On August 23, Yvon Chouinard, Fred Beckey and I left camp on Deep Lake to climb a route up the center of the northwest face of East Temple, a sheer wall described by Orrin Bonney as "impossible" in his Guide to the Yyoming Mountains. The average angle of the whole face was 80°. The first three pitches would ascend the face to a dihedral, facing left, which would be climbed on its right wall, which averaged 110° for about 300 feet and consisted of giant overhanging flakes. At its top there appeared to be a ledge that traversed right to a similar overhanging corner of 105°, about four pitches high. From this dihedral a vertical dihedral led to a roof—then another pitch to the top.

We first scrambled for 200 feet to a large ledge. Fred then took the first lead, working up a flared crack. With some aid he made a ledge, climbed up to the right and around the corner to an extremely difficult crack, which led to a small platform (6 pitons, 120 feet). After Yvon had joined him, Fred continued to an overhang, then with aid traversed left on a blank wall to a ledge. Ascending a dihedral, he reached a platform (7 pitons, 130 feet). After we both had joined him, Fred, who was not feeling well, tied two ropes together and rappelled off. This change of the party to two added greater speed. We climbed fourth class to the base of the first dihedral. The left or main face was blank. The right wall was a giant exfoliation, 300 feet high and 110°, which could only be climbed by direct aid. Yvon stepped out on the left wall and moved up a shallow corner and then onto the overhanging right wall. He now placed his third poor piton and moved up. In went another, even less secure, and he advanced. His fifth and sixth pitons would only just hold his weight. He was now on a 50-foot lead with not one good piton in, but the next was much better. He drove another one in behind an easily expanding flake, which loosened when a second piton went into the same crack, but he was clipped into the new piton he was driving in. Yvon continued fighting his way to a foothold and belay point on the left wall. This was the first time he could stand in balance after 3½ hours. I climbed up and reached him after an exhausting hour and a half of removing pitons (18 pitons, 130 feet). The next lead required another row of bad pitons. Stepping out of aid, he chimneyed up an overhanging, narrow chimney and mixed climbed in the dusk to a small platform (10 pitons, 100 feet). We had about 60 more feet of overhanging wall. Yvon started up the dihedral, then hand-traversed left to some holds. He moved up, jamming a crack and also using some aid. He stepped into balance and continued up to a ledge. I removed the last pitons in complete darkness (10 pitons, 120 feet). The ledge was only wide enough to sit with our feet on lower holds.

Clouds veiled the sky, lightning started striking the distant peaks, and it was raining within an hour. We got into our two-man Schuster bivouac sack. There was no question of sleep. At two a.m. the lightning stopped, but not the rain. At dawn we looked out of the sack and into the fog. After a soggy meal, I led across the traverse ledge to the base of the second dihedral, which was very much like the first one (1 piton, 140 feet). I started up the corner, working slightly out of balance, and then moved out on the left wall with aid. Easing out of aid, I climbed a shallow corner to an overhang. Attacking this with aid and continuing up an expanding flake, I was able to gain a protruding flake (10 pitons, 80 feet). After placing two pitons and hanging partially in aid, I belayed standing on one sloping foothold. The rain continued. Yvon started up the 105° right wall, using every trick in his bag. He moved up slowly, sometimes using 5?-long horizontal pitons, just holding on their very tip in flared cracks; at other times driving 3? duraluminum angle pitons also in flared cracks and behind expanding flakes. After 110 feet he found a stance on the blank left wall (19 pitons). I was glad to get started for my legs were asleep. Also, after slipping off the belay foothold four times, I was tired. Reaching the belay point I looked at Yvon. The wear of climbing, a sleepless bivouac and the constant rain were starting to eat away at him. I started climbing on the left wall but soon needed aid to reach a flake. In increasing rain I moved cautiously up for my pitons were only prying out the flakes. At its top, by placing and standing on a knifeblade piton, I was able to climb over a ceiling. After a strenuous jam-crack I reached a large platform (10 pitons, 110 feet). We were now over the second overhanging dihedral and the top was near. Yvon jammed up a wide crack in a short dihedral and then with aid reached a capping roof, which he passed by nailing out to the left and over on some very tricky pitons to a ledge (12 pitons, 80 feet). We had just one more pitch. I stepped out left and over a bulge; then traversed far right and up to the top (4 pitons, 120 feet). When Yvon reached me, it was four P.M. and the rain finally stopped. We used 125 pitons, all of which as well as most of the karabiners were, of course, made by Chouinard. Thirty percent of the route is direct aid. The climb is a Yosemite Grade 5 to 6, with a technical difficulty of 5.8 to 6.8.

Art Gran, Club de Montagne Canadien