Wheeler Crest action
Over the last month or so (early 2022) the Wheeler Crest has seen a flurry of winter climbing action. Much of this has been spearheaded by Richard Shore, who may be the the current expert on climbs in this area. He and Joel Kaufmann put up Scottish Astronauts on the Rocketship a few years ago, and an extension/variation to this route was one of the first things to go down this season. In late January Tad McCrea, Jack Cramer, and myself hiked in to have a look at the route. On the first ascent of that route Richard and Joel bypassed a not-quite-fully-formed ice strip with some cool looking wide climbing on the third pitch. Richard had shared a photo of the strip looking much longer this year, and Tad had spied more ice above the top of the Rocketship. Tad climbing the snow blobs, as viewed from inside pitch 1. Photo by Jack Cramer. The route got off to an interesting start. Instead of the moderate mixed climbing the first ascentionists experienced on pitch 1, we found a tricky squee