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Brown Cow
5.11,
Trad, Alpine, 1000 ft (303 m), 10 pitches, Grade IV,
Avg: 3.5 from 22
votes
FA: Toby G, and Nate Ballinger 2003; variation P2 (hand crack) and P5 (the one with the bolt) added by NB, TS, and JF in 2012
Wyoming
> Wind River Range
> Cirque of the T…
> Warbonnet Peak
Description
This is in my opinion easily one of the best long routes in the area. Climb the obvious line about 100 yards climber's left of Black Elk in 9 or so pitches.
Location
I'd hate to spoil all the fun. Look for the obvious line in the middle of the wall.
[Hide Comment] Yo Nate! So this is indeed Brown Cow (5.11b), a route that Nate Ballinger and I established in a weeklong trip in 2003. We completed this line the day after we had climbed Black Elk for the first time, and we both thought it was a better line (shhhh!) A few days earlier, we had also established a route on the northwest face of Warrior 1, which was re-climbed last year also and dubbed "The Candy Shop" in an AAJ trip report. This line is actually "Heading West", and may have been the first free ascent of the NW face of Warrior 1 (unless Nate Opp beat us to it?)
Damn, I have enjoyed continuing the tradition of silent exploration in the Winds, but now with the new age of topos and bolts migrating north, I wonder if it now does a better service of protecting this wildness by reporting new routes to set standards. We felt no need to place any bolts on either of these lines (or on any of another 6 new routes in the range), and really enjoyed walking away from these walls knowing that we kept it wild. I am not a rowdy free climber advocating really dangerous lines, just truly treasure this one last little wild spot in American climbing.
I am totally bummed that there are bolts on the "Wind Thin", what we had affectionately named the amazing undercling flake of pitch 3 of Brown Cow! How exciting was it to sling the horn and head off into clean space! Love to see the motivation out there but damn, let's leave the "Alpine Plaisir" in Boulder Canyon!
We have added 3 more routes on east face of Warbonnet over the years, and I think that it might be time to provide some info to keep them wild as they are. To come...
Jun 14, 2013
All signs indicated to us, at least low on the route, that this thing had never been climbed before, and we were fairly confident of that at the time (especially P-2 which took some cleaning). So, if we are indeed talking about the same line, then fair enough... and in which case, I'd like to apologize for adding the (belay) bolts to the top of pitches 4 and 6 (still unsure about what you mean regarding slinging the horn on pitch 3).
However, with that being said, I think it's important to recognize the strong possibility that even your 2003 ascent may not have been the first (we found some very old tat up high on the line - that was likely a bail sling). No disrespect here, but I do get a little frustrated when people claim to have beaten someone else to the punch (myself and others) but fail to understand that the same logic holds true for them as well. We must all be careful when making FA claims for the sake of posterity and historical accuracy.
Regarding the one lead bolt on pitch 6 - On a second ascent of the lower half, we climbed a better left-hand variation of pitch 6 and placed that bolt on the face to gain the crack. The original line climbed a dirt filled 5.10 crack out right that lead directly up to the diagonal of pitch 7 & 8. It just wasn't as good as the bolted variation and we were psyched to have found a better alternative, which would have been pretty dangerous without the bolt.
Regarding the belay bolts atop P-4 and P-6: We placed them to allow for a safe belay from the best available stance/ledge, and to help break up the pitches appropriately. We probably could have done without them and just belayed in less convenient locations, but we wanted to create a quality route that people would enjoy. Again, my apologies.
I have removed the pitch by pitch description of the line we took in anticipation of hearing more about "Brown Cow". When you get a chance to write it up, please let me know (or post it up) and I will be sure to change the route entry accordingly.
Jun 16, 2013
Howdy again Nate. After just getting home from another weekend on the east face (the Alpine Cookie!), I realize how lucky we are here to have that face in the "backyard". I've done a bunch of exploratory climbing out in the Winds over the last 15 years, but particularly on that face. I know it very well, and am probably a little protective of it! As for Brown Cow, that is my favorite line that I have done out there so I was definately a little defensive of that one! More importantly, I thought that your report was from a friend of mine here in Jackson (Nate Brown), whom I had told all about Brown Cow!
Getting home from another perfect weekend out there, totally excited about the newest project (between Brown Cow and Seams), I am partly bummed that I felt the need to respond to finding your report. That is the whole purpose of keeping things quiet - to let other people have that adventure all over again! I have been getting a little guarded seeing things change in the Winds, cause I really do think that it is one of the last real wilderness climbing experiences left for us! I wish I hadn't said anything to take away from yours.
I think the only difference between our lines is our second pitch, where we followed a thin discontinuous finger crack just to the left of the line you took - which was the crux of the route - and delivered us to the very bottom of the system that forms the chimney. We belayed halfway up the chimney, and then linked the next pitch all the way to the top of the undercling flake - thus no need for a belay beneath the flake. We also climbed in long pitches (6 total).
