Marvelous Multiple Multipitches to the Chief Summit

Well, the title says it all! Initially, we only planned to climb the two multi-pitches Rambles and Diedre 5.8. As we did so, we met again a Canadian couple we chatted with some days before. When we topped out Diedre, it was still before noon and they told us they are going on with Boomstick Crack and The Butt Light 5.9. Well, we still felt fresh and thought “Why not?”, quickly exchanged topos and descriptions and did the same.

So, all in all we climbed 19 pitches that day (actually only 14 with combining some), all the way from the bottom of the Chief to the top of the first peak. And it was indeed marvelous! It was a great combination of routes. First lots of friction climbing, then an incredibly long corner you had to layback, followed by a stunning crack behind a huge, thin flake you were almost “walking” on, plus a steep wall traverse and even a chimney section!

The view from the Chief was also beautiful and we relaxed a bit in the sun on the summit. We also discovered a great natural “bath tub” formed by the creek close to the campground. There, we took a well-deserved, refreshing bath at the end of the day.