South West Ridge - 5.7

Good service. Definitely caught a few hands that weren't really connected to anything but all in safe spots.

this line has a variety of different styles of climbing on it. there are hand cracks, open books with spooky dihedrals lurking overhead, (easy) ceilings, face climbs (with baseball size nuggets to grip), and phenomenal views of the teton monsters. as i have a short attention span, long climbs tend to drag on... not this one.

the decent sucks. bottom line. hope your knees are in good shape.

"rock!"

plan on full day. great line

a great route, just keeps getting steeper and better as you get higher. good protection and only one short section of questionable rock near the top. be sure to continue the last 200 ft to the summit (skip the rappell to the col)...it's worth the view and it's only class 4. light rack a few small stoppers to a #3 camalot suffice. be sure to take ice ax and crampons for the couloir up to the base of the Spire, and be good at self arresting. no place to mess around in there. we didn't need snow gear to get down from the summit to the base, just climbed down on ledges beside the upper couloir. may not be possible earlier or in other years. fantastic views everywhere.

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