The third pitch starts with a tricky slabby traverse right into a scoop. In this photo, the climber is in the scoop. According to the Kelsey topo, the standard belay would be at the ledge to the left of the scoop, which makes the traverse slightly down and right from the belay. But it is also possible the belay might be lower and that the traverse is more up and right. The traverse seemed harder than 5.6, partly because the leader faces a swing back into the corner. It is possible to set a cam high after the traverse to prevent the follower from facing too large of a swing. After the tricky traverse to the scoop, the pitch finishes easily up broken rock.

All Locations > Wyoming > Wind River Range > Deep Lake Area > Haystack Mountain > Minor Dihedral (5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a)

The third pitch starts with a tricky slabby traverse right into a scoop. In this photo, the climber is in the scoop. According to the Kelsey topo, the standard belay would be at the ledge to the left of the scoop, which makes the traverse slightly down and right from the belay. But it is also possible the belay might be lower and that the traverse is more up and right. The traverse seemed harder than 5.6, partly because the leader faces a swing back into the corner. It is possible to set a cam high after the traverse to prevent the follower from facing too large of a swing. After the tricky traverse to the scoop, the pitch finishes easily up broken rock.

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North tower looking from the west. The obvious slanting dihedral is Major Dihedral. Minor is in a less obvious dihedral system to the right.

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Steph Abegg

Sep 1, 2016

“The third pitch starts with a tricky slabby traverse right into a scoop. In this photo, the climber is in the scoop. According to the Kelsey topo, the standard belay would be at the ledge to the left of the scoop, which makes the traverse slightly down and right from the belay. But it is also possible the belay might be lower and that the traverse is more up and right. The traverse seemed harder than 5.6, partly because the leader faces a swing back into the corner. It is possible to set a cam high after the traverse to prevent the follower from facing too large of a swing. After the tricky traverse to the scoop, the pitch finishes easily up broken rock.”

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Route Overlay Minor Dihedral and Grassy Goat Trail descent

The left-sloping ramp of the second half of Pitch 2.

Prerna D. on the last few feet of our 2nd pitch (before the traverse into the "scoop"). Great view of the Cirque of the Towers behind!

Pitch 5. This is the money pitch of the route, ascending the large dihedral. It is a long pitch, about 180-200 feet depending on where you put the final belay (a couple of ledges to choose from).

A good look of the dihedrals--the right dihedral is minor, the left is major.

Final pitch to the summit, Clear Lake in the background

Zoomed in on the two distinct dihedrals on Haystack. The Major Dihedral route goes up the left dihedral and the Minor Dihedral route goes up the right dihedral. The dihedral pitch of either route is 5.9 climbing.

Red line shows how we climbed the route - numbers show where we belayed. The traverse into the scoop could be done a few ways (see comment).

Pitch 7. Some moves seemed more like low-5th to me, even though the route description said "4th.". I would say most parties would want to stay roped up for at least 100 feet after the end of Pitch 6.

Pitch 4. Above the ceiling is a nice crack to a ledge below the upper dihedral.

From this belay you can see the Cirque of the Towers in the background and Clear Lake (lower left) and Big Sandy Lake (middle left)

Looking down the dihedral at the top of our pitch 5. Carson in a pretty sweet spot on the hill at this point.

18 year old Carson Ambrose on top of Minor Dihedral July 31st 2019. Not a bad view of Temple Peak!

Second pitch after the first dihedral (P5 in the description)

Looking down the long main dihedral pitches 7-8.

Pitch 6. Continue up the crack and corner system.

Climbers on Pitch 1. This pitch ascends a 130-foot right-facing corner, whose crux is an 8-foot discontinuity passed by delicate footwork. In the photo Karl is at the crux of the route. I was able to get in a bomber cam (I think it was the metolius equivalent of a #1 BD) about a body-length below the crux, and a marginal black alien just a bit higher than this. The distance above the last piece of gear makes this crux both a mental and technical crux.

Looking down Pitch 3 (after the 5.6 traverse) from the top of the belay. Carson on top of pitch 2 belaying me. Hope it helps.

Where's waldo? He's up in the dihedral after a long traverse in from the right.

Evan at the end of P1. P2 starts with a foot traverse directly right from here and continues up the adjacent right-facing corner.

Pitch 4. This pitch starts off my ascending a left-facing corner to a ceiling.

The route we took according to the description. This photo was taken from Clear Lake, which I think may be more useful than the other topo here taken from further south

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