Cruel Finger. This narrow, spindlelike spire of granite lies in the Nightmare Needles of the Cashmere Crags, above grotesque "Fire Spire" and "Little Snowpatch," some 2500 feet above the deep valley of Ingalls Creek but still below the snowy crest of the McClellan Peak massif. On May 17 we hiked some six miles up the valley, then up brush and wooded slopes and a long, steep, snow-filled gully. Since Fred Beckey had worked on this spire on a previous weekend, slings and a rope were still there. There were still 120 feet of extremely difficult 5th and 6th class climbing involved in this first ascent. The first half was basically a long 5th class crack, in some ways resembling the famous Mummery Crack on the Grépon, but a little wider and more like a chimney. Beckey led the whole climb. The upper block was dizzyingly exposed and completely direct-aid climbing except for the final six feet where we pulled ourselves up a narrow rib and straddled to the very crest. The drop on the right was one of the most precipitous I have ever seen. Some six to eight direct-aid pitons and a couple of bolts were used. None of the pitons seemed too secure, but there were many of them.

Don G. Claunch