Five New Pitches on Shaw Spire
Nate and I went up George Creek to try a new route on Shaw Spire.
The route ended up being chossy, cold and scary. We climbed 8 pitches before bailing 2 pitches from the top. That night there were 100mph winds over the crest.
We also found an abandoned tweaker camp (probably meth), with a lot of machete packages lying around.
So the next time you’re in George Creek don’t be surprised if you get the chop.
The line we were aiming for is in green, the line we actually took is in red:
The goal was basically to take the left-leaning diagonal thing and then find a way into the huge upper dihedral.
After two really chossy, slow, and scary pitches, the overhangs we had seen to the right looked impassable, and there was a very very inviting looking offwidth straight up, but it didn’t necessarily lead anywhere, and we had no big gear. Scotty said of it “My heart wants to go that way, but practicality says we should go this way”… We ended up trending left for another pitch, up a chossy left-leaning corner. A lotta rock came off on that one. The 4th and 5th pitches were clean and pretty spectacular, leading to the top of a big side-buttress that we think is the top of the 1st pitch on the original route. The top looked close, but after three more pitches we were outta time and freezing cold, and the top didn’t look much closer.
The (unfinished) route:
- Pitch 1 and 2: Start just below the left-leaning diagonal gash and head up into an alcove.
- Pitch 3: Step left into a left-leaning corner, cross a gully to a ledge
- Pitch 4: Traverse left on the ledge and go up a bit, then face climb into the huge right-facing corner
- Pitch 5: Stem the corner and face climb on the right, exit the top of the corner left onto a ledge
- From here go up! We kept trending left because that’s what we’d been doing all day. Straight up or even trending right may have been better.
Posted in Climbing, First Ascents, High Sierra | 11 Comments
OK it turns out it was a pot camp, not meth.
And the guys who planted it are dead.
From gunshot wounds.
Way to go for it guys. Too bad your route was chossy. What are you going to name your route up Choss Spire?
Can’t name it cause it’s not done…it’s Unfinished Business.
HA! Freakin Gil…
Why is Scotty carrying a laptop up the mountain?
Hey guys from looking at your topo would you say the orange colored rock is shitty (the stuff up higher) and the nice grey rock at the bottom is better?
No, it’s pretty much all shitty. If anything the grey rock is worse than the orange rock (IMO).
Super good photos guys! Choss Spire looks wicked in the approach photos, you guys look like ants climbing onto a crumbly oversized Cheeto!
Did you guys bring the Coleman on route in addition to lugging it for a good 20 miles? I was wondering if that was the Delux or the Economy. I think one of the fuel bottles for that thing weighs more that two Reactors! HAHAHAHAHA!!
We brought two fuel bottles for that motherfucker.
the real reason I didnt find you guys was because I decided to spend a night hanging out in the meth camp (free meth!).
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