I do love to hear of your motivations from Asheville...the Winds drug me out from Ashevegas until I just had to stay! I hope that we see you out there again.
Jun 17, 2013
[Hide Comment] Is this climb a walk off? if it is, it is very sad to hear of bolted stations. After spending a good deal of time in the winds I have to agree that this place needs to be held to a high standard of adventure!
Sep 25, 2013
[Hide Comment] Spectacular route. As good as Black Elk but much more sustained. We climbed this route in 6 very long pitches (except pitch 2), simul-climbing the last many hundred feet after the grassy ledge. We followed the variation pitches, linking 3-4, 5-6, 7-8. Splitter hands and fingers, awesome lieback flakes and underclings, excellent rock, tons of burl, and a little spice keep this route exciting. The entry to the diagonal seam is very difficult. Bring small nuts and RPs and have your belayer slightly below you to avoid ripping nuts in a fall.
Recommended rack: Doubles tiny to #2 camalot, singles #3 and #4 camalot. Offset nuts and cams useful. We combined pitches and still felt sandbagged by the heavy rack beta. There is simply no need for triple 1s, triple 2s, or double 3s and 4s.
Jul 25, 2016
[Hide Comment] I appreciate this thread tremendously. Discourse that reaches compromise and clarifies misunderstandings. I also appreciate both parties' ethic and treatment of both the future climber's experience and the area. Thank you.
I hope adventure continues in the winds, and I hope I find myself to be neither an anachronistic crusader of a bygone era nor a person who is acting outside of an area's local ethic. I just want to give this thread a vote of confidence, in hopes that people see what adult conversation about something we all hold dearly CAN look like.
This route is top of my list after my first adventure up the south face of Warbonnet via Black Elk. I would thank you all for putting up the line, but instead I'm going to pretend that I'm the first one up there!
Much respect! And thanks for the beta;)
Sep 2, 2016
[Hide Comment] Lots harder than Black Elk. Something of a sandbag, but awesome regardless. Highly recommend the pitch 2 variation. Awesome hand and finger crack. Mostly the route has good gear. We took a rack of doubles and a single #4 and felt pretty good about it. Never that short on gear. I didn't mind the occasional bolted belay either and was VERY happy about the bolt on pitch 5 variation. The original variations look pretty cool too. Overall a very challenging route for the grade and a true alpine adventure.
Aug 28, 2017
[Hide Comment] This route has a ton of fun climbing on it. Cruxes are short and punchy. We took doubles from small through #3, one #4, and were happy. We only placed one RP the whole route and could have done without it. This route is still cleaning up and I found myself wiping the bottom of my shoes on my pants a bunch to make sure I didn't slide off.
Overall a really fun climb. Recommended. Thanks, Toby and Nate!
Sep 4, 2017
[Hide Comment] Climbed via the variations. I'd disagree that this is more classic than Black Elk. The rock's pretty grainy and lichenous still, so maybe with some more traffic. The crux pitch is quite good, but the wandering nature of the climbing up to that point definitely puts it a peg below Black Elk.
The protection bolt on the variation pitch is hard to clip if you're short, so heads up. Also, the two bolted anchors don't make a lot of sense. (I'm usually all for bolted anchors!) The first one is easy to link past to the base of the pitch with the protection bolt and the second one is in a terrible place. It would make sense if it were a rappel anchor, but it's not. It should be down and right where you'd want to belay for the crux pitch. Instead it's 15-20' above on the ledge.
Jul 5, 2018
[Hide Comment] Good fun; as with black elk, it's awesome you can get up such a wicked cool alpine wall at an approachable difficulty. We mostly took the original way as the new variations didn't appear as logical. Bolted anchors are in garbage spots, best to blow them off. Especially the 2nd one...and I love bolted anchors. A few bits could really use some wire brush! The physical corner roof, in it's fairly dirty state, felt harder than the 1-move finger lock 11- bit down low.
Jul 16, 2019
[Hide Comment] Hey Toby and Nate, have you figured out who did the FA yet and could one of you or anyone else add more info on this route? Cause as of now the description is "obvious route in the middle of the wall" and a bunch of people talking about variation pitches that are referenced nowhere.
Jul 14, 2020
[Hide Comment] A topo would be great! I've climbed this before and even so, I don't think the line is that obvious without some sort of description, photo overlay or topo.
Aug 8, 2020
[Hide Comment] the route is definitely obvious enough to climb without a topo. take some binoculars, spend some time the evening before scoping your line, and go have some fun! what a good route!
