New free climbs on Merriam Peak and Fish Tale Spire in Sierra Nevada, USA

Japhy Dhungana, originally of Nepal, and American mountain guide Zach Lovell have been busy in the Sierra Nevada this month where they completed two interesting alpine climbs. The first, on Merriam Peak (3,993m), is the first free ascent of Dr. Bear Love, a 400m climb established in 2012 by Luke Stefurak and Casey Zak with the use of some points of aid. Dhungana and Lovell managed to free the line at 7c+ entirely on gear. No bolts were added.

Writing on his social media handle, Zach explained "Freeing the route came down to 2 pitches with short, stout cruxes on decent stone. We first spent a day cleaning and, after maybe a dozen attempts, freeing these cruxes and buffing out some of the flaky granite on the upper cracks. After a rest day, we sent the route from the ground on a perfect Sierra day with zero thunderstorms, swinging leads n’ going team free. Grading hard free climbing in the alpine feels a bit like guesswork, but we’re thinking the crux pitch lands around 13a (7c+), followed immediately by a pitch of around 12c (7b+). As is the nature of beta refinement and stylistic differences, perhaps others will find these grades accurate or maybe even friendly for the grade, especially compared to more sustained routes of similar difficulty. We’d highly recommend this route to anyone wanting a very palatable entry to alpine 13… you’re likely to have this one all to yourself."

On the same trip, Dhungana and Lovell made the first ascent on a brand new spire in the same region as Merriam Peak. The pair named the formation Fish Tale Spire (3850m) and the route Fish You Were Here (7a+, 200m). Once again, this went entirely on gear, with no bolts being placed.

Writing to planetmountain after their 9-day trip, Lovell concluded "Merriam Peak holds multiple classic climbs, including some from Peter Croft. While Dr. Bear Love is the first harder route on the formation, there's more potential for additional lines and we hope this route draws more first ascensionists to the peak."

 

 

 

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