One of the most classic pitches at its grade in all of Yosemite, Sacherer Cracker is a full value 120+ feet of stellar jamming and clean movement. Begin with a short wide section that leads to a small ledge (two bolts provide an optional belay here); step left to the splitter finger crack that widens gradually as you work your way toward the final, notorious wide section that guards the chains. Some find this section to be the route's crux, and many have used the chockstone at its beginning to bail, swearing to come back after they get more practice on the wide...
Location
Continue up the scree trails along the SW base until you see this striking line - really can't miss it. If you reach the obvious left-facing dihedral of La Escuela, you've gone too far.
Protection
Doubles to 3". Most forego anything big for the top, as the chockstone is bomber and the crack quickly gets wider than most cams can cover.
Two rope rappel to ground. A 60m will not make it.
The crux for me is the first +/- 50ft. off of the small ledge, as the crack goes from fingers to off-fingers to tight hands. When that first slammer hand jam finally goes in, I'm usually breathing hard and bleeding from at least one of my mitts, and always exhilarated.
Gets more and more classic with each repetition.
Absolutely no comparison in terms of burliness and difficulty between this and Moby Dick down the way.
By Brad G From: Yosemite and else where Sep 21, 2007
How is this route compared to the hallow flake pitch on the Salathe in terms of difficulty? I suck at offwidths and im planning on climbing the Salathe wall next year.
You can rap the route with one 60m, unlike what the description says.
There is a bolted belay/rap station on the ledge above the 5.7 section, at the start of the hard climbing (the first 50ft section which the fellow above refers to as the crux).
We used one 60m rope to rappel to this station from the chains at the top, which does barely make it. A second rappel from here will get you to the ground.
As an old Yosemite climber, I can testify: this route is the ultimate sandbag. Don't worry about the upper wide section. It's the thin hands that works you.
By TylerW From: Flagstaff, AZ Feb 12, 2010 rating: 5.10a
One of the best single pitches of crack climbing I have ever done. I thought it was all hard - the fingers, hands and OW. Awesome awesome route.
By Les Phillips From: Fresno, CA Apr 5, 2011 rating: 5.10b
I agree that this is the ultimate sandbag... great route. I felt the two crux sections were the off-fingers/thin hands and the OW at the top. Slinging the chockstone to protect the OW didn't seem feasible since there were many other small rocks and dirt surrounding it, making it very difficult to get a sling around it. I placed an old BD #3.5 just below the chockstone and ran it out to the chains.
Highly recommend continuing up The Slack for 2 or 3 more pitches (you can link the 5.4 chimney pitch and the 5.8 double cracks ptich with a 60m)... very adventurous and super cool climbing! You don't need anything bigger than a #3 for that. Need two ropes to rap off top of The Slack.
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