Thumb Peak at Night

I've been wanting to climb Thumb Peak at night for a few years now and the weather and moon aligned perfectly last night for a nearly flawless moonlight ascent of the Happy New Year route. We got on the rock at about 8:30 and the wall was illuminated by a brilliant moon. Cool temps, no wind and great nightscape views were enjoyed for the 3-hour adventure, this allowed ample time to soak in the scenery. This one will become a classic and I'll make sure it gets mentioned in the next guide book.

Headlamps were needed even with the bright moonlight, mostly to confirm the footholds as handholds were clearly visible and the bolts easy to follow. The crux was half way up the 4th pitch were some of the footholds were difficult to judge. We climbed trailing a second rope in order to avoid the high hanging belay and to get off in two raps. Our planning seemed flawless until we were standing on the ground again trying to pull the ropes which got caught just below the middle belay ledge. We left the ropes and retrieved them this morning.

Reclimbing the lower two pitches this morning was not any easier than I remembered them from last night when I climbed slower but made sure every move was in balance. It was great practice. Some locals spotted us up on the crag and alerted the local police who met us at the bottom of the crag to ask if we needed help. We told them we were practicing rescue technique as most rescues happen at night. They seemed to accept this and left us alone.

Lower night-time temps will make a nighttime ascent less attractive till the spring. We were not the first to climb Thumb Peak at night: it has been simlu-climbed and also by at least two teams in the buff.