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| Kelso Ridge Bliss (with video!) |
With zero percent chance of precipitation, and balmy temperatures predicted, I decided to go up to Torreys and solo Kelso Ridge. I could not have made a better decision! I put my headphones on, tuned into Jurassic 5, and started cruising at about 10:30. I know, not an alpine start, but remember, zero percent chance of storms and a good view of anything that would be coming up on me while I was on the ridge. There were a few other parties out there, but aside from the group of kids in running shorts and shoes that turned around after getting a taste of Kelso after about 200 feet, I was completely alone on the ridge...and it felt great.
Everything about this route is fantastic, and I was just "feeling it" the whole day. I've climbed steeper and more exposed things in my life (e.g. the Casual Route on the Diamond), but usually I get a little nervous without a rope. However, I never felt gripped during the whole ridge. I actually strolled along the top of what I thought was the knife edge traverse. While it wasn't the knife edge, it was still a good sign for me. However, I also realized that exposure and climbing skills are not always the norm, and that the route might be technical for people with less experience with either of those things.
I put my crampons on prematurely, so I had to harness my mixed ice climbing skills for the knife edge. They were rusty to say the least as I haven't ice climbed for months now. However, it helped having a familiarity with how crampons function on rock and how to best utilize different parts of them.
In the video I'm posting, you'll notice that I intentionally chose rock over snow sometimes and that likely put me off route, and vise versa. I was just having fun and didn't really care too much about the rest of it. Also, you'll notice I nudge some rocks a few times, but I was generally quite careful not to knock rocks down into Dead Dog Couloir. I knew that there wasn't anyone down there, but you never can be sure and I'd hate to ruin a great day snow climbing. Although, at that time of day it was likely just slush climbing.
Well, enjoy the video. http://youtu.be/EvuLYJk6psk
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