Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Here are some notes fresh from our ascent ~1 week ago:
Flying in as a party of four will save you money.
The lower part of the route to the bivy ledge is pretty average (dirty and loose), but the upper headwall is immaculate.
The approach takes 1-1.5 hours from Fairy Meadows. The route dries out relatively quickly in good weather, and we were able to free climb right from the bottom.
The first 3 pitches have fixed ropes and are the last pitches to dry out. Of the 8 parties that successfully climbed the LFT during the week I was in there, most failed on their first attempt. Of the failed parties, all used the fixed ropes on their subsequent successful ascent. Most fail because they run out of either time or energy. The first 3 pitches and the upper headwall pitches are very sustained and you can't run up them, despite their moderate grade. Start early, bring lots of food and plan on a very long day. Overall, expect an outing of Scenic Cruise or Steck-Salathe proportions.

Gear: double set of cams to 3" plus a 4" piece, two sets of nuts.

Descent: Many double rope raps. The rap route mostly follows a line to the climber's right of the ascent route. I strongly recommend switching to single rope raps for the bottom 3 pitches, because everyone gets the knot stuck rapping pitch 3.

No comments:

Post a Comment