Chimney Rock, East Face, Selkirk Mountains. This lone sentinel of northern Idaho on the southern edge of the Selkirks offers a pleasant compromise between high country alpine climbs and low country rock climbs with its firm granite and gentle alpine setting. It was a pleasure to return to this country with Dave Hiser to make another attempt on the East Face. Charles Bell acted in support. In June, 1960, an attempt by Ron Niccoli, Gordon Thompson, and myself using the fixed rope technique had consumed two days and had failed at an apparent long bolt section less than halfway up the face. Now our climbing philosophy had changedwith improvements in technique and equipment, and sacrificing weight for speed, we decided to attempt to finish it in one day. In two hours we reached a point that had taken us almost six hours the year before, by climbing free (V to —VI) rather than with artificial techniques. We quickly reached our previous year’s high point, where an exciting hanging belay was set up. A piton crack was found that allowed us to bypass the difficult section which had previously stopped us. This was climbed with aid. Somewhat above this we climbed forty feet inside the face behind a giant detached portion. We could not understand why it remained balanced there, since throughout the climb on the face the “stone test” showed that a stone held at arm’s length fell free to the ground. The upper portion of the face, though still steep, presented a good system of interconnected ledges and cracks. Surmounting a two-foot overhang just below the top free style, we found that the climb had taken about eight hours. A wide assortment of pitons, from knife blades to giant wide angles, were employed, and the four bolts left from the 1960 attempt were not used. (Plate 26 shown in A.A.J. 1958, 11:1 is actually not of Chimney Rock as stated but of a rock tower just south of it.)

Edward Cooper