The quotes in the headline are on purpose, and intend more than to merely reference someone else’s words. This is a first ascent with a HUGE asterisk. Not to detract from Dave Goldstein’s accomplishment (and general ingenuity), but having a drone drape the rope over the rock which they would then Jumar up seems to slightly lessen the ascent part of “first ascent.”
That being said, there is no way we would make it to the top of that rock without similarly jerry-rigging an ascent, so who are we to say anything? Thus, congratulations to Dave and his crew on topping out on Peak 9854.
The backstory as Climbing so succinctly wrote: “Goldstein, from Boulder, has been a serious technical climber for more than 35 years…. Last June, he and a friend, Laura Zaruba, were climbing north of Pagosa Springs and decided to check out Peak 9,854, a summit that had eluded legendary Colorado peakbagger Mike Garratt, who’d described the tower as unclimbable and dangerous.”
Without a more conventional ascent available, Dave decided a bow and arrow approach might work. So he scrambled up a rock about 30 feet away and attempted to shoot a line over Peak 9,854. But that didn’t work either. The next route? Drone. And as you’ll see in the video above, that particular strategy worked.
Whatever your thoughts on the accomplishment, it would be unquestionably cool to take in that view.
Read the entire story on Climbing.com. And examine the trip report over at 14ers.com.
