Horizontal Thought Movement

Overview

The 2nd major arete (from the left) on the North face of Mt. Langley.

FA Ben Cohen and Nate Ricklin September 6, 2009



From the AAJ Online:

"I’d been eyeballing this line on the 1,500′ north face of Mt. Langley for about a year, since I noticed that Rest and Be Thankful, the north arête route put up by Alois Smrz and Miguel Carmona 10 years ago, was the only route on the face.

I had begun to feel like summer was slipping away. My friends Shay Har-Noy and Luke Stefurak had been up to the face the previous weekend trying to scoop “my” line, but luckily (for me) they failed, climbing a detached tower that led nowhere and which they called the Unstoppable Tango Tower. With some idea of where not to go, I found a willing partner. My buddy Ben Cohen had never been in the High Sierra, never climbed an alpine route, never been to 14,000′, and never simul-climbed, but I knew he’d be solid.

Our route starts at the base of the sweeping arête that curves down from the summit, to the right of Rest and be Thankful. Four vertical pitches, including a wide crack, zig-zagging through blocky towers, and a hand crack through a small roof, lead to the arête’s most prominent feature, a huge horizontal jog. Easy climbing along the arête soon leads to a huge open book, which we climbed directly with a tricky face exit to the left. A few more pitches of easy fifth lead to the summit. We topped out on September 6, 10 years to the day after Alois and Miguel completed Rest and be Thankful, and descended the northeast couloir straight to our basecamp.

We named the route Horizontal Thought Movement (5.8), a mash-up between a Franklin Merrell-Wolff book chapter and the big horizontal jog on the route."

Getting There

From Lone Pine, go west on Whitney Portal road, take a left on Horseshoe Meadows then a right on Granite View. Veer right before the great space center and go as far as you can.

Hike to the stonehouse then cut back left up the south fork of Tuttle Creek. Find and follow a well marked trail past the keyhole wall, then cross the creek to the south side. Follow cairns and finally push straight up a narrow gully with water coming down on the right side. This is possibly the last water you'll see, and a good bivy spot.

Continue up the drainage, then go straight up talus and scree to the toe of the ridge.

Route Description

Pitch 1: At the toe of the 2nd major ridge of the North face, climb straight up the right side of a v-crack which becomes an easy fist crack. Belay on a ledge at the base of a left facing corner.

Pitch 2: Climb the arete around to the right and up skipping the corner. Climb up a crack on the right side of a flake, then down the left side, then make a face move or two left to gain a hand crack and go up — belay at a left-facing corner with a large flake leaning against the wall.

Pitch 3: Go up the corner and gain a hand crack which pulls through a small roof (5.8ish). Go up easy climbing until you hit a thin arete with a drop off on either side. Follow a short way along the arete and belay on some blocks.

Pitch 4: Traverse left around the face and simul climb up until rope drag stops you.

Pitch 5 & 6: (simul) Traverse along the horizontal ridge, head up an easy low-angle chimney/gully that tabletops on a sandy ledge.

Pitch 7: (simul) simul climb forever and then downclimb about 20 ft into a small notch at the base of another small headwall.

Pitch 8: Either climb the headwall or traverse around it, try not to fall into the gulley below

Pitch 9: (simul) simul climb forever and belay at the base of a huge steep corner, visible from far below.

Pitch 10: Climb the long 5.8ish corner. At the top either move left onto the face or undercling overhanging blocks to exit. (may need to simul a bit)

Pitch 11: (simul) Simul climb along the ridge forever.

Pitch 12: Continue simuling or unrope and climb up to the summit on more solid rock.

Essential Gear

Standard alpine rack.

Descent Information

Descend scree forever down the north-east gully.

External Links

Trip report
HERE

Images

View Horizontal Thought Movement Image Gallery - 6 Images