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Date: 9/6 - 9/7
Team: Jason Halladay, Daniel Trugman
Route: Casual Route, 5.10a
Rack: One 60m rope, set of Stoppers, set of C3s, double set of BD cams to a #3 Camalot
All photos were taken my by good friend and climbing partner Jason Halladay, who also happens to be an awesome photographer.
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I knew I'd be back. After climbing the Diamond for the first time, it was not a question of if but when I would return. But while climbing Pervertical Sanctuary two months ago was one of the most exhausting days of my life, climbing the Casual Route felt, well, almost casual. Don't get me wrong, the Casual Route is all of 5.10a, at altitude and in the cold and whatnot, but when you compare it to the other routes on the Diamond, the name makes a lot of sense. It is amazing that there is a route as moderate as 5.10a up a wall as steep and unforgiving as the Diamond. Perhaps that's why the Casual Route is one of finest routes I've ever done. The climbing is clean and engaging without being too desperate, and the setting is surreal.
Apparently, other people share these sentiments. The Casual Route is becoming extremely popular, so much so that queues commonly form at the base of the first pitch. Getting stuck behind a slow party is unpleasant, but it can be flat out dangerous if the weather turns sour. And the thing about climbing on the Diamond is that you never can tell if the weather is closing in. The Diamond faces pretty much east, and weather usually blows in from the west. You don't know that weather is coming until it's on top of you.
With that in mind, Jason and I planned our weeklong trip to Colorado with the goal of climbing the Diamond during the week. We would spend the notoriously busy Labor Day weekend climbing in the incredible Black Canyon of the Gunnison (no crowds there...), drive to Estes and bivy under the Diamond on Monday with the hopes of climbing the Diamond on Tuesday.
Our drive from the Black Canyon campground to Rocky Mountain National Park was greatly slowed by Labor Day traffic, and we finally started our hike up to the Mills Glacier at 4:20pm on Monday.
First look at the Diamond
The Diamond and Chasm Lake
The hike only took a little over two hours though, so we arrived at our bivy at a reasonable hour.
Our bivy site, "The Hilton"
It was extremely cold and windy in the basin, and despite wearing all the clothes I'd brought, I was still very cold. I was comforted, however, by the fact that the Diamond would get early morning sun. East-facing walls rule!
Since we didn't really want to solo the North Chimney in the dark, we left our bivy the next morning at 6:05am.
Sunrise
We made a slight route-finding error in the North Chimney by climbing the slabs on the right side, but it worked out ok.
"Exploring" the slabby right side of the North Chimney
Looking up the North Chimney
The true crux of North Chimney, which kind of spooked me last time, felt easy this time. If you don't want to solo this section, it's no big deal: you can simul climb or set up a belay for it. It takes good gear.
We were the first party at Broadway, but were soon joined by another party intent on climbing Ariana, a 5.11d/5.12a on the left side of the Diamond, adjacent to Pervertical Sanctuary. They were really cool, laid-back guys, up for their sixth climb on the Diamond this season. After teasing us about our route finding in the North Chimney, they wished us luck and headed over to Ariana.
Broadway
Jason and I then drew stones for who would lead first. I picked the correct hand (i.e., the one with the rock in it), so I was obliged to take the first lead. I therefore headed up the long first pitch, which is about 5.5 or so.
Looking up the Diamond from Broadway
Jason quickly followed and cruised up a short 5.9 crack. I was a bit concerned about this pitch after getting schooled on some "5.9" pitches in the Black, but was relieved when the climbing felt easy and secure for the grade.
Me following Pitch 2
It was now my lead, a really cool 5.7 traversing pitch on great face holds. This pitch has a reputation for being dangerous, but I found 3 solid pins and 3 more gear placements in 100 feet. Not bad at all.
Starting the 100 foot traverse of P3
Jason joined me at the belay and waltzed up a long 5.8 pitch, with a little bit of chimney action at the beginning. Unfortunately, his belay stance was in the shade, so this pitch was the last time we would see the sun until the summit.
I consider my next lead, pitch 5, to be the "money pitch" of the route. 195 feet of sustained 5.8 jamming and stemming, all with great gear. If this pitch were in Eldorado Canyon or somewhere similar, lines would form at the base of it, much like they do on the Bastille Crack. Anyway, my fingers were cold but I felt solid, trying to climb as quickly as possible to keep warm.
