Cloudveil Dome

Route:

Armed Robbery

5.9, 8p

A great crowdless full-day alpine climbing objective in the Tetons.

Region: Wyoming

Elev: 12,026 ft

Rock type: Gneiss

Type:

Date(s): July 21, 2023 (Fri)

Partner(s): Erin Houlihan

Related trip reports:

Cloudveil Dome on Grand Traverse (12 summits, up to 5.8, 18 miles)

Intro

This was my second trip to the Tetons this summer. In early July I had climbed for four days in the Tetons with my sister Jenny. It was a great time with my sister and I was reminded of how much I love the Tetons. Plus, Jackson Hole is an easy place to find places to work remotely (so I can work a bit around the edges) and there is plenty of easy free camping in the area if you know where to look. I returned two weeks later, not batting an eye at the eight-hour drive from Estes Park to Jackson Hole. This time I climbed with Erin, a newfound and equally-psyched climbing partner from Boulder. Erin and I climbed for four days. I drove up after work on Tuesday, worked remotely out of the Jackson Hole library and explored town on Wednesday while Erin drove up, and climbed with Erin on Thursday to Sunday. We climbed Guide's Wall (5.8+to 5.10, 6p) on Storm Point (Thursday), Armed Robbery (5.9, 8p) on Cloudveil Dome (Friday), Dihedral of Horrors (5.9, 4-6p) on Omega Buttress (Saturday), and Caveat Emptor (5.10, 6p) on Cathedral Buttress (Sunday). It was great to have a partner on the same page— i.e. a rest day just means a sligtly shorter route with a slightly shorter approach. I drove back to Estes Park on Monday, after putting in a full day working remotely from the library and Whole Foods in Jackson Hole. What a stellar four days of climbing!

This page gives a trip report for Armed Robbery (5.9, 8p) on Cloudveil Dome. Cloudveil Dome is just one of the high points on the long east ridge of the South Teton leading on to Nez Pierce Peak. The towering south face is a great climbing objective for escaping the crowds and climbing steep high-quality alpine rock. The two most popular (popular being relative since the long approach means these routes are not climbed often) routes on the towering south face are Armed Robbery (5.9, 8p) and Silver Lining (5.10, 9p). We decided to climb Armed Robbery, the slightly more moderate of the two adventures. This route is 5.8 in the Ortenburger guidebook but 5.9 on mountainproject. Erin and I found that the route had several sustained and stout 5.8 sections and tricky moves, so we would agree with the 5.9 rating to the route. Erin and I had a great time climbing Armed Robbery. The rock is surprisingly solid for a rarely-traveled route, the climbing is fairly sustained and interesting, and the setting is spectacular. Cloudveil Dome has a fairly long and involved approach, so this is a pretty big day. It took us just over 15 hours car-to-car. It was a beautiful storm-less warm summer day in the Tetons. Erin and I revelled in the opportunity to spend an entire day out in the mountains!

The following page gives a route overlay, time stats, and photos from our climb.

Time Stats

Times

Leave trailhead: 4:35 am
Arrive at col east of Cloudveil: 8:31 am
Leave col to begin descent to base of south face: 8:49 am
Arrive at base of route: 9:27 am
Start climbing: 9:47 am
Arrive on summit: 3:37 pm
Begin descent down East Ridge (4th): 3:50 pm
Arrive at col east of Cloudveil: 4:18 pm
Leave col to begin hiking back to trailhead: 4:36 pm
Arrive at trailhead: 7:59 pm

Splits

Trailhead to col east of Cloudveil: 3:56
Col to base of route: 0:38
Climb route: 5:50
Descend East Ridge (4th) to col: 0:28
Descend from col to trailhead: 3:23
Car-to-car: 15 hours 24 minutes

Approach

2nd-4th

The Garnet Canyon approach it typically used for this climb. Take the Garnet Canyon trail from upper Lupine Meadows trailhead. Proceed west past the Meadows in Garnet Canyon and into the south fork, heading to the col just east of Cloudveil Dome. Extra gear can be left at the col because the descent returns down the east ridge to this point. From the col, drop down to the south and look for the red dike rock gully with much loose rock. Climb down into the gully until it is possible to scramble around and onto the broad bench at the base of the south face of Cloudveil Dome. This route proceeds roughly directly up the south face towards the summit from the bench. From what we could determine, the route starts 50-100 feet left of the large left rising ledge (Matthews Ramp).

Pitch 1

5.6

For Pitch 1, the Ortenburger guidebook says: "The first pitch rom the bench procceeds up a wall (5.6) west of a left-facing corner to a belay ledge." We had a picture from mountainproject of the first pitch, so we started at what was shown in the mountainproject photo, but I feel that this was not the first pitch since it dumped us off too far to the left of the second pitch. From what we could determine, the route starts 50-100 feet left of the large left rising ledge (Matthews Ramp).

Pitch 7

5.8

At the top of the crack system the upper of the two ramps that cut across the face will be intersected. A quick escape can be made onto easier gound generally following this ramp up and to the west. Or continue up for a couple of more pitches.

We chose to continue up. There was no beta on which way was correct (Ortenburger guidebook: "The first ascent party continued more or less straight up for three pitches, finishing close to the summit."). So we just followed our noses. And nailed it! (Although it took us only two pitches instead of three.) For our first of the two final pitches, we climbed cracks to the base of a long dihedral in brown rock.

Comments Pertaining to this Page / Trip Report

Useful beta. Updated route information. Corrections. Historical notes. Interesting facts. No fluff please.