Dihedral of Horrors 

A good route with one classic, but somewhat loose, pitch. Recommended for those comfortable at the grade and those looking for a little adventure and exposure.

We opted for the 5.7R start. You definitely want to be comfortable on 5.7 slab, as a fall would be very bad. Alternately you can scramble up an easy crack just right of the slab. Both of these starts get you up to a 5.6 move and onto a dirty ledge.

After climbing the 5.7 slab I continued up for about 150 feet over loose terrain aiming for the obvious tree on an obvious ledge (up and left). This pitch was >200ft and required a little simulclimbing.

We started the next pitch about 30 feet left of the big tree. Not sure if this was the right way to go, but it worked out. Some easy climbing, one 5.9 stem move, more easy climbing, and a traverse right led to the base of the big, intimidating dihedral.

We did the next pitches differently then described above. We did one long (140 ft?) pitch up the dihedral and out the right side of the roof. We set a belay here in a spectacular position on a great stance with good gear. A short 5.6 pitch finished the climb.

We chose this pitch breakdown to minimize the chance of the rope getting stuck in the 5.6 pitch (it has happened) and because the belay stance is just so fricken' cool. Highly recommended! This does create a very long and sustained pitch, so be sure to bring lots of slings. For this belay, I placed a #3 Camalot, green Alien, and larger nut.

This dihedral pitch does have classic moves, great exposure, and generally good gear - but the rock isn't consistently solid and this adds to seriousness of this pitch. You definitely want to be comfortable on 5.9 in the Tetons.

I suspect this route has cleaned up over the years, which makes me understand why the first ascensionists called this the "Dihedral of Horrors" - I can only imagine how loose it was 30 years ago!

Gear: nuts, 2 sets of cams from TCUs to a #3 Camalots. Lots of slings. Two ropes required for the rappel.

Great photos Andy! Dihedral is such a spectacular route. I've never done the pitches the way you've described, but I've heard that it's the way to go. Plus, I hate the semi-hanging belay after the first crux!

We broke up the pitches much like Andy, where the crux included the full dihedral plus roof traverse. This combined was one of the most exhilarating pitches I've ever done, anywhere. Massive exposure and hero moves below the roof, with a hugely exposed but comfortable belay position on the prow. We climbed on half ropes which was mandatory for reducing drag.

Great route. The guide book suggests going up a gully left of the Ships Prow start. Do the slab start same as Ships Prow (5.7R) but angle left to the ledge. 60m ropes get you there fine and then you can scramble 20ft to the start tree.

The real start from the tree is in the dihedral to the right, going straight up is harder with not as good gear as angling left. There is a nice belay ledge to belay from at the base of the big dihedral.

From there a long pitch finishing with a mantle move onto a 1.5ft ledge with a fixed tricam for the start of an anchor, will set you up for a great 5.6 traverse under the roof. I belayed just over the roof to manage rope drag and sent my follower over the top to hip belay me for the last 15ft.

Most loose rock is gone and this climb is classic!

One double rope rappel will get you on a grassy ledge for the descent. Don't rap into the next gully.