Fremont Peak: West Face Dihedral, first free ascent
Wyoming, Wind River Range
From July 16–24, Steve Richert, Blake McCord, and I—all Type 1 diabetics—spent time in the Titcomb Basin of the Wind River Range, hoping to establish first ascents and first free ascents. We packed in with horses to Island Lake, then shuttled loads by foot to a base camp below the west face of Fremont Peak. We spent the rest of the day eyeing the enormous wall with binoculars.
Over the next two days we tried to put up a new route, without success, on the westernmost flank of Fremont’s maze-like west face. The attempted route followed a beautiful dihedral and wide crack system, which led to a massive ridgeline where we eventually bailed. We found excellent rock and the climbing tended to be difficult. In all we put up seven pitches, with difficulties up to 5.11 A1+, and placed four bolts and one piton.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed by the magnitude of the west face, we opted for some fun days off, scaling small faces and long slabs. After a few days we set our sights on completing the first free ascent of the West Face Dihedral, established solo by Chris Landry (AAJ 1978). This follows a prominent left-leaning corner system left of the West Buttress (Beckey-Lahr-Martinson, AAJ 1977).
On the morning of July 23, Blake McCord and I started up the route. We found spectacular climbing that was marred only by some seepage. I onsighted the crux aid pitch, a dihedral split by a very thin seem that moved through two overhangs, the second of which was the crux. Blake and I both felt the grade to be solid 5.12. In all, we climbed about nine pitches—a first free ascent of a big wall by some crazy Type 1 Diabetics!
Matt Spohn