Only the Lonely

The Only the Lonely project was first envisioned by Strappo Hughes in the late '80s/early '90s. In classic South Platte ground up fashion, he and his partner started up

Wunsch's Dihedral

then found a sneaky traverse left to a perch on the arête of the southwest face of the Pinnacle. From this belay, they made it 4 bolts up the face but never returned to finish.

The route sat waiting for 15+ years until Cody and I decided to check it out in the fall of 2014. With the intent of taking the line to the top of the formation (200+ feet further than Strappo and partner got), we decided to meet the Platte ethics in the middle by rappelling in to determine if the line was worth bolting. The last thing we wanted to do was create a bolt ladder to nowhere on the Pinnacle. Though we never rehearsed the route, we were fairly confident that the line would go free.

We pulled the ropes and spent the next few weeks hanging on hooks, bolting our way up the route. Some people might argue that our style was not "pure," but the result was a route that was well thought out and still has that Platte character that we have come to love. No one else will ever get to have the experience we had hanging on teetering hooks pushing the route one bolt further, but I hope you all understand the adventure that we were seeking and trying to preserve in the Platte. The description below is how the route was finally freed:

P1 35m, 5.11d

: Climb the Breashear's Finger Crack, 5.11d, to the base of the awkward final 20 feet. Instead of climbing that section and traversing right to the cozy belay on

Wunsch's Dihedral

, follow flakes up and left to a final face traverse left (10- R) to a bolted stance on the arête of the west face of the Pinnacle.

Gear: bring a double set of finger cams/nuts and a couple hand pieces for the upper flakes.

P2, 20m 5.12

: This is an excellent pitch and a "good" warm-up for the crux pitch. Crimp your way up the rising traverse past 6 bolts to a small stance in the middle of the west face.

(Note that you can rap to the ground with a single 70m rope from this belay)

P3 42m, 5.13+

: The Mega Pitch! Crimp and tech your way past several 5.12 and 5.13 cruxes to a final crux on the upper headwall. Make sure to put a sling on bolt 6 before the cruxy traverse left fairly low on the pitch. 17(?) bolts.

Note: an 80m rope is required to lower off of this pitch.

P4 13m, 5.10

: Slab climb past lichen covered rock for 3 bolts to the belay beneath the final bolt ladder on

Wunsch's Dihedral

.

P5 15m, 12b

: Free climb the final bolt ladder on

Wunsch's Dihedral

.

Start in the main area as for

Wunsch's Dihedral

. The route is predominately on the West Face.

Bring

• a double set of finger cams, nuts, and a couple hand pieces to #2

• 80m rope (or two ropes),

• a belay seat or the Action Packer Belay Ledge! (see pic below)

• lots of quickdraws.