Trick #1. Realize that the climbing STARTS at 13,000'. Climb a lot on the Sharkstooth, Grepon, Spearhead but nothing beats doing a route on Chasm View. I recommend the Red Wall over Directissima for a full-value climb. Directissima is like cheating..too straight forward and too short. The other bene from doing a route on Chasm Wall is you get to stash some s--- up there. I guided and climbed a lot up there and there's a huge difference between doing a route at 12,000 (the Grepon) and climbing on the Diamond. Maybe it's the fear factor combined with the altitude.

Trick #2. Get onto the Diamond before you climb it. Take an easy day and do Keiner's but make sure you stop for lunch at Table Ledge. That's right; when you're 3/4 up the Giant Staircase poke around the edge a bit and you'll find Table Ledge. You can hike on to it. There is no better place to have lunch. This will also allow you to scope the descent.

Funny Story: I left some beers up there in 1982 for friends who were climbing the Casual Route. Turns out they bailed and I'd wondered for 23 years who got those beers. At the trade show last year I was having dinner with Gene Kistler (From Water Stone Outdoors at the NRG) and he told this wild story about climbing the Diamond with a reluctant partner in '82 and finding beers on Table Ledge! Those beers couldn't have gone to a better guy.

Snow on Broadway is a pretty sure thing in early July but you can see if it's there from the road. Plan accordingly.

Haven't done Dunn/Westbay (RIP) but I hear good things.

BallNutz replace LAs and blades. I've got a demo set you can borrow if you want.

The hike from the Boulderfield to Chasm View just sucks with big loads. So does the North Chimney. In my mind it's a toss-up.

I haven't done the Dunn-Westbay but I have completed the Diamond 8 different times and I have also had a failed attempt on Bright Star. For Bright Star we brought in a large aid rack and a portaledge. We did the hike to chasm view and the rappels. It was a pretty tough day physically but not too much. The raps are a little scary with a haul bag as there is some loose stuff, just be careful. I would leave the parking lot around 8 or 9 in the morning so you have all day to stroll in and get set up on broadway.

You can always get water in the boulder field if it looks like the broadway snow field is melted out.

The route looks pretty cool from what I can tell. I would also think some big training days would be a good idea, maybe even one of the harder free routes like D7 using aid to get through the cruxes. Dunn-Westbay seems pretty proud for a first Diamond Route, but what the hell, might as well go for it! Malcolm's idea for going out on table ledge is a good one. I brought a non-climber friend up Kieners once and we went out onto Table ledge. I clipped him into the rap anchors so he could lean out over the wall, he thought it was the coolest place he had ever been!

You might want to wait until later summer for less north face drip.

You might want to wait until later summer for less north face drip.

A very good point...it's been an exceptionally big snow year in the norther mountains....sometimes the whole right side stays wet until August!!!

Have you considered horsepacking to the Boulderfield to preserve your strength? That whole biz is above 4000m and I need to rest after peeing.

Or you could do Pervertical and if some free climber whines you could say,"the guy who put it up says thats the way I should do it, you lightweight!" and then drop a bong.
The year before I did it I made the 4th ascent of Curving Vine and every hour a party on D7 dropped a bong with remarkable acoustic results...

Not to put a bur in your saddle, as I wish you the best of luck!!, but the diamond would be one hell of a an undertaking for a first big aid line.

Also as far as a clean ascent goes....when it first went clean the only sketchy part was supposed to be a belay anchor...but rumor is that they have now been bolted.

On the "over your head" factor just remember that elements can combine to be more than the sum of their parts. The wall can seem far more intimidating when you're high on it tired out on day 3 or 4 with little sleep when a nasty storm breaks pelting you with grauppel and cracking lightning bolts next to you on the crux after dropping a critical piece of gear yada yada.

I prefer seiging warm uncrowded walls myself, but that's problematic from Chicago.
Oxymoron that it is just use common sense.

Good Job for working up the balls and saying your going to do something, it sort of forces you to follow though. At least that is how it works for me LOL.

above pitch 3 we'll be leading in blocks with me on the sharpend until we deciede to do diffrent, i plan to short fix ect. i would like a good explaination on hauling and short fixing. i have some ideas, but would like to hear it from somebody with good experience.am i totally out of my friggen mind?

I've hiked a lot in RMNP in my preclimbing days but haven't been back since I've been a climber. But the Diamond sure doesn't sound like the place to be trying out hauling and short fixing for the first time.

That is a hell of a long way to drag all that gear just to find out you can't move fast enough (which is what does most big wall beginners in).

Good luck, but you might consider getting your system well dialed in a less commiting environment.

Although there are a couple of reservable bivy sites on Broadway, I think it's illegal to bivy on the upper face of the Diamond. Anybody know if this is true and enforced?

A bivouac is a temporary, open-air encampment established between dusk and dawn and is issued only to technical climbers. The permit also provides technical climbers with an advanced position on long, one-day climbs and/or climbs that require an overnight stay on the rock face. All bivouacs require permits. Permits must be in your possession while in the backcountry.

Dunn-Westbay??? I never agreed to do this climb with you. You told me we were going out to Colorado for fly fishing!!?? The only way I'm going up there is if you agree to spoon with me.