I am at the first belay in the white shirt. James...
Description
Another good route which can be done in 3 pitches or in 2.
Approach Stronghold dome via the standard trail. You will see a striking roof on the south end of the East face, perhaps 70 feet off of the ground. just left of this corner is a blunt bolted arete which leads up from the ground past he roof and then up to a standing rib of rack to the summit. P1a: 5.10c, 50'. Climb the left hand side of the arete past a line of bolts to an optional belay about 50' off of the ground. This is the hardest pitch of this route.
P1b: 5.9, 50'. Climb an offwidth flake from the right side of the arete up and left to cross the arete just blow a 2-bolt optional belay (same as P1a) and belay here (optional).
P2: 5.10a, 90'. Climb straight up past a few bolts, through a runout (or past a placement or two) and up left of the big roof and crack above that to reach a second 2-bolt belay below a small bulge.
P3: 5.8 90'. Step up and right off of the belay to reach a crack (gear) and ascend. If you are doing this route on bolts alone, you can step left to climb one of the two bolts at the belay of an adjacent route if you want to. Work up the wall for a short while, then cross left to reach the base of a rib of rack to your left, climbing onto it at the bottom and continuing up and left to a bolt before climbing to the final belay. This pitch is reasonably moderate, and moderately runout.
Descend via a contrived rappel to the East, or walk off North, then scramble East or walk West and then around the base of the south side and back to your starting point.
Protection
This route can be lead on bolts alone if you don't mind runouts, but taking a light rack will be more secure. If you want to do the OW option for P1, take a set of large cams.
A good line. I did the crack variation on P1. By looking at it, climbing the left side of the arete is contrived, especially considering the bolt placements. If you are not comfortable with long runouts, bring a set of nuts and a single set of cams. You can rap this route from the top of P3. Plenty of anchors for everyone, however there is an anchor in the middle equipped with maybe quarter inch chain (dog chain), avoid that one.
By Eric Ruljancich From: Tucson, AZ / Vancouver, BC Feb 21, 2009
I suggest linking the first two pitches together into one long, and really fun one as the belay at the first set of anchors is uncomfortable and one of the bolts a bit suspect. If you climb it without gear, it is going to feel very run out, a small rack will improve your experience. The 10c variation is contrived, better to climb the natural line of resistance on the right. There is a decent run out on the upper half, but the climbing is moderate. After the above described mid anchors, the next set of anchors you will find are rather manky, smarter to climb a bit farther to the better ones up and left.
The final pitch has some quality climbing, but you would definitely not want to do this climb without gear as there is only one bolt on the entire thing. Even with gear, there is a very scary runout section, where if you fell would land you in the bottom of the chimney resulting in very serious injury or death. The climbing is easy, but falling is not an option.
What is the steep and bolted line to the left of this?
By Eric Ruljancich From: Tucson, AZ / Vancouver, BC Nov 13, 2009
I believe that it is a Scott Ayers route that goes at 5.12 or so. Beware that this is 5.12 slab. We tried it during a warm day this spring, and got spanked. I suggest trying it is cooler temps if you want to keep at least a little rubber on your soles.
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