[Hide Comment] FA: Rit Burrows, Werner Schnackenberg and Jim Patterson, 7/18/1941. Garry Roach's 13er guide has a detailed description of this route, and claims that the further right (west) you go on the ridge (face, really) the easier it is. Aug 20, 2002

[Hide Comment] I did a line on the Wham Ridge sometime in the mid 1980's over a July 4th weekend. It was very "Flatiron"-like: lower angle down low, steeper higher. I recall the roped climbing to be easy, but I do remember a big slab of old ice cutting loose and crashing into many pieces just a few hundred feet right of our line. The descent off the backside was steep 4th class, but uneventful. We also did a nice line, slightly harder, on the east side of Arrow Peak right next door. This is a beautiful valley for camping and alpine rambling off the beaten track. Aug 23, 2002

[Hide Comment] We did this route on 7/1/03. Vestal and Arrow were totally bare of snow unlike many other north-facing slopes we could see. The Trinities had snow left in their east-facing gullies. The route info in the Roach & Roach 13'er book is right on! Hike up to the highest grassy ramp, traverse all the way to the right edge of the face, hike up low angle rock to a broken ledge on the right edge of the face, rope up, climb a 60m pitch up an obvious crack system (excellent pro) to another big ledge, climb another crack (crux) with excellent pro to another big ledge - 60m, if you choose, climb another pitch of 100' or so to yet another big ledge where the broken upper face begins. From here solo or short-rope/simulclimb to the summit up an obvious broken gully and face.

The 5.4 route is definitely not an "s" climb unless you rope up *way* early (and maybe not even then).Experienced teams competent at the grade will likely feel the desire for a rope/belay only for the middle (crux) pitch I've described (we had a relative newbie to technical alpine rock along). Anchors were all slung blocks/boulders. My rack: 1 set of nuts, tri-cams (pink thru 2nd blue), Aliens (green - orange), Friends (2.5, 3, 3.5), 5 shoulder-length slings with 'biners, 5 double-length slings with 'biners.This was more than enough. No really big or small gear needed. A 60m rope is very advisable to get to the good belays. Have fun! I'll post pictures soon.

Definitely not an "s" climb. Excellent pro. Jul 7, 2003

[Hide Comment] Did the 5.4 route 8/19/03 with a team of three. This was our first multi-pitch trad route and it was amazing. Never had trouble finding ample protection. The route has a lot of class 4 moves, so felt comfortable with long runouts, though could have easily put pieces in. Route finding was relatively easy... after the solid pitches, you get to 1 pitch with lots of loose rock. Pro is still easy, just mind the rockfall. At the top of this, you go through kind of a keyhole, out onto the grassy ledges. We weren't entirely comfortable going unroped straight up the ledges (after the bottom ledge is a huge drop) so we switch-backed up and to the right, and then roped in again for one final pitch. We had two sets of stoppers, could have gotten by with one. Tri-cams from 0.5 to 3, and doubles on the smaller sizes, and then friends 2X1, 2 and 3, and I don't think we used the 3. Haven't really gotten comfortable using hexes yet; we brought BD 8, 9 and 10, but only used the 8. I think we had about 4 triple and 3 double slings for slinging boulders. There were only three places where we had to extend a piece of pro longer than a quickdraw. We had a 50m rope, but a 60 really would have helped as we had a couple of pitches cut short. We did the class 2 route down the south side. From the summit to the south is the class 4 route. Walk towards it and then a little to the left, you should see a cairn over the ridge on the left leading to the class 2 gully. All-in-all, a great climb, highly recommended. Oh yeah, and if you see my #11 stopper stuck at about the third belay, can you grab it for me? Aug 27, 2003

[Hide Comment] Myself, Karen B, and Joel A, climbed this route 8/21/03. This was an incredible route, very nice, solid rock, beautiful views, good pro.

We started the route at 8:00 am and roped up at the top of the grassy ledges. We simulclimbed/shortroped most of the route, except for three fast pitches around the route's crux (5.4). Even on those three pitches, both seconds simulclimbed with a belay and about 15' between them. All the climbing was easy, ranging from low angle friction to buckets. We had some difficulties on the upper section finding a nice clean line, but never encountered anything there harder than upper 4th class. The pro was generally excellent, though I didn't feel the need to place often. We reached the summit just after noon, enjoyed lunch and the view, then headed down the Southeast gully route. The descent route is a little scary in places, be especially careful on the "dues collector" scree slope between Arrow and Vestal.

Rack: 1 60 m rope, 1 set nuts, cams from small TCUs to #3 Camalot, Tricams .5-3, 2 quickdraws, 2 2' runners, 3 4' runners, webbing & cordalette for anchors. This was more than enough gear. Oh, and we found your #11 nut -- used it but couldn't get it out either.

