Wasatch Strong Woman Challenge – West Slabs of Olympus and South Ridge of Superior

June 17th, 2014

Ski mountaineering brings together so many disciplines of mountain sports. You have to have the endurance of an ultra-runner, the mountain sense of a seasoned mountaineer, the technical skills of an ice and rock climber, and the power and precision of a ski racer. Last summer, I worked hard on my fitness and endurance. This summer, my goal is to become a competent rock climber. I’ve been a climber for most of my life, but this summer, I’m working hard to become confident on the sharp end on all types of rock, but especially leading trad. I spent much of May climbing sandstone desert towers around Moab. Lately, I’ve been climbing quartzite in Big Cottonwood, granite in Little Cottonwood and limestone at Hellgate.

Overall, I love climbing! And I love the challenge of placing gear and leading. But sometimes, it can feel so tedious. I love the feeling of moving fast in the mountains. So this past Saturday, I decided to take a break from ropes and do two of the longer alpine climbs in the Wasatch, back to back. All told, it’s over 6,000′ of elevation gain, and around 2,000′ of fifth class terrain. It was a great physical and mental challenge, and I enjoyed doing both these classic routes in one day.

Approaching the West Slabs of Mt. Olympus with Alex Taran. She is a fellow pro skier here in the Wasatch and also the founder of the South American Beacon Project, whose goal is to bring free avalanche education to South American communities. I’ve always been inspired by her projects, and it was great to climb the West Slabs with her.

Continuing up the trail.

I decided to bring a 30 m section of rope just in case we wanted to use it. Better to have it and not need it, than vice versa.

Beginning the scramble up the gully to the base of the West Slabs.

The beginning of the route.

The rock quality is really superb!

Every since I first moved to Salt Lake, I wanted to climb the West Slabs. It was my second time on the route and it’s even more awesome than I remember.

Taking a little break to check out the views.

Continuing the scramble. There are so many different ways you can climb the West Slabs – it’s fun to pick your own adventure.

The views of the city are spectacular.

And then downclimbing… I downclimbed the ridge next to the gully West of the Slabs. I chose to stay on the rock ridge instead of the gully because the gully is full of loose choss, there were other parties rappeling on it, and it’s a pretty moderate downclimb. After the West Slabs, I went and grabbed some lunch, had a drink of water and went right up to the South Ridge of Superior.

Walking by the Gas-X on the approach to the South Ridge of Superior. According to the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT)’s website, “UDOT is making efforts to move away from the use of military artillery for avalanche control. New Gas-X exploder systems have been installed at known avalanche sites.”