Dec 25, 2020
[Hide Comment] Climbed Brown Cow with my daughter to celebrate my 56th Birthday! Awesome route definitely on par with Black Elk. The 6th pitch was my favorite of the trip. Our climb was a true on-sight with no topo or route description so if you want that experience then stop reading now. Otherwise, here's the pitch breakdown: P1 60m - climb obvious corner then break right at 40m in hand crack. Belay at small ledge below left finger crack and right hand crack. There's sling tat here around a couple blocks P2 30m - climb finger or hand crack. Belay large ledge below chimney. More rap tat at this ledge as well. P3 25m - easy chimney to wide crack on left. BD 0 and smaller cams protect the wide bit. Belay on a large sloping ledge below a left trending crack with good feet. P4 50m - wander up past P4 belay bolts(not the best location so skip it) and continue up to belay below the P5 bolt above the horn. P5 25m clip bolt or sling horn. It's not hard but you'll be happy for the bolt. Climb past P5 anchor and down to belay at thin crack entrance to corner. The anchor is useful as a directional, but don't belay there. P6 Money Pitch! belay at top of corner for pics or continue to grass ledge. P7 75m pitch to good ledge below 5’ rock spike. P8 15m to end of corner and walk off. Maybe split right onto final headwall on P7 around 50M mark for P8?
Aug 16, 2021
[Hide Comment] Fun climb! Sustained... at 5.10 with only a few short sections of harder climbing. Lots of crack climbing and a little spice, but not burly! I thought 11b felt right! My girlfriend was very reluctant to climb it due to all the spray saying it's hard... it ended up being pretty chill for her to follow and she's more of a 5.10 climber. I was excited for some harder climbing but didn't find any...
Gear: doubles .3-#3 and a set of nuts. No #4! You could place it if you love dragging #4s around, but you never need it. I didn't place it.
Maybe people have made the crux harder than it needs to be? I think it felt 11- PG13 the way I did it, but my sequence wasn't the most obvious.
Sep 3, 2024
[Hide Comment] Gosh I hate to be a downer, but overall I thought this route did not deserve the classic status. Lots of flakey rock. The three hard sections were no more than 5ft long. And I think people go for harder beta because the bolts are misleading. Many options after the chimney.
P2, P5 and P6 have good climbing.
Funny enough we ran into Peter J on our way in, only thing i'd add to the rack is 1x purple TCU (.2 BD) This was my first trip to the winds so maybe i'm just not giving it a fair shake. Oh well. Do with this info what u will.
Sep 3, 2024
Avg: 3.5 from 22
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Wymont Kingdom
Jackson, WY
Damn, I have enjoyed continuing the tradition of silent exploration in the Winds, but now with the new age of topos and bolts migrating north, I wonder if it now does a better service of protecting this wildness by reporting new routes to set standards. We felt no need to place any bolts on either of these lines (or on any of another 6 new routes in the range), and really enjoyed walking away from these walls knowing that we kept it wild. I am not a rowdy free climber advocating really dangerous lines, just truly treasure this one last little wild spot in American climbing.
I am totally bummed that there are bolts on the "Wind Thin", what we had affectionately named the amazing undercling flake of pitch 3 of Brown Cow! How exciting was it to sling the horn and head off into clean space! Love to see the motivation out there but damn, let's leave the "Alpine Plaisir" in Boulder Canyon!
We have added 3 more routes on east face of Warbonnet over the years, and I think that it might be time to provide some info to keep them wild as they are. To come... Jun 14, 2013
All signs indicated to us, at least low on the route, that this thing had never been climbed before, and we were fairly confident of that at the time (especially P-2 which took some cleaning). So, if we are indeed talking about the same line, then fair enough... and in which case, I'd like to apologize for adding the (belay) bolts to the top of pitches 4 and 6 (still unsure about what you mean regarding slinging the horn on pitch 3).
However, with that being said, I think it's important to recognize the strong possibility that even your 2003 ascent may not have been the first (we found some very old tat up high on the line - that was likely a bail sling). No disrespect here, but I do get a little frustrated when people claim to have beaten someone else to the punch (myself and others) but fail to understand that the same logic holds true for them as well. We must all be careful when making FA claims for the sake of posterity and historical accuracy.
Regarding the one lead bolt on pitch 6 - On a second ascent of the lower half, we climbed a better left-hand variation of pitch 6 and placed that bolt on the face to gain the crack. The original line climbed a dirt filled 5.10 crack out right that lead directly up to the diagonal of pitch 7 & 8. It just wasn't as good as the bolted variation and we were psyched to have found a better alternative, which would have been pretty dangerous without the bolt.
Regarding the belay bolts atop P-4 and P-6: We placed them to allow for a safe belay from the best available stance/ledge, and to help break up the pitches appropriately. We probably could have done without them and just belayed in less convenient locations, but we wanted to create a quality route that people would enjoy. Again, my apologies.
