"Plan B" (Mt. Guyot) 3/25/12

Plan B

After sampling conditions the day prior, Abe and I were chomping at the bit to climb our line on the south face of Mt Guyot (13370'). Another 5-ish start put us in the upper basin around 8 am. This meadow of spring snow below the sprawling south face cirque is now one of my favorite places on earth. But the recent spree of gorgeous days had destroyed our intended line. Midway up, a wall of ice barred a no-pro ascent and bailout option; and the top section was completely melted out. Two other lines on the face looked great, however. We labeled them Plan B and Plan C. Plan B went like a dream, 600' of pure bliss at a sustained 55-60 degrees. I would venture that the final 200' flirted with 65. This was an awesome alternative to our intended line--the feeling of being on a line like this is indescribable so I won't try. After summitting Mt Guyot, we descended the standard route and hiked out in a state of utter satisfaction.

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