Thor Peak (6x)

Stemwinder

Courtney Pursell
Rick Kent

7/14/06

Courtney Pursell and I did Stemwinder on Thor Peak last Friday. It was a fun and fairly short route with a few tricky spots. I had been intrigued by this route for some time. From a distance it seems impossible that there's an easy route on this face, but surprisingly there is.

We started up the trail around 4am and two hours later we were at the base of the route below the SE face. The start of the route can be found by looking for a fairly prominent dead tree above the large ledge below the face. Around this point you head up a ledge to the left until you reach the bottom of a small chimney. This is the crux. Secor describes this as a 5.4 chimney. Maybe I was a bit intimidated by this move but it felt a bit harder. The difficulty however is limited to just the first 12 feet or so. There is a piton near the base of the chimney. Because of the awkward nature of this move you'll likely want a short length of rope and a belay (use the piton). We used a 30m 8mm rope which was more than long enough. The move is rather exposed and the holds leave you feeling a bit vulnerable. One problem I had was that I was not able to sink in a piece of protection where I wanted to because it was all I could do to hold on. Thus I ended up doing the whole chimney while being clipped in to little more than the piton at the bottom. I did place a single piece but it was near the bottom and not much higher than the piton.

Above the chimney I climbed up higher in search of something I could use to build an anchor. This proved a little challenging. There was a rock in the chimney a little further up that seemed suitable, but I was concerned it could pull loose so I ended up using some cams in a crack a bit outside and above the chimney. I then belayed Courtney up.

After a short bit of class 3 we hit a class 4 section up some exposed and crumbly granite. Since there didn't appear any wear here there was probably another way around this. We got about 20 feet up it when we realized it was harder than it looked. Since the granite was crumbly we pulled out the rope and protected the next 20 to 30 feet. From then on it was easy class 3 up to the the pale red pillar that Secor mentions.

At this point the route continues up and to the left over a steep and exposed slab. We roped up here but I don't think I would bother next time. I didn't bother placing any protection.

Above the exposed ledge it's just easy class 3 until you reach the upper plateau. On the plateau Mike Schasch who I had met a couple times within the past few weeks showed up and joined us on the way to the summit.

Back at the Portal we relaxed and feasted on burgers at the store. We talked with Doug and some hikers for quite some time. One fellow had just completed the JMT and was trying to find someone who would help him get back home since he hadn't arranged for return transportation.  We had a little fun with him on the way down the trail. He was in a hurry to get to the Portal so after talking with him for a bit he rushed on ahead. He was a bit surprised when he got to the Portal only to find us already there (we had taken the old trail shortcut on the way down). Heh, I kinda feel like Bob R. now.

Notes

The climbing was all easy stuff except for 2 or 3 spots.  The chimney is the crux.  It's rather awkward and you'll likely want a short rope here (along with harness and belay device) to at least hook you into the piton so you don't go falling all the way off the face.  We both wore rock shoes but except for the chimney I don't think they were necessary.  I brought about 4 cams and 6 nuts but for the chimney I didn't really use any of these except for building an anchor.  In addition to 2 or 3 cams I used a locking biner and cordalette to equalize the anchor.  There was a class 4 section a little further up that was probably avoidable.  We used 1 or 2 pieces of pro there.  At the steep exposed slab behind the pale red pinnacle we roped up but I don't recall using any pieces here.  I used two slings (and a locking biner) around a rock above this section to set up an anchor.

Gear

30m 8mm rope
Harness
ATC XP Belay Device (the XP works great for thin ropes)
Boots & Rock Shoes (might be able to get by without the rock shoes)
4 or 5 cams (various sizes)
half set of stoppers
4 slings (two 24 inch, two 48 inch) with biners
webbing (didn't use any)
1 or 2 locking biners (useful when building anchors)

Time

9 hours