Back In The Winds: Climbing in The Cirque of the Towers

 One week ago on August 12, Bill and I packed up the Black Panther for the 3 hour drive back to the Wind River Range. The Panther hasn't gotten much road trip action since I moved to Jackson, and it was jonesin' for the open road. We left Jackson around 1pm headed for Big Sandy trailhead and the famous Cirque of the Towers. The first 5.5 miles of the hike are super easy and flat, with the final few miles more strenuous as you cross Jackass Pass and drop into the Cirque.

  We'd gotten a glimspe of the Cirque from nearby Haystack Mountain on our last climbing trip in The Winds and couldn't wait to stand within this ring of jagged peaks. When looking at it from afar, I recall thinking it looked ominous, foreboding, a little evil. Razor sharp peaks of granite shooting upwards in every direction. If I had seen lava spewing out of the top of Pingora with thousands of Orcs marching to battle I wouldn't have been surprised.

Warbonnet far left. Cirque far background.

   The vibe entering the Cirque was a little less dark, but intimidating none-the-less. As you come over Jackass Pass, Warbonnet is the first peak to greet you to the west. Pingora looms to the north.  Wolf's Head's razor-like ridge draws immediate attention.                                                                                    

  We found an awesome secluded campsite right beside a small stream and finally shed the packs. I consider myself to be in pretty good shape, but hiking 9 miles with a pack full of camping gear, food and water; in addition to my harness, shoes and the full climbing rack, still kicks my ass. Dinner was promptly cooked and we discussed next morning's plan over a hot meal and some hot tea.

Camp. South Buttress of Pingora and Wolfs Head.

   Our objective was the Northeast Face of Pingora Peak. I always get a little nervous the day before an unfamiliar climb and this was no different. As I said earlier, the Cirque is intimidating. Gorgeous and surreal, but intimidating. I was mostly concerned about time. This was supposedly a 10-11 pitch climb over 1200 vertical feet and there were a few spots where people tend to get off route.

  At 4:30am the alarm went off and we quickly cooked some oatmeal and downed some black tea. We were at the base of the climb a little before 7 and encountered another party who was opting to bail because they didn't like the look of the weather. You can bail on rap anchors through the 3rd pitch so we decided to go for it and play it by ear. The first pitch is a long traverse into the crack system; so I lead the first 2 pitches,  then we started swapping leads. We were using a 70m rope so we just ran it out where we could. Using our topo we were keeping an eye out for the "off-route traverse", but never really had any route-finding problems. We told ourselves that this was due to our superior, Teton-honed route-finding skills. The crux of the climb is actually 2 options. One is a flaring 5.8 crack and the other is a 5.9 layback. Whichever one you choose, it's the crux of the climb. Bill inadvertently chose the 5.9 layback and cranked through with no problem. After pulling through this section, we realized we were much further along than we previously thought.

Bill above the layback. High on the Northeast Face.

  A couple more pitches of easy climbing (through a not so "easy" chimney) and we were on top. We'd done the climb in about 6 hours and 7 pitches. The 70m rope really helped speed the process up. Lucky for us, it had been cloudy, cool and devoid of wind, making communication on the face easy. To make it even better, we were the only group on the route all day. Abnormal for one of the50 "Crowded" Climbs of North America. The icing on the cake was finding a well-used but bomber .75 BD C4 Cam near the summit. I'm a shameless booty collector, snaking nuts and jammed cams when I can. We bumped into an Argentinian climbing guide and his client who snapped a quick photo of us on top.

On top of Pingora. East Ridge of Wolfs Head behind.

    Back at camp, we ate some Swedish Fish and napped in the tent until it was time for dinner. That night I slept better than I've ever slept in the backcountry. Out at 11, I didn't budge till my watch went off at 4:30am....then I hit the snooze button and slept for another hour. We finally rolled out of bed and were greeted to an awesome sunrise. The granite rock surrounding camp lit up pink by the sun.

Sunrise.

Camp Alpenglow.

    After going through the wake-up process, we started hiking towards Wolf's Head. The East Ridge of Wolf's Head, is an easy (5.6) climb with incredible exposure and improbable traverses around multiple towers. If you rope up for every portion of this climb, you're in for a long day. Bill and I felt comfortable enough going solo for about the first half. Early on in the climb, you go up a 30 degree, 2 foot wide, 300 foot long slab; outer space on either side. Freaking AWESOME.

Negotiating the slab on the East Ridge.

   The rest of the climb involves traversing around, over and through various towers on the ridge until you reach the summit. Wolf's Head lived up to its reputation and was nothing but pure fun. I feel it's always good when you find yourself laughing in the middle of a climb. I laughed and smiled often on this one.

I hope this rock holds.

A party behind us making their way through the towers.

On the summit tower of Wolf's Head.

   After some always annoying downclimbing through steep gullies filled with loose rock and a few clumsy climbers (one party was prone to kicking off large rocks), we made it back to camp where we chilled for a while before making the long hike out. We were back at the truck in just under 4 hours and soon headed back to Jackson. 

Cooling off in one of the thousands of lakes in the Winds.

   If you're looking for stellar rock and classic climbs, the Cirque is the place. This is true alpine style climbing. Big climbs in a remote location. But it isn't just for climbers. As with any spot in the Winds, it is jaw-droppingly gorgeous and comes highly recommended to anyone willing to don the pack and hike a few miles. 

-BY