14ers.com • Trip Report - Vestal Peak via Wham Ridge from Molas TH

Peak:	Vestal Pk - 13,864 feet
Post Date:	07/06/2012	Modified: 11/20/2012
Date Climbed:	07/02/2012
Posted By:	strudolyubov

Vestal Peak via Wham Ridge from Molas TH
Route: Wham Ridge of Vestal Peak from Molas TH Date: 07-02-2012 Trip Duration: Day trip, 14 hours car-to-car Trip Length: 20.2 mi RT Climbers: strudolyubov Route Map Early morning sun on Arrow and Vestal Peaks. View from Colorado Trail. View accross beaver ponds before turning off into Vestal Creek drainage Elk Creek Crossing Vestal (right) and Trinity Peaks as seen from the meadows in the lower Vestal Basin Looking up the boulder and scree slope providing access to the base of Wham Ridge. Wham Ridge from boulder field between Arrow and Vestal Peaks. The direct start variation of Wham Ridge route. Looking back at the direct start variation. Ascending low angle slabs on the lower Wham. Lower portion of Wham Ridge, looking towards Trinity Peaks. Looking down at Vestal Lake. Middle section of the ridge: view towards Arrow Peak. The upper portion of the crack providing easy access to the upper steeper section of the ridge. Nice solid rock. Looking down from the ledge above the wide crack. Vestal Lake is seen in the upper right corner. Arrow Peak View from the ledge below the crux pitch. Looking up the steeper section of the ridge. Cloud shadows on Arrow Peak. Approaching the crux section. The crux. Can you see the "fixed" nut in the crack? "Fixed" pro. Looking down the crux section. A nice crack and a corner above the crux pitch. Looking down the corner. Approaching the summit. View from false summit. Summit view towards Needles. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
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Comments or Questions (11)

Mountain	Awesome! 2012-09-29 08:47:32 Did you use climbing gear, or free climb it? Excellent climb and picture report! You got some SWEET views of the area.
strudolyubov	Re: Awesome! 2012-07-06 19:32:22 Mountain_Ninja: Thanks! I free soloed it. Wham is a stellar route on a solid rock. Most of the route is on low angle friction slabs and easy cracks with good ledges. The crux part goes at YDS Class 5.4
Chinook	Awesome! 2012-07-06 20:51:00 Way to climb a classic route on a long approach in one day. Incredible!
JA_son27	Nice! 2012-07-06 20:54:17 Awesome pictures and amazing day trip! Animal!
forbins_mtn	wow! 2012-07-06 21:34:50 way to be, man. this just got added to my ”to do” list!
HuskyRunner	Way to go! 2012-07-07 09:18:39 Nice pics, hoping to do Wham sometime this summer.
crazymarmot	Congrats ! 2012-07-07 19:12:14 Big props on this route. Stellar pictures ! Way to go free soloing it as well!. Getting ready to do Vestal and Arrow in 3 weeks !
jesse	Unreal 2012-07-09 02:54:36 I didn't think a day trip to climb wham ridge was possible... what an amazing free solo you're tougher than me I'm bringing the rope.
Monster5	Classic 2012-07-10 09:59:04 Way to day trip and solo the Wham. Plenty of nice shots.
Marmot72	Swweeet! 2012-07-10 21:52:22 Wham has been on my brain since last June...way to go and thanks for posting! One question: did it look like you could bypass the crux to the right along the edge of the face?
strudolyubov	Re: 2012-07-11 13:45:22 Everyone: Thanks for your comments! Marmot72: The edge of the face to the right from the standard way looked ok, just not sure about the grade (it might be actually harder than the face, but with less exposure). If you are going to use a rope, cracks on the face protect better.

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