Trip Report: Rock Climbing the Cirque Of The Towers
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Rock Climbing the Cirque Of The Towers By Nathan C |
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| CLIMBING | 09/03/2026 | ALL |
| This trip had originally been planned for Titcomb Basin, a bit further North in the Winds, with several of the club's ice climbers eyeing up the Tower 1 Gully on Mt. Helen and a few others signed on for a late season attempt of Gannett Peak. Sadly, between a few untimely injuries and a historically dry year, we chose to pivot to the Cirque instead. Eric, Shuang, and Nathan drove up Wednesday evening for an early start from the Big Sandy trailhead. We arrived with plenty of time to spare, and made an afternoon run on the K-Cracks variation of the Southern Buttress of Pingora (5.8+, 4p, II). This proved to be a great introduction to the cirque, and allowed us to eye up the trail and approach ledges to the East Ridge of Wolf's Head. We pulled back into camp with just enough light to enjoy the sunset over a freeze dried meal. We would occasionally stir from our tents to watch a party having quite the epic on the East Face of Pingora, climbing through the night and rappelling down around 4AM. The next morning we got an early start on the East Ridge of Wolf's head (5.6, 10p, IV). We pitched out the Grassy Ledges approach, given it felt quite "Scottish" for its Easy 5th class rating, and soon found ourselves on the East Ridge proper. The East Ridge earns its Fifty Classic Climbs status for obvious reasons. A short section of easy scrambling over massive double exposure yields to moderate 5.6 climbing up the "Sidewalk". From there, several traverses weave through granite towers with incredible exposure and thoughtful challenges in routefinding and protection. Each of us agreed this was some of the finest rock climbing we'd ever done. Back at camp, the full team finally rendezvoused as we were joined by Paul, Steph, and Gail. Thoroughly exhausted by heavy packs and long climbs we turned in early, only to be awoken by a strong storm that passed through overnight. Saturday held big aspirations - Paul and Steph were making their own run on Wolfs Head while Eric and Nathan were eyeing up one of the long routes on Pingora. With uncertainty in the forecast and ominous AM skies, neither party would leave the ground. We opted instead to explore around camp and found a few enjoyable single pitch routes that may or may not have been previously climbed. We've saved this as the "Springfield Gully" on Mountain Project. With the forecast rapidly degrading, the decision was made to hike out on Sunday. Though the hike was seemingly endless, we exited with enough time for a quick stop at Wild Iris before overnighting in Lander. We found ourselves back at Wild Iris for a blustery AM sport climbing session and finally a well-deserved stop in Farson for a Big Cone. |
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