Route In Focus

Irene's Arête::Grade III  5.8 to 5.10-

Irene's Arête is a classic route on an elegant rocky spine directly above the Meadows of Garnet Canyon. Steep, solid rock and asthetic line entice many to climb this route. Several variations meander alongside the original line; enough to find new rock to climb even on one's third ascent. These numerous variations necessitated a few trips to capture the photographic anatomy of Irene's Arête found in the Teton Rock Climbs CD-ROM.

The Tetons are a place that will reward good route-finding skills. The information in this CD-ROM guide facilitates route-finding by providing pictures and text of the approach, on-route and descent aspects of every route. More complicated route-finding demands many pictures and text to detail these tricky trails. Irene's Arête has snubbed many parties with its not-so-straightforward approach to the technical rock, thus Teton Rock Climbs provides a complete visual aid for the approach, as well as the route and descent (see photo).

Climbing Irene's a couple times with a camera was a pleasure, and now, without having to think about "work," it's even more fun. The first time up the arête was not particularly cold, but very windy. The wind in the Tetons can pack a punch on the exposed ridges and arêtes, and this was one of those days. What started as a calm morning turned volatile by 11:00 am.

The rope felt like it weighed forty pounds from the drag created by the wind, and the knife-edge on top was not a place to scramble off-rope that day. When the wind around rock features sounds like a rippling plastic grocery bag, you know what climbing in the wind feels like. Pictures seldom catch the effects of wind, and thus encourage the selective memory needed reinforce the alpinist's motto: Total commitment and a short memory!

Photographing the Arête the second time felt much more leisurely, but still went by way too fast. The left-side variations were the focus, and the climbing there is fantastic. A variation of third pitch, a left-facing dihedral with a hand crack (5.10-), crosses the original line and continues straight up a finger-and-stemming dihedral (5.9) to gain the knife-edge directly. It doesn't get much better than this.

Sometime previously I had taken the overview pictures of the Arête from high on the far side of the canyon. These solitary hikes often lead to my discovery of other lesser-known places with good looking rock; this day took me to a close-up view of the relatively obscure Chief Joseph Buttress route on Nez Perce. I haven't ventured back yet, maybe later this year...

Aaron Gams