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MT. TIEDEMANN

The Combatant-Tiedemann-Asperity Wall. The summits from left to right are Combatant (3756m), Tiedemann (3848m), Asperity (3716m), and Serra Five (3642m). Routes shown are as follows.
1 Perseverance (VI 5.10c A2/3, 1000m, Cusick-Kearney, 2000)
2 Belligerence (VI 5.11 A3+, 1200m, Child-Collum-Mascioli, 1994)
3 Southwest Bartizans (V 5.10 M4, 1400m, Condon-Edwards, 2002)
4 Southwest Buttress of Tiedemann (V 5.8 50?, 1450m, Collum-Gherson, 1983)
5 South Pillar of Tiedemann (VI 5.10+ WI3, 1400m, Green-Richardson, 2000)
6 South Face of Tiedemann (IV/V 5.7 A1 45?, 1400m, Herchmer-Serl-Wittmayer, 1976)
7 South Buttress Integrale (VI 5.10 A1, 1600m, Diedrich-Nelson-Ruch, 1988)
8 Southwest Ridge of Asperity (VI 5.9 A1 WI3, 1400m, Hesleden-Richardson, 1997) [Photo] Jia Condon

Guy Edwards and I flew into Combatant Col in late August. Our initial attempt on Waddington was thwarted by warm temperatures, but the day was saved with a romp up the ultra-classic Skywalk Buttress (5.10) on Mt. Combatant. We then packed for a go at a 1400-meter unclimbed ridge on Mt. Tiedemann. With light bivy gear, a stove, and a little food, we headed down to Tiedemann Glacier at 4 a.m. Negotiating exposed slopes and avoiding crevasses, we wove our way up a steep snow/ice slope and traversed onto some loose rock. Our boots, tools and crampons were stuffed away as we started a long stretch of running belays until the rock steepened. The climbing here was 5.10ish. For speed, and due to their teetering nature, we bypassed two prominent towers on this ridge. One short rappel shortly after the second tower, followed by three easy pitches, brought us to a great spot to hunker down for the evening. At this point we joined an existing route that came up a couloir to the right of the ridge. Warm temps, no wind, and endless snow to melt allowed us to sleep soundly for five whole hours.

The first pitch of loose rock the next morning was a rude awakening, but it did bring us to better climbing and eventually a snowfield that led to steeper ground. Four more fun mixed pitches and some scrambling brought us to the summit by 3 p.m. We downclimbed the north ridge to the Chaos Glacier, the warm temperatures making our crampons ball up and the descent tedious. From the Chaos, we negotiated a few crevasses to gain the north face of Mt. Combatant, which was approximately 400 meters of fifty-degree alpine ice and took little time. We descended 700 meters to reach our base camp by 11 p.m., having climbed Southwest Bartizans (V 5.10 M4, 1400m).


— Jia Condon, Canada