Lew Miller
SW Rib - South Early Winter Spire- July 13th, 2007
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| In what continues to be a very productive climbing
season for Lew Miller, he teamed up with Larry for a climb of
the SW rib of SEWS on July 13th. It should be noted that this
was a Friday. It would be anything but a normal day in the mountains. |
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| Here is a photo of the peak, with the
route highlighted in red. This 9 pitch climb is rated
a moderate 5.8, though has several challenging sections
with tricky routefinding and some fairly serious runouts.
Unfortunately, the skies were not quite this clear when
Larry and Lew began. |
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| The forecast was for a 30% chance of
thunderstorms, mainly after 2 PM. With an early start,
the climbers thought they could be up and down before
any weather hit. Here is Lew at the second belay at about
9:30. |
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| Making good time on the route, the pair
couldn't help but notice dark skies to the west, though
not approaching too rapidly. Several pitches higher, Lew
belays Larry out on the 4th pitch. |
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| Here Lew follow the famous "nervous
pitch". This pitch involves a slightly dynamic lunge
for a small tree with lots of air under your feet. |
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| As Lew tops out on the pitch, the dark
clouds continue to get closer. |
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| Next comes the "bearhug pitch".
Here a climber must work their way up twin 5" cracks
usually dealt with something that looks similar to a bearhug.
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| As Lew tops out on this pitch the storm
front begins picking up speed and the thunder begins.... |
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| After racing up the last few pitches
and witnessing several nearby lightning strikes, we skipped
the summit and began to rappel into a nearby coulior to
get off of the ridgecrest. After rappelling to a much
safer location, we descended the peak in a steady downpour.
Arriving back at the start of the route, fairly drenched,
Lew smiles as we prepare for the hike out. The time is
only 12:15. |
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| While the weather threat kept us moving
quickly all day, we took advantage of being done so early
with a quick sidetrip to the overlook at Washington Pass.
A fellow sightseer took this shot of Lew and Larry with
the Liberty Bell massif in the background. |
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