I have removed the pitch by pitch description of the line we took in anticipation of hearing more about "Brown Cow". When you get a chance to write it up, please let me know (or post it up) and I will be sure to change the route entry accordingly. Jun 16, 2013
Jackson, WY
Howdy again Nate. After just getting home from another weekend on the east face (the Alpine Cookie!), I realize how lucky we are here to have that face in the "backyard". I've done a bunch of exploratory climbing out in the Winds over the last 15 years, but particularly on that face. I know it very well, and am probably a little protective of it! As for Brown Cow, that is my favorite line that I have done out there so I was definately a little defensive of that one! More importantly, I thought that your report was from a friend of mine here in Jackson (Nate Brown), whom I had told all about Brown Cow!
Getting home from another perfect weekend out there, totally excited about the newest project (between Brown Cow and Seams), I am partly bummed that I felt the need to respond to finding your report. That is the whole purpose of keeping things quiet - to let other people have that adventure all over again! I have been getting a little guarded seeing things change in the Winds, cause I really do think that it is one of the last real wilderness climbing experiences left for us! I wish I hadn't said anything to take away from yours.
I think the only difference between our lines is our second pitch, where we followed a thin discontinuous finger crack just to the left of the line you took - which was the crux of the route - and delivered us to the very bottom of the system that forms the chimney. We belayed halfway up the chimney, and then linked the next pitch all the way to the top of the undercling flake - thus no need for a belay beneath the flake. We also climbed in long pitches (6 total).
I do love to hear of your motivations from Asheville...the Winds drug me out from Ashevegas until I just had to stay! I hope that we see you out there again. Jun 17, 2013
Thanks for responding. I'm going to send you a PM in a day or so when I get a chance. Jun 21, 2013
Flagstaff
Recommended rack: Doubles tiny to #2 camalot, singles #3 and #4 camalot. Offset nuts and cams useful. We combined pitches and still felt sandbagged by the heavy rack beta. There is simply no need for triple 1s, triple 2s, or double 3s and 4s. Jul 25, 2016
Boulder, CO
I hope adventure continues in the winds, and I hope I find myself to be neither an anachronistic crusader of a bygone era nor a person who is acting outside of an area's local ethic. I just want to give this thread a vote of confidence, in hopes that people see what adult conversation about something we all hold dearly CAN look like.
This route is top of my list after my first adventure up the south face of Warbonnet via Black Elk. I would thank you all for putting up the line, but instead I'm going to pretend that I'm the first one up there!
Much respect! And thanks for the beta;) Sep 2, 2016
Lander, WY
Overall a really fun climb. Recommended. Thanks, Toby and Nate! Sep 4, 2017
Bend, OR
The protection bolt on the variation pitch is hard to clip if you're short, so heads up. Also, the two bolted anchors don't make a lot of sense. (I'm usually all for bolted anchors!) The first one is easy to link past to the base of the pitch with the protection bolt and the second one is in a terrible place. It would make sense if it were a rappel anchor, but it's not. It should be down and right where you'd want to belay for the crux pitch. Instead it's 15-20' above on the ledge. Jul 5, 2018
Escondido
MT
Moab, UT
Norden
P1 60m - climb obvious corner then break right at 40m in hand crack. Belay at small ledge below left finger crack and right hand crack. There's sling tat here around a couple blocks
P2 30m - climb finger or hand crack. Belay large ledge below chimney. More rap tat at this ledge as well.
P3 25m - easy chimney to wide crack on left. BD 0 and smaller cams protect the wide bit. Belay on a large sloping ledge below a left trending crack with good feet.
P4 50m - wander up past P4 belay bolts(not the best location so skip it) and continue up to belay below the P5 bolt above the horn.
P5 25m clip bolt or sling horn. It's not hard but you'll be happy for the bolt. Climb past P5 anchor and down to belay at thin crack entrance to corner. The anchor is useful as a directional, but don't belay there.
P6 Money Pitch! belay at top of corner for pics or continue to grass ledge.
P7 75m pitch to good ledge below 5’ rock spike.
P8 15m to end of corner and walk off. Maybe split right onto final headwall on P7 around 50M mark for P8? Aug 16, 2021
Bishop
My girlfriend was very reluctant to climb it due to all the spray saying it's hard... it ended up being pretty chill for her to follow and she's more of a 5.10 climber. I was excited for some harder climbing but didn't find any...
Gear: doubles .3-#3 and a set of nuts. No #4! You could place it if you love dragging #4s around, but you never need it. I didn't place it.
Maybe people have made the crux harder than it needs to be? I think it felt 11- PG13 the way I did it, but my sequence wasn't the most obvious. Sep 3, 2024
Salt Lake City
P2, P5 and P6 have good climbing.
Funny enough we ran into Peter J on our way in, only thing i'd add to the rack is 1x purple TCU (.2 BD)
This was my first trip to the winds so maybe i'm just not giving it a fair shake. Oh well. Do with this info what u will. Sep 3, 2024