All That for a Hand Crack?
5.8 YDS 5b French 16 Ewbanks VI- UIAA 15 ZA HVS 4c British PG13
| Type: | Trad, Alpine, 160 ft (48 m), 2 pitches |
| GPS: | 57.016, -134.99148 |
| FA: | Ivan Reifenstuhl, Steve Reifenstuhl—6/21/2025 |
| Page Views: | 116 total · 17/month |
| Shared By: | Ivan Reifenstuhl on Nov 1, 2025 |
| Admins: | L Von Dommelheimer |
Description
I wouldn't recommend this route. The first pitch is an absolute choss pile. While the hand crack roof on the second pitch is wonderful, it is short lived and hard to justify getting to. The little yellow circle in the route pic shows the namesake handcrack.
Pitch 1: Start up a diagonal left-leaning double crack (red line in route photo) to the right of Fossilized Potential (green line in route photo). Pick your way through a sea of choss and ledges placing in the paralell cracks. If you spent a couple days trundling and sweeping, this pitch would be solid fun. As it is, it poses a significant rock fall risk--and not one I would chance a second time. If you decide to proceed anyway, build an anchor roughly 15 feet below the bomber looking hand crack roof of the second pitch.
Pitch 2: Dodge some more choss as you make your way to the roof crack. Plug an easy #1 under the roof and reach for high jams to get a foot up. Super short but a nice gem to find after climbing gravel. Exit right above the crack and traverse to a two wall cave and ledge for an anchor. Extending all previous pieces helps with the rope drag. Once you have your second, mantel out above the anchor to reach the snow and descent line.



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