1. Climb the groove 5.2, into a 4th class ramp, follow this and then some dirty climbing up on a large ledge and triple bolt belay.
2. Climb directly up above the belay until a delicate rising right traverse (no pro) allows a good crack to be gained. Follow this, until you can scramble under a tree onto a ledge and belay.
3. Follow the ledge left and then climb good cracks up to a hanging bolt belay. This is the first of 3 good pitches.
4. Continue up the crack system until an obvious step right can be made where the cracks continue up to the belay.
5. This last pitch is a good one. This climb saves it very best to the very last few moves. Climb up until a nice finger crack allows progress up and onto the belay.
Descent is via Rappel. Rappel to the 3rd belay. From there Rappel to a tree with a rappel slings, and from there to the bottom. These rappels need double ropes.
Location
Located on the left hand side of the Royal Arches Area. 200' up and left from Serenity Crack.
By Scott Tucker From: Tucson, AZ May 2, 2007 rating: 5.9
If you traverse to the left end of the ledge at the end of the 2nd pitch and belay from there, you can run the 3rd and 4th pitches together with a 60-meter rope. This lets you skip the hanging belay, which you will discover on the rappel down is a very uncomfortable place to hang out. Better to skip it if you can.
A good, fun romp that has some very loose rock, particularly on the last pitch before you gain the clean splitter. Careful what you pull on, I almost dropped a basketball sized chunk onto my belayer before gingerly putting it back in place.
Agree that linking the first two off of the ledge (also covered in loose rocks) is the way to go.
Great route in spite of the patches of loose stuff, and perfect if you're pushing into the grade. Stays in the shade behind the Ahwahnee Buttress until late morning.
By Mike Morley Administrator From: Oakland, CA Jul 20, 2007 rating: 5.8
combining pitches 1&2 (60m rope) gets you to the goods faster. Saw no sign of the p1 anchor so just kept going. A 60m rope barely makes it to the first tree on this ledge. Bring some runners if combining these two pitches.
agreed that the hanging belay at top of p3 is uncomfortable. Wish we had linked with p4.
We were able to link Pitches 1&2 with a 70 meter rope. We also shifted the belay over on top of pitch 2 and Linked pitches 3&4. From the top of pitch 5 we rapped w/ 2 70M ropes to pitch 3 anchors, then 1 more rap to the gully you started the climb in.(requires some down climbing 20ft') I lost my wedding ring at the base of Supe Slide or Trial by Fire. Its a silver ring, let me know if you find it. Thanks
Great climb! P3,4 and 5 have some great crack. I would not recommend the alternate 5.8 start (Trial by Fire). I don't think the couple of parties in front of us would recommend it either...
By Sheets From: Livermore, CA Jul 27, 2009 rating: 5.8+
I did this for the second time & led every pitch. Linking p3 & p4 really makes it one of the funnest pitches I've done in a good while. Quality climbing. The 5.9 at the top reminds me of a shorter, lower angle version of the splitter absolutely free. Wish it was longer.
Objective hazards: The red biting ants that caused us much misery on the East Butt of Middle Cathedral Rock are all over the two lowest rappel stations. Try to avoid squishing them at any costs since, we hypothesize, the noxious smell causes the rest to swarm.
Gear: We saw three mangled metolius cams (orange and yellow) on the top pitches. We did it on camalots and had no issues (bring doubles on the .5s and .75s and plan to bump), but if you climb on metolius, just be wary.
Note that in late Sept 2009, there was a lot of rock fall in the area. We planned to top rope the face climb after our rappel, but got to the bottom and discovered that some 150 pounds of grapefruit sized granite chunks had hit both our packs and cut up our open rope bag. The route seems safe after the first, ground belay, be be careful at the beginning.
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