DSC03327 Photo courtesy Bill Bushnell

Mammoth Trip, 2026

September 11

Climbing



Frank in the crack.



Foot jams were difficult In the deep crack that narrowed in the depths because there was no room to twist the knee out. At the top of the tall section of crack was a seedy bush in the way, and there the crack narrowed down. This was one of the cruxes, and I fell out, losing a couple of meters. Jo talked me through the rest of the route.

It was slow and tedious, some traversing out of the crack, then back in and up, then a rather tricky traverse to another crack. The traverse involved a wide but shallow crescent shaped crimp that cut into the fingers that I had to match on. From there a big reach to the right crack, but I could not get in high and deep enough to be able to stick it, and after hanging a while restarted from a maybe more advantageous position. -F.