P 12,258, West Face, Wind River Range. On August 17, Reid Dowdle and I completed what may be a new route on P 12,258, which is .7 of a mile north of Lizard Head and south of South Fork Lake. We started at the low point at the center of the face and ended up in a prominent right-facing dihedral system. The first two pitches were up 5.5 and 5.6 corners. A fourth-class pitch was then followed by a 5.8 pitch up corners and cracks to the left of a large right-facing dihedral that brought us to a ledge system. From the high point of the ledges, the next pitch passed three bolts (placed on an earlier attempt) with steep face climbing and ascended a roof/corner to a belay at a stance above (5.10). Free climbing up an arch to a point of aid at a bolt led to lower-angle climbing (5.9, A0). Steep face climbing past a bolt got us to a spectacular hand crack for an 80-foot traverse to the right (5.11, A0). A fixed stopper was found on this pitch. This placed us directly below the upper dihedrals. Five more pitches of 5.8 to 5.10 free climbing led to the upper comers and dihedrals, which we followed directly to the summit. The 13-pitch route on quality rock required several days and one bivouac. Fred Beckey, Dave Hough and Scott Smith were also in on pioneering this route. (IV, 5.11, A0.)

Chris Monz, National Outdoor Leadership School