Peak Climbed: Pingora Peak

Peak Height: 11,884'

Route: East Face, Left Side Cracks

Difficulty: 5.7+, 1400 ft

Location: Wind River Range, Wyoming

Trailhead: Big Sandy

Mileage & Gain: 2 mi & 1,600 ft RT from camp

Date Climbed: August 20, 2020

This phenomenal route would see a whole lot more traffic if it didn't live in the shadow of its more popular sibling, the Northeast Face - one of the Fifty Classic Climbs of North America. It is a couple hundred feet longer, and though not as sustained has a lot of great crack climbing including a fair amount of wide stuff. I hadn't planned on revisiting it on my recent trip to the Cirque with Marc, but we found ourselves with a day to spare and were thirsty for another long route.

When Dominic and I climbed this back in 2012 it gave us crack noobs a run for our money. I remember being exhausted by the time we topped out after 11 pitches. This time Marc and I climbed the 1400 foot face in 8 long pitches with a significant amount of simul-climbing on pitches three through five. My crack technique now much improved, the route felt casual and I still had some gas left in the tank by the end. We'd climbed the Northeast Face a few days earlier and that had required a bit more overall effort.

In stark contrast to our recent experience on the Northeast Face, we had the East Face completely to ourselves. Its character is very different than that of the Northeast Face, but I think it's just as enjoyable, maybe even more so.