3 Diamonds in a Day

Never climbed the Diamond before and you're going to do 3 routes your first time up there? Too funny. Nobody's faulting you for being ambitious and having challenging goals, but you may want to get a grip on reality. Stricker's got solid advice as usual, take it.

Screw the haters. Climb one route, if you have time climb another, if you have time after that climb a third. If you don't make it at least you'll have something to come back to. My buddy Blake is big into link ups and has run out of time on several of them only to come back and crush another day. I'd say get D7 first. Pervitical is pretty strait forward and might be a good end route when your mind is fried great gear. Good luck!

Good post, Kevin. I'd listen to what he is saying, jmeizis.

I call dibs on your rack when you get zapped!

... seriously, go up and do one route first to see what your getting in to.

JLP wrote: Now you guys are starting to sound like a bunch of jealous little pussies. Climbing history is full of stories of jumping in the deep end. I say go for it and be sure to post a nice little follow up TR for us to back up all this wanking.

I'm just now starting to sound like a jealous little pussy? I had you fooled for a while.

When I was growing up the importance of being below treeline before noon was drilled into my head. I think climbing doesn't always afford that opportunity, but having that as a goal is never a bad idea. How many people have died in the mountains this year already because of bad judgement? A dozen?

JML said Now you guys are starting to sound like a bunch of jealous little pussies. Climbing history is full of stories of jumping in the deep end. I say go for it and be sure to post a nice little follow up TR for us to back up all this wanking.

x2

Bite off more than you can chew dude, you'll get more than everyone else.

I've gotten away with stuff too, but that's not a good reason to tell someone else to put themselves in a dangerous position. I'm sure the OP has enough experience with high altitude weather to know when to back off.

It is just hard to take all this spray seriously. You are clipped into a death triangle and justifying it as a quick fix here

Hanging out on Super Guy. . There are lots of things that you can usually get away with...until that day comes that your luck doesn't see you through.

Bailing is casual when the weather is fine and there is plenty of daylight left. It is not as casual if you are in a thunderstorm or snowstorm, you don't know where the raps are, it is getting dark, etc.

I'd hate to see climbing on the Diamond get regulated because people are getting hurt or rescued because they are overconfident. Not saying this would happen, but in my opinion there are way too many people "just going for it" on the Diamond. Having an "epic" is all the rage. Usually it works out fine...until it doesn't.

jmeizis -

I second all the comments RE go for it and get in over your head. Sound advice. But a couple of comments:

The Diamond is nothing like any other wall in the park. Elevation-wise, the base is higher than the summits of the other walls and you will feel this, both in the temps and in the thinness of the air. You will be in the shade for most of the day. Wear a base layer under your climbing pants, for sure.

The crux of D7 is definitely 5.11+, but it's thin cracks and face climbing, so the altitude has less effect. If you haven't been spending your summer at 13,000' plus, you may have more trouble on the wider cracks of Pervertical, which use bigger muscles and hence more oxygen.

You are definitely really late in the season for your effort - for any Diamond ascent, really.

One problem with your plan is that there's no real commitment, and hence bailing will be all too easy. Three Diamond routes is kind of a contrived goal, and dude, in all honesty, if you've never climbed the face, and climb at the level you describe, you DO NOT have a prayer and will probably realize this after one route, resulting in a pretty lame day (relative to your aspirations). That being the case, how can you really get in over your head and get what you deserve up there?

My suggestion: link Directagonal (an awesome, challenging, and LONG route) on the lower east face to either complete Yellow Wall or the Casual with the Yellow Wall finish. Check out a photo of the face: it's a much prouder line than a triple yo-yo up the left edge of the Diamond, you spare yourself the ordeal of North Chimney, you'll have much better luck with crowds, and you won't spend half your daylight descending those not-as-simple-as-they-sound raps. Plus, you'll be way more committed for most of the adventure, increasing your chances of pushing beyond your current level.

Good luck, whatever fool thing you do up there!

Ahhh let the chest pounding ensue.

Listen to Achey...

Rob -

Mmmm, that did kinda come off that way, didn't it. Just trying to help the kid. At least I didn't say, "Back in the day ..."

And really, let's keep it in perspective: that part of the Diamond is just about the same height as Redgarden Wall. It's not like it's Washington Column or Half Dome or something.

No Jeff, I wasn't refering to you with the chest pounding comment. Some of the other posters. I think you gave some good sound advice!

cheers!

Since Pat Vernon spoke, I will too.

If you've never been to the Diamond...

Let me tell you, there is no lying to it, or yourself. Especially, once your on Broadway.

Only the beautiful truth, you, and a big rock.

Giv'r.

Just curious. How often has the triple Diamond routes been done?

Is this something that happens every year by some unknown bad asses or is this an elite accomplishment.

I can recall off the top of my head that it has been done by a few individuals. Tommy C. & Tophure D. and also also Derek Hersey.

Is this something that is being done on a regular basis?

JLP wrote: Now you guys are starting to sound like a bunch of jealous little pussies.

