave was a true off-width master and had discovered many of the early gems in the Wasatch, including those on Memorial Day Buttress.
We climbed two of the pitches that day and were a bit chased off due to impending darkness and windy cold weather. Nevertheless, we had a great adventure. The unfinished route (with the two pitches) made its way into the Ruckman guide that was published in the Spring of 1998. It was called El Viento Es Frio (Spanish for "the wind is cold"....which Dave and I had decided to call the climb after shivering in that November snowstorm. Dave was later tragically killed while being rescued after suffering from serious injuries in an avalanche while skiing in Pink Pine in January 1998. The AirMed helicopter crashed and all perished. Jim Howe, another friend of Dave's and mine, thought it a nice idea to finish it and give it the new name. Ironically, after doing this climb together, Jim and I went on to work as Flight Nurses later for AirMed.
I don't know if it has been repeated so the details seem vague now. But it is easy to find. After gaining the base of the Buttress, trend west and up around the corner. This climbs the multiple massive roofs up the impressive East Face.
Pitch #1: Ascend a right facing dihedral with a good steep crack to a sloping belay stance. 5.8
Pitch #2: The dihedral turns into some thin nailing through a roof and traverses out right to a two bolt belay under a series of roofs. (Dave always thought this would go free someday, probably by him!...we were shivering at this point.) A1-A2.
Pitch #3: A few bolts assault the steep overlap above the belay to another crack that diagonals right and up. 5.8, A1.
Pitch #4: Continue up some more mixed climbing to another two-bolt belay and rappel station. 5.?
Rappel the route.
Location
As noted above. This is the East Face of Memorial Day Buttress. I believe it remains the lone route on this face.
Protection
Some pitons and bolts left fixed, but plan on taking a good aid rack. The fixed bolts are 3/8" x 2.5" Rawls.
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