So, I've been on a light and fast kick (or in my case light and slow), and since I just got back from a slack vacation and am slightly on the pneumonia end of a sickness, I figured I'd get in my spring (hmm... July 7th) ascent of Mt. Olympus via the normal route.
The Normal route for me (I decided today for standardized purposes) starts in the parking lot of Dan's Market on Wasatch at 3900 South (Barbacoa to be exact), head down Wasatch Blvd, up to the West Slabs via the Exum Rap route, then via the North Ridge to the Saddle, through the saddle to the Summit, touch the mail box and then descend via the trail to Wasatch, and finally back to Dan's Market.
I only took two pictures today, but I'll add some old ones. I started a good alpine start of about 8:00am and past 6 people (they where on their way down, not up) who gave me funny looks. One guy even said 'solo?' and all I responded with was yes, before passing by.
One of the humorous things about this trip was that I've been living at about 11000ft for the last 2 weeks so you'd think I had strong lungs. Well, today I was at my aerobic threshold, or slightly over it all the way up. Dumb, so much for acclimatization. This however doesn't mean I was setting any speed records, just breathing a lot.
The other fun (after the fact) part of the trip was I found a friend just off the top of the West slabs waiting for me, who was very quiet. See photo.
Here are the stats.
Water: 2.5 liters
Gu: 6 1 oz packets (used 4)
Climbing shoes
wind coat
patagonia base layer long sleve
running shorts
Merril's version of the Minimus running shoes
Car to car: 5 hours 12 minutes 20 seconds
Hopefully I will cut off a good hour of this time at the end of the season, or maybe Andy will cut it in half. I think the key to reducing the time is getting the in between route down. The section between the top of the Slabs to the Summit is always the slowest and most difficult to navigate, with a little work this could be much faster.
