Lew Miller - Spontaneity Arete
Le Petit Cheval, Washington Pass- June 1st, 2007
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| After joining Larry two weeks ago for a climb
of Prime Rib (of Goat), on Goat Wall, Lew Miller decided to
come back and get up into the mountains for a climb. With the
strong high pressure and high temps, they chose a route with
minimal snow on the approach to avoid postholing. They decided
on the classic 5.7 Spontaneity Arete on the Petit Cheval formation
just off of highway 20. The pair was joined by NCMG's newest
guide, Katherine Bill, who wanted to tag along and check out
the route. |
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The route takes the obvious ridge in the center of
the photo. After beginning with 2 pitches of 5.7 climbing,
it is then followed by several hundred feet of 3rd and
4th class, seen here as the vegetated section. The ridge
then kicks up steeply and continues for 5 more pitches
to the summit.
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| It was one of those sunny perfect days
in the mountains - T-shirt weather almost all day. Here
Katherine gains the ridge after the 3rd class section. |
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| While Le Petit Cheval is one of the smaller
formations in the area, it offers one of the longer mid
fifth class route with outstanding position and scenery. |
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| This photo, taken several pitches up
the upper portion of the ridge, shows the character of
the upper pitches as well as the 3rd class scramble section. |
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| One of the best pitches involves about
70' of exposed finger crack. Here Lew makes the last few
moves to the slab above the crack. |
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| Lew mantling up from the finger crack,
before the slab moves to the belay. |
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| Several pitches higher is an incredible
layback pitch. Here Lew works on his technique just before
finishing the pitch. |
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| Is that a smile or a pained look of anguish?
I'd bet on the former. |
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| Once on top of the peak, an awesome view
of Silver Star and the Wine Spires pops into view. Katherine
took this shot of Lew and Larry on the summit. |
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| Looking back, we couldn't pass up this
summit shot of Katherine. All in all, another fine day
in the mountains.... |
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