First Angel's Wing West Ridge

The mountaineer's route up the west ridge of the First Angel's Wing is much harder than your usual ridge because of two large overhangs. The rock up there is surprisingly interesting though, and the exposure as well as the view make this a great adventure whether you free climb it or aid it.

P1. Low 5th Class. Rope up on the ridge when things start to turn to 5th Class. Head over to the ledge below the obvious offwidth, and build a belay. If you don't have a 70m or you rope up a bit early, you may have to do this as two pitches.

P2. C1+ (probably 5.10+ free). From the ledge, head up a finger crack that quickly widens to hands and then to offwidth. The crack continues to flare out to about 12 inches and forces you around a roof (you could probably tunnel). From here, some stemming up a triangular area brings you to easier ground and a belay.

P3. Low 5th Class. Do a traverse pitch across the slab over to the next crack. There are two cracks on the upper part of the overhang, but only the right one makes it to the ground. Head over that way, and belay at the big tree below it.

P4. C1. (probably 5.9 free). Climb up the short crack using horizontal cracks on the sides. A very flared crack guards the ending, but luckily there are face holds. Belay once it gets easy or at a tree 40 feet farther.

P5. 5.3 Head up a very featured east face pitch to join the ridgeline.

P6-8. 5.5 Head up the ridgeline with several 5.5 downclimbing sections. We trended right whenever a new wall appeared, but getting off the backs is often pretty tricky.

Find yourself on the southern ridgeline of Bear Peak between the Devil's Thumb and the southern Angel's Wing. It took us 2.5 hours to get here from South Mesa trailhead.

Gear to 7" for free climbing.

Gear to ~10" for aid climbing.