Another climber reported climbing the route the day before--he says he soloed it in one hour. Sep 11, 2003

[Hide Comment] Been a while, but I do remember it being a wonderful route in an amazing place. There are also a couple other good lines up the North Face Aug 19, 2005

[Hide Comment] Fun mountain in a great setting. We hiked in a short (80ft.) rope and some nuts but ended up just soloing it. Super fun! I'd call it 5.6, at least the way we went. I couldn't have been too far off route, because I passed a fixed pin near the top.

I lost my gps on the approach (somewhere in between Elk Creek and Vestal Basin), so if you find a gps summit, lemme know! Jan 30, 2007

[Hide Comment] My uncle Mark took this route on back in the late 80s. Waffle stompers, with a touch of rain to keep it interesting, and no rope. Together with Lance, they opted for the most direct line straight up the middle of the face. It was fun to watch from camp, when the clouds lifted enough. Mar 12, 2008

[Hide Comment] Trip report 14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo… from our climb on July 2, 2005. Oct 10, 2008

[Hide Comment] Encountered some scary rockfall on the unstable screefield at the end of the descent. It's hard to imagine not sending a lot of large, loose stuff down, no matter how careful you are.

Does anyone have any experience with hugging the base of the cliff for this part of the descent? Our afterthought was that that might be a better way to go.

Apart from this part of the descent, fantastic climb. The view from the top is extraordinary. Jul 30, 2009

[Hide Comment] Tim and I just got back from the Vestal yesterday, June 25th, 2010. We climbed Wham on June 21st. We did go by the piton as well as a cam. The weather couldn't have been better. From the video, you'll see we started on the right cracks. Also we have a shot of our gear. It was good to read Roach beforehand. Wish it was an easier downhill climb back to Vestal. It took us almost 14 hours from camp back to camp. We climbed in heavy hiking boots. The slide show is below. It was a fantastic alpine trad climb on great quartzite. Very much worth the hike.

peace,
just Sam
Ouray

youtube.com/watch?v=4FRQ3_q… Jun 26, 2010

[Hide Comment] Had the route to ourselves last week. Fun climbing with good pro when you want it, pretty run out over the easy ground, the actual 5th class sections are short. Classic for its appearance and setting. Got off route climber's right up high and had to make a few more moderate 5th class moves before downclimbing left off a ridge into the 4th class "bowl" that heads up to the top. Jul 20, 2010

[Hide Comment] Loved this climb. Here is my trip report.

100summits.com/trip-reports… Jul 29, 2010

[Hide Comment] Matt, that is the finest group of pictures of that area that I have ever seen. It took me right back there, my brain had started to lose the memory of the grandeur of that magical place.

An old climbing buddy of mine and Outward Bound instructor (mid to late '70s), John Lafferty, used to take groups of students up that thing in K-mart flip flops that he had altered into "climbing flops" by putting Vibram soles on the bottom and Astro Turf on the top! Jul 30, 2010

[Hide Comment] Thanks for the kind words. Sounds like he was making the first version of Chacos haha. :-) Aug 2, 2010

[Hide Comment] The direct start from the lower right-hand side of the face adds several hundred feet of fun slab leading directly up to the main grassy ledge. Mostly 3rd, a little 4th class; easy solo. Nowhere near 5.3, as reported by Roach. Sep 20, 2010

[Hide Comment] Have wanted to do this route for 3-4 years in a one day push, but only one crazy partner who never seemed available. Finally got the ok this past Aug. 2010. Despite very bad weather, we headed to CO and somehow we got a window. All went well except for getting onto the trail above the train tracks, other than it goes fast. Got spit on at the base of the climb, we waiting and miraculously it dried up (gotta love granite and sunshine). Hiked off the back (chose the 4th class descent, doh), but nonetheless made it back out.

What a beautiful trip....a one day push is the ultimate way to go..fast and light Jan 12, 2011

[Hide Comment] Did it in a day from Molas Pass...not bad at all, and definitely the way to go. Bring a small pack with some food, clothes, and a little water (plenty along the way). Can't imagine humping all that gear in for this thing, it's mostly 4th class. Outstanding outing. Jun 19, 2011

[Hide Comment] Why does this route warrant the R rating? Not much discussion whether it's actually an R climb. Thanks. Feb 19, 2012

[Hide Comment] Maybe because it's so easy and fun, and steepens so gradually, that complacency lulls you into not placing protection until you get to your belay. I know that happened to me. Feb 22, 2012

[Hide Comment] The only way you could give this route and R, is if you are roping up. If you fall without a rope in some spots, it's an X. However, no one uses a rope as it's not really needed if you have some climbing experience. A non-climber "peak bagger" could get hosed on this route. Someone died here a few yrs ago. Anyway, I seriously don't know where the 5.4 rating comes from. It's just "easy fifth class" (is there any such thing as 5.4? haha). Jul 3, 2012