You got that right! I am stuck at home with a 3 month old dreaming of climbing the big D just so I can get in a bivy and a good nights sleep!

Linking Directagional into any route on the Diamond is an awesome day. The rock on the Lower East face is amazing white featured granite. All the anchors are bomber and you are sure to have the face to yourself as everyone else goes for the glory up on the Diamond. I don't think I would want that to me by warm-up for my first time on the wall but what the hell you only live once right?

Well that was a long day of work, now back to this. Yeah, the goal is a little contrived but from a logistical standpoint it seems much easier than say the "Quadruple Lindy". It's climb, rap, climb, rap, climb, rap in it's most basic form. More climbing than hiking which is what I'd rather do. That being said D7 sounds like it's not just at the edge of my ability but a fair bit outside of it. More of a goal in and of itself. Time to do some list editing. I'll point out that if I was overconfident, I wouldn't have posed the question I would have just gone for it. Lack of confidence doesn't put one in a mindset that yields success, quite the opposite I find. Overconfidence is equally bad in the consequence of blinding one to anything that could result in failure. Balance is important.

It's been pretty obvious to me from the moment that the idea popped into my head that I really won't have a clue, even with all the beta in the world until I get there. I have a feeling it will go fairly conservatively. Probably climb one, if that goes well and conditions are favorable, do another. I'm willing to give it up without hesitation. Even if I did one route and decided to not do anything else I'd still be psyched, it being my first time on the Diamond and all. My ambitions are high but I'm easily consoled with less.

The idea of Directagonal into the Diamond is growing on me. A true linking of faces, not just routes, it sounds fun but it seems like kind of a harsh warmup. Is Crack of Delight kind of a let down route in terms of getting to the Diamond? I'm just thinking that to be psyched on Directagonal I'd want to not be freezing. I'm guessing the sun doesn't hit that part of the face till pretty late on after the rest of the Diamond.

We'll see what happens. Maybe I'll try for two or link something easy on the Lower E. Face. Any other good grade IV/V linkups people recommend. I need all the grade IV's and bigger I can get.

Directissima on the Chasm View Wall to the raps, cross Broadway and climb the Casual. Definitely an easier linkup than the full East Face.
Also, something on Spearhead to Birds of Fire on Chiefshead would be a good one. You can rap BOF at any point

Cool idea, good luck!

Though we hadn't been planning on trying it, I found myself in a position to go for a triple diamond day a few weeks back. We'd already done Yellow Wall and Ariana, and were sitting back on Broadway with splitter skies and tons of light left. We tossed around the idea of simuling the Casual route, but in the end decided that beer in town sounded better.

It was not so much the climbing, we were psyched about that, but the raps. My friend had never been on the Diamond before, and he brought a 70m lead line and a 70m skinny tag line. An awesome setup for some outings, but the Diamond raps are mostly ~40m, so pulling all that extra skinny cord hurt our weak little hands.
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Anyways, I thing everything in the Park is super weather-dependent. If you had a whole day of stable weather, 15-20 pitches isn't an absurd amount, you wouldn't even need an early start.

If there's a fast moving midday thunderstorm, you could hunker down for a minute on Broadway, in that cave by Yellow wall, and just wait it out before continuing your climb. The problem with that, though, is that the Diamond is east facing and would take a while to dry out if it actually got wet.
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So, here's a few other RMNP linkups that might be fun, if you're not that psyched on tons of rappels, and cold wet east facing rock:

The Chasm lake tour:
Grey Pillar-Casual Route-Directissima-Ship of Fools

Spires-a-plenty:
The Foil, Saber, Petit Grepon, Sharkstooth, (descend Andrews glacier side), and the Zowie.

The Twin Peaks:
The Complete East Face of Long's (something like Crack of delight-Casual-Forrest Finish), descend the Trough, then The complete East Ridge of Chiefshead (Climb anything on Spearhead, maybe the Barb, and then continue along the ridge all the way to the Cheifshead summit.) For this one I think you'd descend to the looker's right of the NE face back into Glacier Gorge, and then run out of the gorge and try to catch a bus/hitchhike back to the Long's trailhead.

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Climb Safe!

I almost forgot the most important element of any big day in the Park (or anywhere): the beer stash!

To quote the Great Derek Hersey (via Hank Caylor), we need to have those cold ones "jess' waitn' for us".

mountainproject.com/v/derek…

Okay, another classic MP thread! All those routes are supremely bailable so who cares? Don't make it? Come down. Try again. You will need two ropes anyway.
The diamond aint no big deal if you get the weather. Shit, from broadway to table ledge is barely eldo sized. I think yer plan is perfect and easier than the directagonal link up. Just pull through D7 if u need, sometimes big days need different tactics. Your biggest problem will be if u get stuck behind some snailers(TM) on a route (probably some cautious cathy from this very thread) but yer plan to get up and off the casual early will be the best defense against that. Also, don't do it on a weekend.

Good luck. Hopefully you are not even reading this any more and are just getting psyched!