The FA Buttress sits unfavorably beneath the towering Bridge
Mountain, and is encumbered with a wide base and no obvious,
soaring lines. It appears squat and barely more than a few
pitches tall, if you would bother at all. This is not good.
Classic routes in my book will both look and feel like five
star climbs.
But let's return to Frigid Air, a route that does not stick
to the rules of esthetics. It is a great route. Far longer
than it looks. We counted 10 pitches. There's a bunch of distinct
sections, spanning the gamut from chimneys over OW to a quite
remarkable finger crack up there near the top. And so on.
All the required ingredients for a fine day is what you'll
find.
And here's the true attraction: The route is pristine. Herbst
et al placed one manky bolt on the FA, but you won't see it
unless you know where it is, and you don't need it. So, besides
that detail (and the anchor on top of pitch one) there's nothing
fixed up there. Beautiful adventure without modern conveniences.
As Larry Hamilton, first ascensionist, wrote in a recent post
on a climbing forum:
'I'm pleased to hear that the Frigid Air Buttress has aged
with grace'
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