Elizabeth shopping for holds on the ultra classic ...
Description
A beautiful granite canyon nestled between Mount Tom & the Wheeler Crest. Most of the routes are concentrated in Sheelite Canyon, a side canyon that feeds into Pine Creek, but routes are also cropping up elsewhere, especially up canyon. The best season is late spring until the weather craps out in the late fall. Summer conditions are especially pleasant, as most routes are in the shade and a cool breeze often fans the canyon.
The canyon has a long history, with classics such as 'Pratt’s Crack' and 'Sheila' dating back to the 1970's. In the early 1990's, with the boom of sport climbing in the area, Tommy Herbert added what is arguably one of the proudest 5.13a's in the country with his seldom repeated masterpiece, 'Ecstasy', a 100 foot laser-cut aręte.
The prolific and industrious Louie Anderson almost single-handedly turned Pine Creek Canyon into a sport crag with his development of the Ministry Wall (a dense concentration of quality 5.11’s) and the Planetarium Wall, with his ultra-classic, 'Atomic Gecko' (5.12b) getting the most traffic of any hard route in the area. It stands as a must do for the 5.12 climber. Another standout test piece is 'Wind in the Willows Extension' (5.12d) which sports 110 feet of intense granite climbing.
Recently, there has been a resurgence of development, especially at the hands of the dynamic duo of Marty Lewis and Kevin Calder, who have almost doubled the number of sport climbs in just a couple of seasons, adding numerous new 5.11 classics to the area, including a three pitch affair.
The best source of information for the canyon can be found in Peter Croft's and Marty Lewis’ excellent guide, "Bishop Area Rock Climbs".
Getting There
Take Hwy. 395 North from Bishop to Pine Creek Road. Turn left onto Pine Creek Road. Continue through the town of Rovana and several switchbacks until you see Sheelite Canyon (the obvious deep canyon) on your right. Just across from the Campground, take a dirt road and park in one of two parking areas. Walk up the road and into the canyon.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Pine Creek Canyon:
This one's Ridicu-classic.A long, beautiful and sustained off-width pitch in a giant, clean-cut dihedral. This is one of the most obvious lines in the canyon- the one your eyes are drawn to first. If you're up for a good grovel, this is your route; straightforward and long. Two 60 meter ropes to rappel.During colder months, hit this early in the morning as it dips into the shade around noon, maybe earlier. In fact you may not see it...[more]Browse More Classics in CA
Bishop local Tom Costa did a great color PDF mini-guide to the sport routes a few years back, he has it in a few different formats at: http://homepage.mac.com/oohrah
It does not include all the new Marty Lewis/Kevin Calder routes.
Tai Devore (AKA Mr. Pine Creek) is putting in so many new routes it's hard to keep track. But go into Wilson's and he'll hand you some topos for some really fine routes.
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