Trip Report: Rock Climb - Alpine Shakedown On The Gray Slabs
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Rock Climb - Alpine Shakedown On The Gray Slabs By Nathan C |
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| CLIMBING | 06/28/2026 | ALL |
| The Gray Slabs of Mt. Ogden, aka the Chamonix of Utah! A ride up the Needles Gondola drops you about 20 minutes away from the base of this classic Wasatch climb - but that doesn't mean the day is easy. To make the gondola back down, climbers must ascend almost 1200 feet and ten pitches of technical rock in about six hours...but the eight club climbers on this outing were more than up to that challenge! The day kicked off at 9AM with first chair, and after a short hike around the Needles we arrived at the base. While the Cottonwoods were getting snowed out, conditions at Snowbasin were fantastic - dry, calm, and with great sending temps. Dan took point and fired the first pitch, followed by June, and then the other three parties hot on their heels. The first two pitches of steep slab climbing yielded to 4th class scrambling, with several 5th class steps that are best managed by shortening the rope and short-pitching. The teams negotiated this transition effortlessly, winding up their kiwi coils and passing this terrain with peak efficiency. The group re-condensed at the fifth pitch, where Eric and Ambrose found some interesting variations up cracks and roof problems. The teams began to spread out a bit in the latter half of the climb - some choosing to run a simul-climb system on the more moderate faces and others choosing to pitch traditionally. The last team pulled up to the summit just past 2PM - or, for the stats folks out there - four parties, ten pitches, and about four hours. Impressive on all accounts! That left us plenty of time for a summit snack and photo and to enjoy the wildflowers on the hike back down to the lodge. We all piled into the Gondola, except for Eric, who took advantage of the MTB trails back down (...why didn't anybody else think of that?!). Post-climb, we celebrated with brews and burgers at The Angry Goat Pub in Ogden. The day was marked with several achievements. Dan claimed redemption after a long hike down last year. Courtney rocked it on her first multi-pitch. And for several others it was their first taste of time pressure on a climb. While missing it would only be an inconvenience in this case, it is great preparation and training for the bigger trips several folks will be going on this year to places like the Teton and Wind River Ranges. |
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