Central Buttress/5.7 start  5.7

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Type:  Trad, 3 pitches, 600 feet Consensus:  5.7 [details] FA:  unknown Submitted By:  Leo Paik on Aug 27, 2001 You & This Route  |  Other Opinions (2) Your todo list: Your stars: Your rating: -none- [change] Your ticklist: [add new tick]

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Description 

This is a pleasant climb up the obvious rounded arête splitting the Lower Great Face; however, it utilizes an easier start to the right (in the land of many dihedrals) to gain the arête 200 feet up. The actual rounded arête looked challenging for the group I was with that day, so we looked left, then right for less bulging terrain.

P1. To the right of this arête, we used a nice crack/dihedral system for perhaps 100 feet, 5.6, from there a traverse into more alpine-feeling terrain and a slight left-angling line took us to a perch with ok belay with a wire, #0.75 Camalot, #1 Camalot, and red Alien, 200 feet.

P2. Move up alpine-feeling rock to a mid-cliff break and continue up exquisite, beautiful, face climbing reminiscent of an toned-down version of Hallett's, 5.5, 200ft.

P3. Easier climbing arcs slightly to the left to a ledge system short of the top. One last bit and you're there. Beware of rope drag with this last bit. 5.4, 200ft. Walk off E into the gully between the Upper and Lower Great Faces and skirt the Lower Great Face on the N end.

Certainly there are harder variations to this line, 5.10b Rossiter & Griebe, 5.10d Gillett & Snively, but the path of least resistance described here is a delightful romp.

Protection 

Wires, hexes, single set of cams to #4 Camalot, 60m useful.