Grace and I climbed the ultra-popular South Face route on La Petit Grepon yesterday (5.8, 8P, Grade III). Having seen Ava and Josh's trip report, and with an enthusiastic recommendation from Jason, it didn't seem like we could go wrong.
We left Denver at 02:30, and were hiking by 04:20. A bit of photo stutter and shenanigans figuring out exactly which spire was La Petit, conspired to make us start the route a bit late: 08:30. For all practical purposes, we had the route to ourselves (one other party, far ahead).
We ran the climb in six pitches, but made no speed records. It started to hail and thunder just as I was building a belay at the top of the 5th (our 4th) pitch (~12:00). It stopped shortly, and we decided to press on to the top (should have bailed). Shortly after Grace began our final (6th) pitch the weather worsened, and she did a fine job of leading through the hail and gusting 30-40 mph winds. It should have been a super fun pitch, steep and jugy. However, at the time I was just happy for the bucket holds because my hands were so numb I wouldn't have been able to feel or grip anything smaller!
We descended the bolted rappel route back to Sky Pond. Six very nice double rope rappels see you straight to the ground without hassle. The description on Mountain Project is spot-on except for one thing: the 2nd rappel is only about 110', not 160'.
Overall, an awesome route that deserves it's high reputation. Very steep climbing for the grade. Super solid rock. A spectacular location!
Lesson learned: Don't underestimate those afternoon thunderstorms! We lucked out, and experienced only relatively benign ones yesterday. Things might have been different. Bail if the weather starts to turn. If you intend to start at dawn and get delayed, maybe it's time to lounge at the lake or climb something smaller instead of pressing on.
Lesson learned: Don't underestimate those afternoon thunderstorms! We lucked out, and experienced only relatively benign ones yesterday. Things might have been different. Bail if the weather starts to turn. If you intend to start at dawn and get delayed, maybe it's time to lounge at the lake or climb something smaller instead of pressing on.
Gear notes: steel micro-nuts and C3s are useful in sections that might otherwise be quite run out, particularly on the final two pitches. Otherwise a standard rack to 3".
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