Lost Tent, Gear, and Rope on Jagged

[Skimo95]

I’m sorry this happened to you Andrew. A few years ago on my first attempt I found some gear in Noname, after the cabin, and before the real route finding began. I was definitely the first person out there during the second week of June and can only think that something similar happened to them. I’m glad you’re safe and hopefully as a community we can learn from this and clear the gear out, as that’s such a special area-LNT is exceptionally important. I don’t blame you for the rap, that peak sucks to descend. I’m willing to go at it again solo, and pack out what I can as a hard push. Message me on IG and let me know what may be left out there, I won’t be on ropes but confident I can at least clean some stuff out before the first snow. All I ask is assistance with fuel from Denver to Beartown and back.

Alec

[Been_Jammin]

Bona fide epic! Glad you are ok... looking forward to the trip report.

[kempenjn]

Glad you're safe and recovering, Andrew. I'm sure this wasn't an easy post to make, I hope you are able to recover your rope.
Looking forward to reading your trip report after you gather your thoughts. I am not trying to pile on you, just want to point out a few things for anyone considering rappelling off Jagged.

The summit bolts are Star Dryvins, likely 3/8" (although they were manufactured in 1/4" as well!) They are a plated steel nail that is pounded into a lead sleeve. The hanger is a vertical stamped SMC stainless hanger (good!). This puts the installation date of the bolts around the mid-late 80s (unless someone was holding onto a stash of nails for a few years). On normal climbing routes, those are high on the priority list for replacement. They have very unpredictable tensile strength but generally do OK with shear loading, which is their typical loading on Jagged when rappelling off the top. When we climbed Jagged a few years ago, one of those hangers was loose, so potentially one (or both) of those bolts could be pulled out with minimal effort.

All this to say: do not rappel off a single anchor bolt if at all possible.

Use both bolts to make an extended rappel anchor with cord or webbing to get your masterpoint over the edge. This will make it much easier to pull your rope. In the configuration you had, even a larger diameter pull line would require extreme effort to pull because the main line is pinching the tagline against the rock. Plan to rap twice. A shorter rap means less friction / rope stretch to overcome when you do pull your rope. Plus, you can bring a shorter rope + tagline, as recommended by Evan at Kling Mtn Guides (now San Juan Expeditions).
If you choose to use a retrievable system like this, be aware of the danger presented by knot migration, there was a fatality recently in Norway due to this.

I will also echo the point made by others: have a plan to be able to ascend your rope in case of emergency.

[Jorts]

All excellent advice from kempe. Thanks for the insight on bolt ages and reputations.

[artemavovk]

I have your rope (the pink cord was cut in a few places and stuck somewhere way down, so I couldn't get it out) and I have a set of trekking poles from near the approach trail (around 13200ft, the handles are half eaten but probably replaceable), not sure if yours. I did not go through No Name basin so I don't have the rest of your stuff. DM me

[angry]

Now I'm wondering why climber 2 saw the rope (used the rope?) deemed it questionable in safety, but also left it there what's going on. How many people are going to rap and injure themselves before it gets removed?

The fact that another party noted it was questionable and still rapped off it is WILD! Climbing 101: never blindly trust an unknown fixed line or anchor in the alpine.

Andrew, I'm so sorry to hear about this incident and wish you a speedy recovery!

[alexhenes]

Some history on the bolts from Mountain Project - new as of 2025.

"On July 30, 2025, we replaced/ upgraded the four main front side anchors with beefy solid anchors all with rap rings or good big lockers. In doing that, we hauled close to 500’ of rope and tat off the mountain. This included a 60m climbing rope and 60m 4mm tag line that was stuck AF along with all sorts of other tat. If folks do try and improve anchors, that’s awesome. Please don’t just continue to add tat and not remove all the old garbage. It just creates a rats nest for somebody else to haul out. If folks don’t have the skills to execute a climb like Jagged in good style, consider hiring a guide.

Most climbers will enjoy three cams for the way up. The front side rappels can be done with a single 70m rope. I highly encourage knowing your rappel systems so it not to get ropes stuck.

Feel free to reach out @klingj if you need route beta."

[kempenjn]

The bolts and hangers are the same as the ones I saw in 2022, with the blue sling on them. You can vaguely make out the star and the vertical SMC stamp on the hanger. Those bolts and hangers have not been manufactured for many years. I took that update to mean that they replaced the cordage and lockers on the rap stations, but not the bolts. I messaged Josh to confirm.
Edit: Josh Kling told me they did NOT replace the summit bolts. They are the originals from the ~80s.

[Wildernessjane]

Definitely would also reiterate using both bolts or rap rings on rappel. This bolt ripped out of an anchor in Staunton on my friend recently when he was lowering/cleaning the route and hit him in the chest. For anyone reading this who is considering doing Jagged soon, we just brought a super lightweight alpine 30m rope and rapped a couple short sections so that is definitely another option. The down-climb was not bad at all and beats carrying a 60-70m rope all that way. Bring extra webbing just in case. @OP glad you are going to be okay.

[9patrickmurphy]

I hesitate to post this reply as it might seem a bit off-topic, but as the conversation has slightly shifted towards how to descend Jagged safely, I’ll again throw out my recommendation for not bringing a rope at all and just downclimbing Jagged.

In my experience, Jagged’s cruxes were just as easy if not easier to downclimb than to upclimb. Rappelling often adds time and complexity, and is not necessarily safer unless the person setting up the rappel absolutely know what they are doing. There are many mountains worth bringing a rope for a rappel (Coxcomb, Fifteen, Dallas) but in my opinion Jagged is not one of them.

For my two cents on getting up and down Jagged, check out my conditions update and trip report.

[Kiefer]

I hesitate to post this reply as it might seem a bit off-topic, but as the conversation has slightly shifted towards how to descend Jagged safely, I’ll again throw out my recommendation for not bringing a rope at all and just downclimbing Jagged.

In my experience, Jagged’s cruxes were just as easy if not easier to downclimb than to upclimb. Rappelling often adds time and complexity, and is not necessarily safer unless the person setting up the rappel absolutely know what they are doing. There are many mountains worth bringing a rope for a rappel (Coxcomb, Fifteen, Dallas) but in my opinion Jagged is not one of them.

For my two cents on getting up and down Jagged, check out my conditions update and trip report.

100% agree. We brought a rope & light gear when I did it, never used it. We never saw the need as, what Patrick said, the cruxes were easily down-climbable.
Plus, there'd be some sharp angles on the rope on really coarse rock.

[Wildernessjane]

Everyone is going to have a very different comfort level and skill set with respect to down-climbing 5.easy (not to mention it would be a really different experience for someone who is 5’2 versus 6’0). I did this peak over 10 years ago so it’s possible I would just solo it now. Regardless, I would never encourage random people I don’t know on the internet to just solo it. In my opinion, lacking the technical skills to do something should not be THE reason to solo it.