Before the school year begins anew, Seattle
teacher Sean Baughn took to the alpine rock of WA Pass for the
first time with an ascent of the SW Rib of South Early Winters
Spire. The route has become popular, and for good reason, it
has some great climbing. The increased traffic over the years
has cleaned the rock nicely and for the number of pitches (roughly
6 or 7), it is one of the longest on the west side of the massif.
Here is a view of the first two pitches with two climbers
on the start. The 5.8 crack on the second pitch is deemed
"classic" by Fred Beckey - and he's right!
Sean pulls into the first belay -one
of many spacious belays on the route.
Sean exiting the exciting slab ("nervous
5.6") of the third pitch. This is one pitch any climber
will be very focused on.
The fourth belay station as seen from
the South Arete.
Cruising on the mellow, but fun fourth
pitch.
Exiting into the gully below the summit.
Those last forty feet are fun!
Aside from awesome views after a fun
climb, Sean gets to enjoy down-climbing almost all of
another route, the South Arete - a two'fer of sorts.
