Mount Mitchell, North Face, Wind River Range. Dick Dorworth and I stumbled into this fine free new route, trying to find Chouinard’s north-face route. In our first attempt we were driven off by hail three pitches up. The difficulty and the lack of pin scars made it apparent that we were on a new route. We started up again on an auspiciously blue and sunny morning a few days later. The route starts at the right end of a very large prominent arch to the right of the normal route. About 50 feet left of the right edge of the arch, go up a crack and step over the top of the arch onto the main face. From here continue up and left on cracks to the top of a large block (two pitches). Step down and left; go up a corner; traverse left and back right to the base of the book system. Follow this for four long pitches (165 feet) to a large bowl where it joins the regular route. Three more easy pitches lead to the top. NCCS VI, F9; 11 pitches. The route can all be done with nuts; a N° 10 Chouinard was used at the crux.

Sibylle Hechtel, Unaffiliated