Temple Crag, Sunribbon Arête, Winter Ascent. Rising almost out of the shores of beautiful Third Lake, the north face of Temple Crag dominates the immediate area, its dark granite walls accented by snow-covered ledges and couloirs in deep winter. George Lowe and I had come to climb Sunribbon Arête, a thinly defined buttress cutting the main bulk of the cliff. (First attempted in winter in January 1978 by Jim Sedinger and me.) George and I held a brief discussion about the feasibility of climbing in –10°F, but still packed our bags and made a short ski approach. We climbed bundled in all the clothes we had, moved quickly over the first steep pitch and the snow-covered fourth-class beyond. Then up the headwall, four pitches of clean granite with a wonderful diversity of cracks and face holds. As dusk approached, we reached the Tyrolean traverse. Finally we were able to flip a rope across the 15-foot gap over the horn and make the crossing as darkness descended. On the narrow arête, we “pitched” our small tent on the only level spot, a 2½-by-4-foot area with a clean drop on both sides. In the morning, the only sun we had on the north face moved off after one pitch, and a biting wind drove the cold through our clothing. The pitches broke down into short bursts of climbing activity, followed by finger-warming sessions. We raced the February daylight hours to the top, arriving with 15 minutes to spare. We descended in the dark over iced slopes on crampons. Steep couloirs led to drop-offs and delicate traverses. Unroped and careful, we finally reached a rappel which dropped us onto the snowfield at Contact Pass. By the time we got to our skis, my feet were numb, but I didn’t realize until later that they were frostbitten as well. Two months of inactivity followed, a painful reminder of winter climbing in the “Range of Light.”

Brock Wagstaff