Type: Trad, Ice, Alpine, 900 ft (273 m), 7 pitches, Grade IV
FA: Doug Birkholts and Todd Cozzens
Page Views: 15,737 total · 73/month
Shared By: Alan Searcy on Jan 26, 2006 · Updates
Admins: Mike Snyder, Taylor Spiegelberg, Jake Dickerson

You & This Route


90 Opinions

Your To-Do List:

Add To-Do ·

Your Star Rating:


     Clear Rating

Your Difficulty Rating:


-none- Change

Your Ticks:

Add New Tick
-none-

Description

As you're driving in, this is one of two obviously great lines across the Shoshone River. Mean Green's first pitch is the long, thin line 1/2 mile left of the wider High on Boulder/Moonrise flow. Up high on the right side of the drainage above pitch one and all the rock bands, you'll see an incredibly wide flow of leprechaun-green WI 3.

Park at the end of the road, take the trail around the fenced-in ranch, cross the river, and hit the riverbank trail. Take the trail down to the Mean Green drainage and hike uphill. The approach looks short and sweet........

Pitch 1: Climb a full 60 meters of WI 4- to a ledge and a screw anchor.

Pitch 2:  Directly above the first pitch 25 meters of WI 3- to WI4 to a tree anchor.

Pitch 3:  Wander up the gully and around the corner passing a huge log to 30 meters of WI 3 to WI4+ to a screw anchor.

Pitch 4: A short-lived 25 meters of WI 4 to a Screw Anchor. (2018 Update: Pitch 4, the crux, is quite a bit shorter than it used to be. Large debris flows accumulated at the base of this pitch. It is now a WI4 25 meters.) 

Pitch 5: A ramble up the Gully on snow or WI 2

Two options from here go up the gully on WI 2 or up the 200 ft WI 3 on the right side of the gully, described are the steeper option.

Pitch 6: Go up two 25 ft bulges build a screw anchor.

Pitch 7: 140 feet to the top of the ice to a small tree with some cord around it, the tree sits above the middle of the flow.

Rap the route on V-threads, with lots of down climbing of small ice steps, and bring a headlamp.

Protection

Ice screws; shit-can your rock gear for this one. 

Also, consider avalanche gear as the upper slopes are prone to wind loading during snowy years. 

Photos