The Diamond
The trip report on this page represents the 7th and 14th times I have climbed the Diamond.
I cannot seem to get enough of this amazing alpine wall of granite, and I keep wanting to come back. I have put together a "Diamond Beta Page" summarizing the main methods of approach and descent as well as summarizing/comparing the time stats of the various approaches and descents I have taken. Check it out by clicking the link above.
1.
D1 Pitches 1-4 (5.11, 4p)Date: August 24, 2019 (Sat)Trip Report #: 363Partner: Nate Arganbright2.
D1 (Full route to top)Date: August 11, 2020 (Tue)Trip Report #: 445Partner: Nate ArganbrightRoute: D1 (5.12a, 7p)
D1 is one of the longest (and most adventurous) routes on the Diamond. The first route put up on the Diamond, it snatched a status as a Fifty Classic.
Table of Contents for this page
Route Overlay
Intro
D1 climbs the long crack system straight up the middle of the Diamond.
This route has a lot of historical significance. D1 was the first route put up on the 1000-foot vertical walls of The Diamond on Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. An interesting tidbit of history is that climbing was banned on The Diamond until 1960, when for some reason the National Park Service decided to change their stance and allow climbing. Soon afterward, on August 1-3, 1960, Dave Rearick and Bob Kamps made the first successful ascent of the Diamond, via a long crack system straight up the middle of the wall. The route became known simply as D1.
D1 saw its first free ascent in 1978, by John Bachar and Billy Westbay. But Bachar and Westbay did not quite climb the original line at the crux pitch. Thinking the route line was obvious, the two had not read the route description, and when they reached Table Ledge, they continued straight up the crack system, a dark, mossy, overhanging offwidth running with icy water. This terrifying crux pitch of the route clocked in at 5.11. Rearick and Kamps' original line had actually ascended an excellent (and dry) corner/crack just left of this nightmare offwidth. In 1980, Roger Briggs and Jeff Achey made the first free ascent of the original line. The rating was given 12a.
D1 is listed as one of the climbs in Steck and Roper's Fifty Classic Climbs of North America, published in 1979. Now there are numerous other routes on the Diamond, many of them considered to be of higher quality than D1. D1 has the reputation of being a difficult and adventurous route on rock with frequent vegetation and sections of questionable quality. But its historic status coupled with the fact that D1 is one of the longest routes on the wall (going all the way to the top rim rather than stopping at Table Ledge as several routes do) makes D1 is a respectable tick. I suspect that most climbers who succeed in getting to the top of D1 feel greatly satisfied with the adventure yet feel no immediate desire to climb the route again.
Trip Report #1: D1 Pitches 1-4 (August 2019)
(first time attempting D1)
Intro
Nate and I knew we were headed up into a challenge when we started up D1. It was one of the few <=5.12a routes on the Diamond Nate had not climbed, and I am always up for adventure, so we were willing to give it a go. We ended up climbing the first four (of seven total) pitches before deciding that we had enough difficult adventure climbing for the day. Doubtless the slightly overhanging kitty litter sections of Pitch 4, the half dozen bail anchors on this pitch alone, and the presence of a bolted rap station at the top of Pitch 4—kind of a subtle "here's your free ticket out"—played a key role in the decision to bail. I was impressed with Nate's lead on this pitch.
Usually I do not create trip reports for uncompleted climbs, but I feel that for a route like D1, even climbing four of the seven pitches ends up feeling like a full-value adventure on the Diamond. Plus, D1 is a route with a lot of intrigue, so I figure this trip report will be of interest to climbers trying to gather beta for the route. Moreover, someday I will climb the route in its entirety, so I will be back to fill in the details in this trip report once I do climb the rest of the route.
The following page gives a trip report for our climb of the first four of seven pitches of D1. Nate and I called the day's adventure "D 0.6".
Time Stats
Photos
Trip Report #2: D1 Full Route (August 2020)
(second time attempting D1 - all the way to the top this time!)
Intro
Once Nate and I had made the decision to climb D1 in August 2019, and had rappelled at the top of Pitch 4, it was only a matter of time before we attempted D1 again to complete the adventure we started. And we did so just shy of a year later, in August 2020. I think Nate and I would both agree that we enjoyed the adventure of the route, are glad we completed it, but feel no immediate desire to climb the route again.
The following page gives a trip report for our successful climb of D1. Thanks Nate for being an excellent partner for this adventure.
