White Whale

Peak 5710', nestled deep in the heart of Seiber Canyon, stands as a formidable fortress that has resisted countless skilled climbers. The formation's head and tail appear to offer a way to free climb, but both ends are blocked by sheer, impenetrable headwalls. A ladder was once used as an unsuccessful attempt to scale the north headwall, and ropes remain lodged in the NW chimney. Future climbers may be able to remove these ropes, though it would be inefficient to retrieve them, as our route was found on the west face.

We followed the path of least resistance to the base of the 5.7X slab pitch, free climbing left and then right to reach the base of a west-facing seam. The only anchor option at the seam’s base was a small tree. While we were prepared to place a bolt if necessary, a #1 beak with a screamer seemed sufficient, justifying the A3+ rating. The seam itself is a long, tiring 100 foot low-angle slab, where we used beaks, Spectres, and offset nuts effectively. Near the top, excavation was required, but BD cams and Totems worked well for protection. The upper 15 feet of the pitch flatten out and lead into a pleasant amphitheater. From here, head south to reach the final lead pitch. We built an anchor using two knifeblades and a #3 beak with no gear above. The follower removed all protection. The lead climbing ends at this point, and we left our ropes and gear here to summit.

The peak has two summits, and it's unclear which one is taller. To reach the main summit, we continued south and up, finding easy Class 3 terrain. The south summit is also worth exploring, offering a fun chimney to climb.

A potential aid line was discovered by Tom Pierce and it begins here at GPS coordinates: 39.083626, -108.947081.

A conservative rack is 5 #1 beaks, 5 #2 beaks, 5 #3 beaks, 2 Spectres, a single set of nuts, a single set of offset nuts, and double cams from 0.2-4. A single #5 might be nice, and a few medium offset cams wouldn't go unused. NO DRILL.