BETA PHOTO: View of the intimidating crux pitch. Belayer is v...
Description
Another fun Omega Buttress diversion, though fuller value than Annals of Time. A great day involves climbing Dihedral of Horrors, then rapping in from a tree to Annals of Time's final crux pitch.
P2: short, 5.9: Move to the right end of the broad ledge and climb a short dihedral with a 5.9 move into easier terrain, trending right for the obvious dihedral.
P3: 120', 5.9: Full value! A powerful lieback up a flake (3" piece is great!) brings you into an awesome dihedral. Use a variety of jamming and stemming moves to reach a point below the roof. Here, bust a tricky move left and set a semi-hanging belay beneath an obvious crack in the roof.
P4: 70', 5.9: Pull the roof in the finger-sized crack and traverse right underneath the huge diamond-shaped roof (Ship's Prow). Beautiful moves, awesome location.
Location
The route is located just to the right of Annals of Time. It's the obvious dihedral capped by the giant roof.
By Andy Laakmann Site Landlord From: Jackson Hole, WY Jun 25, 2006 rating: 5.9
A good route with one classic, but somewhat loose, pitch. Recommended for those comfortable at the grade and those looking for a little adventure and exposure.
We opted for the 5.7R start. You definitely want to be comfortable on 5.7 slab, as a fall would be very bad. Alternately you can scramble up an easy crack just right of the slab. Both of these starts get you up to a 5.6 move and onto a dirty ledge.
After climbing the 5.7 slab I continued up for about 150 feet over loose terrain aiming for the obvious tree on an obvious ledge (up and left). This pitch was >200ft and required a little simulclimbing.
We started the next pitch about 30 feet left of the big tree. Not sure if this was the right way to go, but it worked out. Some easy climbing, one 5.9 stem move, more easy climbing, and a traverse right led to the base of the big, intimidating dihedral.
We did the next pitches differently then described above. We did one long (140 ft?) pitch up the dihedral and out the right side of the roof. We set a belay here in a spectacular position on a great stance with good gear. A short 5.6 pitch finished the climb.
We chose this pitch breakdown to minimize the chance of the rope getting stuck in the 5.6 pitch (it has happened) and because the belay stance is just so fricken' cool. Highly recommended! This does create a very long and sustained pitch, so be sure to bring lots of slings. For this belay, I placed a #3 Camalot, green Alien, and larger nut.
This dihedral pitch does have classic moves, great exposure, and generally good gear - but the rock isn't consistently solid and this adds to seriousness of this pitch. You definitely want to be comfortable on 5.9 in the Tetons.
I suspect this route has cleaned up over the years, which makes me understand why the first ascensionists called this the "Dihedral of Horrors" - I can only imagine how loose it was 30 years ago!
Gear: nuts, 2 sets of cams from TCUs to a #3 Camalots. Lots of slings. Two ropes required for the rappel.
By Nick Stayner From: Tuolumne Meadows, CA Jul 8, 2006
Great photos Andy! Dihedral is such a spectacular route. I've never done the pitches the way you've described, but I've heard that it's the way to go. Plus, I hate the semi-hanging belay after the first crux!
Yeah, I'd pretty much say that semi-hanging belay is scary. I had a three piece anchor there and did not feel good about it. The rock is just horrific there.
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