[Hide Comment] Uhhhh - awesome climb!!
Actually about 16 mi round trip and 5000ft gain.
3mi hike on good trail from D&SNGRR drop off at Elk Park ($95), then 2.5mi up steep climber's trail to Vestal Basin (waterfall camp). Continue up climber's trail to terminal moraine field between Arrow and Vestal Peaks. Access the grassy diagonal ramp on Wham from the left. Begin easy 5th class climb on the far right. Many ways to go, we ended up doing a short 5.8 crux which could have been avoided. Descend south from the true summit down a well-travelled but unmarked steep and loose gully. Watch for cairns (about 400 vertical feet) to tell you when to head right toward the Arrow saddle. Descend nasty talus slope from saddle (about 300ft) then access "golden" medial moraine ridge and follow cairned path of least resistance (1mi) to terminal moraine and descend to meadow camp.

Tips:
We did this as a simul-climb in 4 or 5 pushes. We used 90 ft of rope, a few nuts and 6 small cams largest being a #1 Camalot. The descent is the hardest part.
see: track map everytrail.com/view_trip.ph… Oct 3, 2014

[Hide Comment] Regarding the descent: after following the cairn that appears on your right as you descend the initial gully, I found myself at steep chimney with bail slings (not a confidence inspiring placement). I lowered my partner off a gear anchor and downclimbed the loose chimney. After talking to a guide, it seems the appropriate descent is more or less down one of the small gullies below the initial scree slope. Perhaps this descent should be better marked by someone in the know and the cairn to the downclimb we followed knocked down. Aug 20, 2015

[Hide Comment] The best descent scrambles SW from the summit to an elevation of 13300, then heads NW following the strata (and cairns) to the Arrow-Vestal saddle at 13000. Ignore the cairn visible on the skyline to the right (W) at about 13500; it leads to very difficult terrain as noted in the previous post and should be removed. Aug 22, 2015

[Hide Comment] Climbed 8/13/16. We brought a full set stoppers and micros, BD cams #0.5-#3 (doubles #0.75-#2) and the four smallest Metolius tri-cams. Only used stoppers 5-11, and cams #1, #2, #3, three smallest Metolius. I think you could get away with just stoppers and hexes on this route. My partner used climbing shoes, I stayed in approach shoes. I agree best descent is straight S to SW to 13,300', find the faint path back W to NW to the saddle. Peak to saddle is ledgy 4th with lots of loose stuff, saddle to the col is a scree nightmare full of ankle biters. If approaching from Molas, about 10 miles road to buttress below Vestal, about 4,200' gain/loss dropping to Animas River and climbing to Vestal Basin - one way. Aug 15, 2016

[Hide Comment] Happy to have a rope on this one.

We brought thin 30m rope and a rack of nuts and BD #0.4, 0.5 x2, 0.75 x2, 1 and a #2 which was more than enough. We climbed it in 4 long simul pitches, and it was super cruiser. Great way for the confident but non-soloing types.

Off the back side, we found the left side gullies a little more stable, then hang hard right when you reach flatter ground towards arrow - not bad at all in the light.

Pack light! Sep 7, 2016

[Hide Comment] Maybe I was having a bad day but not sure why this route gets so many stars. I didn’t encounter any 5th Class moves and found this route to be more of a steep hike, but that’s somewhat expected given the rating. I’ll have to check out the center shift next time, but at least the view from the top was special.

Regarding the descent: after topping out and following a short trail down, you are faced with choosing from three descent gullies, my partner and I chose the skier's leftmost gully which was not too steep and had solid rock. Once in this gully, downclimb until about 13,300’, then find a trail that turns hard right and leads to the col. The col is far and away the worst part of this climb, incredibly loose talus/scree on a steep slope. Jun 25, 2020

[Hide Comment] The descent was easy and straightforward.... Jun 29, 2020

[Hide Comment] Climbed on 6/27/20 and found the route easy to follow and snow-free. The descent was fairly intuitive from the summit, my partner and I followed the gully slanting left at the beginning and back right. Make sure to descend lower than you'd expect towards the saddle, as (per earlier comments) you may otherwise end up cliffed out and having to follow the ridge in slightly worse talus to get back down to the saddle.

We climbed the route in four rope-length pitches and one short pitch, and soloed the remaining 1,100' or so. Took about 3 hours from base to summit and another 45 minutes to descend. It would be easy to solo this and keep the grade around 5.2, but there is plenty of loose rock on various ledges and quite a number of questionable holds. Gear was not hard to find, and anchors were available. Was quite comfortable with an alpine rack of BD stoppers #5-11, BD cams from 0.4 to 2, and three micro-cams. Would leave the #10 and #11 stoppers and maybe two of the cams at home if I climbed this again. Jun 30, 2020

[Hide Comment] We did this route on 7/22/20, and we chose to follow the train tracks. We did not see the train on the way in and figured it was not running due to rust and bird shit on the tracks. The train is running, and I believe it was trespassing, we did not see the sign as we started in the dark.

