Sharks Fin - Wiggins Arete Free

Long-winded trip report and photos of our five days in Monument Basin freeing Sharks Fin via Wiggins Arete (5.12 R).

https://rudegote.wixsite.com/mysite/post/sharks-fin-wiggins-arete-free

FFA was Piz in 2008, and then the only repeat was Honnold in 2014, who called it "the most horrifying experience of my life."

P1: 5.10+++ R, me

P2: 5.11d R, Noah McKelvin

P3: 5.11d PG-13, me

p4: 5.12b PDW, Noah. In the style of the FFA, we backed up the crux pin and preclipped it to prevent catastrophic anchor failure (two spinning star drives, one rusted star drive).

Oh, and we backpacked in from Grandview Point with five days worth of supplies because the third member of our party bailed the day before, and he had the only 4x4 rig. So it was a bit of effort to get in and out of there.

Fetish Arete (5.10+ R) was an excellent adventure climb as well.

One of the most rewarding climbing experiences I've ever had. I hope you enjoy reading it.

Fuckin' rad, dude - well done! Just climbed Standing Tower recently and spent a lot of time eyeing the Fin. Wild. Also, thanks for the pic of the FA register entry - love it!

Read the long version!!! It's great!

Proud of ya, kid!

 

Matt Simonwrote:

Fuckin' rad, dude - well done! Just climbed Standing Tower recently and spent a lot of time eyeing the Fin. Wild. Also, thanks for the pic of the FA register entry - love it!

Thanks Matt! I took photos of every page of the summit log. Between Fetish Arere, Wiggins Arete A4/C4 and the free version, eighteen teams are recorded there since May 1986.

Great long write up! Enjoyed the read

Sick!! The secret to getting your third partner to show up is to bring some goat chees and vegetables, at least that’s what I feed goats.

Such a great write up. Someone should secure you as a regular contributor for a climbing publication. Haven't enjoyed any climbing writing more. Awesome achievement as well, head-game level up complete!

Matthew Jaggerswrote:

Head-game level up complete!

That's exactly what I said on the 5.5-hour hike out!

Climb: The Gathering 

Level 420 Desert Rat.

Item: Yates Screamer.

"When used with a star-drive or #2 ballnut, equipped character gains +2 bravery and +1 holding power."

NPC: Ghost of Earl Wiggins. Summon during crux sequence. When invoked, bestows +5 head game and +3 devious routefinding.

F r i t zwrote:

That's exactly what I said on the 5.5-hour hike out!

Climb: The Gathering 

Level 420 Desert Rat.

Item: Yates Screamer.

"When used with a star-drive or #2 ballnut, equipped character gains +2 bravery and +1 holding power."

NPC: Ghost of Earl Wiggins. Summon during crux sequence. When invoked, bestows +5 head game and +3 devious routefinding.

Thats so funny! Occasionally I think about climbing in these terms too. Too much SAO for me!

Fritz,
Thanks for sharing your semester’s worth of wordsmithing goodness.

Very stoke provoking.

Damn, hard core man! Nice!

Nice work out there. 

Glad I never have to trust those anchors again. And that hike out was character building. Thanks for the stoke and adventure dude. What it’s all about.

Thanks for the kind words, everyone.

Slim, you may not know this, but you were kind of a guiding light for me in desert climbing. The first Wingate route I ever touched in 2012 was the short rightfacing hands dihedral with a flake traverse topout, the route that you named in memory of your dog. As someone who spent a lot of time developing desert skills at that low-profile crag, I would pay close attention to your route comments. And of course the forum banter. Thanks for the inspiration over the years.

Good adventure - thanks for sharing.

One technical point:

> Otherwise, falling before that pin or ripping it would undoubtedly result in catastrophic anchor failure on those three star drive quarter-inch bolts from 1986 (two spinning, one rusted). 

Your photo shows 3/8" Star Dryvin bolts, not 1/4".  3/8" is the hole diameter.  The nail is 1/4" diameter.

There also exist true 1/4" Star Dryvin bolts (1/4" hole diameter).  I have seen a few.

The climbing was great but what truly takes it to legendary status is your dedication to lugging Pride and Prejudice all the way out there. 

Way to go!

P.S. Think me and my mates ran into you by Castleton. You were hauling another big pack to bivy on top of the Rectory! Must be all that upside down Aero coffee to keep ya goin ;)

Clint, thanks for the technical note! I've edited the trip report.

JT, yeah, that was the previous trip report! We were awestruck by the brilliance of the stars that night; reminiscent of the final lines of the Inferno. The sunset and sunrise weren't bad either.

On climbing trips, I try to bring a book that is as topically distant from climbing as possible. There's nothing like coming back all haggard bloody from a day of chewing choss and then immersing yourself in a scene like Mr. Collins' clueless proposal to Lizzy. 

Great idea for backing up the anchors.

Amazing. Sunrise, sunset and stars in between. Dig your style!

I'm gonna take a page from your book and bring a steamy romance novel on my next big trip. I was reading the monkey wrench gang on this trip (my first one to Utah desert) and it really put me in the mood to blow up some dams uhhhh I mean, shred the gnar!! 

Haha woop!

BAdwrote:

Great idea for backing up the anchors.

Thanks. When Piz did the FFA in 2008, he also headpointed it to assess the quality of rock and gear placements. We emulated his style but decided that if the fixed hardware was sketchy for him them, it would certainly not have improved over the subsequent fourteen years.

What we did somewhat mitigated the risk of catastrophic anchor failure, and certainly augmented our confidence in leading the pitches. However, between the ubiquitous choss factor and the fact that good gear placements were often twenty feet apart, the climbing still felt objectively dangerous on 5.11 terrain. Piz's overall assessment of the route at 5.12b R felt appropriate.

It's worth noting that when Honnold repeated the route in 2014, he went ground-up and it took him seven hours. He was fully reliant on each belay anchor and the lewdly protruding crux pin. This, plus dealing with the hearty helping of grit that undoubtedly accumulated in the six years between Piz's FFA and his repeat, inspired in both Noah and me the utmost of admiration.

Also, Piz's partner Pete Vintoniv onsighted the first 140' pitch, which took him four hours. I thought it felt 5.11b. As that pitch had by the worst quality rock on the route and some serious ledgefall potential, I was greatly impressed at his accomplishment. 

I just climbed a trade route tower in the Moab area today as my first climb since Wiggins Arete and was flabbergasted at how clean Wingate is in comparison ;-)