Starting up the awesome Pitch 5
Despite going nearly 60m, I didn't reach the Yellow Wall Bivy Ledge belay, so Jason led a short pitch to a stance a few feet above YWBL. We hoped that by doing this, I would reach a good stance above the squeeze chimney on the crux pitch, and be able to pull up the pack with our climbing rope (we didn't bring a tag line). This plan didn't work, but it was worth a shot.
Anyway, it was my lead, and time for the "business pitch", the crux.
Looking up the crux pitch
After a bit of 5.9 fingercrack action, I reached the base of the squeeze chimney. Wide cracks are not exactly my forte, and the layer of ice covering the good footholds was not helping matters either. I told myself to focus, that I didn't need those footholds (it was a chimney after all!), and after some general thrutching and some choice swear words, I emerged from the squeeze chimney, face-to-face with the 5.10a crux. My fingers were pretty numb at this point, but there were just enough footholds that I was able to crank through the moves to the belay at Table Ledge. Though I was psyched to have sent the crux pitch, my belay was too high to pull up Jason's pack with our only rope. Fortunately, Jason is a badass climber and smoothly followed the crux pitch, with the pack on. For the squeeze, he clipped the pack to a sling attached to his harness, which he reports "worked pretty well".
"Chilling" on the right side of Table Ledge
Jason led one last 5.8 traversing pitch to the friendlier left side of Table Ledge and I eagerly followed, hoping that sun would be just around the corner. As I followed, Jason chatted with the party that climbed Ariana (they were starting the D7 rappels down the Diamond).
Apparently it was frigid over on the left side of the Diamond as well, convincing them that Diamond season was officially over.
Traversing to the wider left side of Table Ledge
Jason quickly coiled the rope and we headed into Upper Kieners, which was much friendlier than last time, not to mention sunny! When George and I climbed Pervertical two months ago, we stayed too far left in Upper Kieners and encountered serious fifth class terrain. This time, Jason and I found the correct way (go right!), and it was cruiser third class climbing to the summit (arrival time, around 1:40pm)
We lounged on the summit for a while, enjoying the sun and the beautiful weather.
Jason and I on the summit
Finally, we decided it was time to head down, using the standard technical descent: the North Face rappels followed by a scramble down Camel gulley. When we reached the eyebolts on the North Face, a party of four was already setting up their rappel, and they graciously offered to let us use their ropes. We cruised back to our bivy, packed up, and hiked out to the trailhead, reaching the car at 5:40pm.
I've now climbed the Diamond twice, and hope to return many more times. It's my favorite place to climb, period. Hopefully next summer I'll be a stronger, better climber, and will be ready to explore other routes on the Diamond. It's all uphill from here.
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
This is a very well written report, Daniel. We sure nailed the weather too--not a cloud in the sky. Thanks for the outing, it was amazing. And while I'm very stoked to have finally climbed this route, I'm blown away that Roger Briggs was doing FAs on this wall in 1976 at the age of 17; two years younger than you are now. Astonishing, really.
Climbing the squeeze chimney on the crux pitch with the day pack hanging below me from my belay loop worked out great. Better than dealing with a second rope to haul the day pack up.
Way to pull it off in September. I would almost be afraid to do it when ice is starting to form on the enduro pitch in Sept. Great job. The crux is mega sweet!
what a summer, Daniel! you guys are making me very envious. There's not many people who'd call this route casual and not be joking, but you guys are 2 of them!
Awesome work! Great write-up, Daniel, and great camera work, Jason. You guys make it look so easy. Mere mortals like us can only dream of pulling of this route with such ease. Congrats on a great climb!
Perhaps I should reemphasize that the route was not casual for me (I worked pretty hard for the crux pitch) but it is casual compared to the hard-person routes on the Diamond.
Scott! Good to hear from you. Definitely put this climb on your to-do list. Thanks for letting me borrow those Yosemite books from you. I'll put them to good use this year. If you need them back soon, let me know.
And Andy, enough of this ”mere mortals like us” crap. You and Sarah are way strong, and could totally climb a route like this is you trained for it.
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