No part of this route, including the approach and descent, necessitates really any route finding skill, it is obvious and straightforward if you follow the description. The same goes for the climb. Take a second at the base, find a way up the right side of the wave that looks fun, and climb it. I brought 0.3 -2 C4s, a set of nuts, 6 shoulder length slings (alpine draws, rope drag will be a pain if you don't extend everything), and two large slings - the larger the better. Every anchor can be made by slinging a boulder. I think you could do the climb with a single set of 0.3 -2 C4s, I rarely needed to place nuts. Regarding the R rating, anywhere that you may feel the need for protection, you can find it. When it becomes more ledgy 4th Class at the top, protection is harder to find, but you won't need it there.

You should definitely bring a helmet here. We experienced rockfall on both the climb and on the descent. I was very glad to have mine and was nervous for the guy we saw without one. There is lots of loose rock, and you cannot expect to be the only one on there. Jul 23, 2020

[Hide Comment] I did this as a solo climb and my first alpine rock route using the Beartown approach on 7/30/2020. I never actually saw the Beartown site or a Beartown TH sign, but I parked at the “Hunchback Pass” TH and followed the CDT to the Elk Creek Trail. As for the climb, I did the “direct start” variation, and I don’t understand all the recommendations to use the grass ramp to traverse across the face as that bypasses a good deal of easy, fun climbing. The entirety of the route was straightforward, and I feel like anyone with some experience moving over rock and a good pair of shoes could easily manage it (with that said, I was glad I had on rock shoes for the middle section). From my perspective, the exposure was pretty limited. The descent was just as ugly as advertised, and I was glad to be the only one on the mountain that day as about every third step sent volleys of rocks down the descent gully. Aug 1, 2020

[Hide Comment] Freed this route in 2003 pretty much up the middle. I only had a few moves that I wished I had a rope. I did it again 6/16/2022 and stayed far right and it was much easier. I did the route from Molas Pass in a day 23 miles total. The downclimb really sucks and dangerous. Plus, you have to go off the backside and circle around the mountain to get back. I went left with my back to the climb, and it sucked. I went right the first time, and it wasn’t bad but is much more dangerous. The climb is an amazing free solo. Jun 17, 2022

[Hide Comment] ediocre ethics / poor style / bad rope mgmt. / etc. I'm sure there are plenty of other things in this vid the internet can use for my crucifixion, but I still figured it was worth posting. Maybe, if you watch,
you'll get some beta? Maybe you'll have a laugh? Beautiful climb. Beautiful weather. 10/10. youtube.com/watch?v=6LoQRW-…. Sep 9, 2022

[Hide Comment] Incredible route - one of the most scenic mountains in the San Juans with some of the highest quality rock I came across on a scramble. We decided to go without a rope, and that was the right move for us (we're not really free solo'ers). If you're comfortable with a bit of exposure and have done a few mountains in the area, I'd recommend going without too. Roped up parties were very slow, but I'm sure some would want the peace of mind. We stayed on the face for as long as we felt comfortable and entered the ridge about halfway up. The ridge itself is very ledgy, so it never felt super exposed. The descent wasn't nearly as bad as what we read. Follow the gully, but don't enter it - instead, stick to the right of it, and follow the cairns. If you stay somewhat leveled with the Arrow/Vestal saddle, it's mostly just a hike. Going down the saddle is the only steep part. I slid down on one foot and was using my other leg to brake, and it was a breeze. Managed to glissade the last section and was probably down Vestal in about 45min max. Aug 7, 2023

[Hide Comment] In all humility, I have seen many people complain that the descent off Vestal is terrible. Has anyone tried to just rappel down Wham Ridge? Would it be possible? Positives? Negatives? Mar 26, 2024

[Hide Comment] If you're planning on doing this in a day, approach shoes were nice to have but not necessary. Trail runners would be much more pleasurable for the long approach. A friend wore trail runners but brought climbing shoes and never put them on. Will's comment about taking the left-most of the three gullies partway down the descent was spot on. Jul 8, 2024

[Hide Comment] It is possible, though probably longer, to descend by heading east and south toward Trinity Peaks. An OK path leads in this direction from the summit, descends a gully for a while, then crosses it before the gully becomes too deep to cross. The path peters out, but one can continue to follow the ridge past a few notches to a point where another notch allows access to a loose 3rd or 4th Class slope down to the broad col between Vestal and Trinity. Then hop talus and scree for a ways, contouring as needed towards Vestal lake. Eventually descend to the lake and hop rocks and boulders on its southeast margin until you are more or less back to the base of Wham Ridge. Going this way allows for a pleasant lakeside rest before heading back down to Vestal Basin. Sep 16, 2024