Central Pillar of Frenzy 

This route continues past pitch 5, but virtually nobody does this. We once did the next pitch or two, which are pretty nice (one was 10a). Then as I recall the Meyer's topo has a pitch of traversing left, and this looked to be pretty scary so we headed down.

First five pitches are stunning - 5 stars out of 4

Anybody who tells you that the first pitch is the crux is only trying to snake the 2nd crux (and most stunning) pitch from you.

Post Script on my route description: A week or two after doing this climb I went back to do Stoner's Highway again. My partner and I were several pitches up and I was on the lead when suddenly I heard her yelling, "Oh shit! Oh shit no!" I was already on edge due to the nature of the climbing on Stoner's, and her exclaimations had my heart in my throat... I was actually relieved to find out the commotion was not because of catastrophic anchor failure or something like that, but rather because a mother bear and her cub had just strolled out of the woods in the direction of our packs (which were leaning against the wall at the base of the route). Meanwhile a party of German climbers, eye level with us on Central Pillar, also began shouting as the bears paused to poke around at their packs. I clipped into an anchor and watched helplessly as the bears left the Germans' packs (who quickly stopped yelling), and began sniffing ours. A long minute passed. Suddenly the bears turned around, leaving our packs alone, walked straight back to the Germans' packs, and began violently tearing them apart and eating their contents! I'm not sure what they had in theirs but it must have been better than the sweaty socks and approach shoes in mine. My partner and I breathed a sigh of relief and I chuckled as the Germans' began hurling the only thing they could at the bears: obscentities, unmistakable in any language...

One of the best climbs in the Valley for the grade. Every pitch is a winner.

This is a stellar route for the grade/length. However, it can be a bit unpleasant for those with small hands. I did it with my girlfriend a few years ago and she hated it.

George is corrrect:
The 6th pitch is a .10a right facing layback, well worth doing. The 7th is 5.8/5.9. From here you can continue up. I have never been above here, but Meyers topo shows a .10c lb and thin crack pitch, then a .10d thin pitch. A short bit of .10 face and 4th class gets you onto the Powell/Reed ledges (but why?).
Also there is the possibility of doing a face traverse,
(scary, only one bolt and who knows of the condition?)
From just below the belay on the top of pitch 7, over to the 5th pitch of the Bircheff/Williams route. In turn, at the end of pitch 5 of the Bircheff/williams rt. it joins with the Kor/beck route at it's 6th pitch belay.

For those that wince at the thought of even a .8 valley offwidth (2nd 1/2 of p-3)...
No worries, although it is offwidth size and offwidth technique is needed, the angle is forgiving and the crack is quite featured making the footwork not so pure offwidth.

• comment to "monomaniac":

A minor correction to the Supertopo description: pitch 4 is ~80' (not 100), and pitch 5 is ~160' (not 140). Note the combined length for both pitches is unchanged.

Trundlebum wrote: "comment to "monomaniac":
If your girlfriend hated this climb, I hope she promptly gave up trad climbing forever and took up knitting."

Dear god! I hope she doesn't; I'd be SOL! A short memory is a key asset of the Alpine Climber. In this case, a girflriend with a short memory....

The second pitch is a beauty no doubt, as is every pitch on this classic. But the 5th stands out in my memory as uncommon, airy, diverse, and super fun. There's nothing striking about it like the splitter on the second, the roof on the third, or the double cracks on the fourth. Don't know, that pitch just had a good flow to it.

Another correction to the SuperTopo description:
when using the standard rappel line (Metolius rap-hangers down Bercheff-Williams), the 3rd rappel is ~140 feet (not 115'). Also, the anchor atop the final rappel is well below the tree (not next to the tree, as shown). Finding these in the dark could be a little dumbfounding given the SuperTopo description.

Very beautiful route. The climbing is fun the view beautiful. El Capitain right across. The first pitch wakes you up right away when you start climbing the route early in the morning. Got lucky and was the first party on the route. After us there were three partys waiting to climb. Get an early start!

Absolutely phenomenal route, each pitch on its own is stellar, but five pitches is almost too much to wrap your mind around!

My buddy Mike had already done this route, so he let me have the awesome roof pitch (third pitch). However, he decided we should go "light" so we did the route with one #4. So, I pulled the roof and stared in awe at the 5.8 OW above me. Oh...sh!t. I walked the #4 as far as I could and eventually did a move where I could reach down to walk it any further. Probably ran it out for 25 feet. It's easy climbing, but if you're not comfortable with that much space between you and gear, you might consider two #4's.

Some thoughts: p1--burly but not terrible difficult p2 was harder for me. p3 & p4 were the best imo--alas I fixed a #3 camalot under the roof. The OW on p3 is a walk-up, real fun. A bear ransacked my pack at the base so beware.

A fine route. I found a lot of rope drag on the 5th pitch as it gets inside the lower wide cracks. More slings might help; a long pitch which uses lots of gear.

This climb was so much fun! Every pitch was steller. We climbed this the 1st week in May and had to chop steps up the hard snow using a sharp stick to get to the base. The first pitch was wet and slick, but the rest were dry. My favorite pitch was the second, with the beautiful steep finger locks. Pitch 3 was really cool too, pulling the roof using good jams. I placed my #4 pretty soon after the roof and then ran it out the rest of the way to the anchors since the OW is pretty secure. I also thought pitch 5 was really good, with several difficult moves between good stances.

There was nobody behind us so we just rapped the route. We got down in 3 double rope rappels. First rappel from P5 to P3, second rappel from P3 to P1, third rappel from P1 to ground and over the snow field. I believe that you could rap the first four pitches with 1 60m rope, but pitch 5 wouldn't make it.

Climbed this route with my girlfriend starting at 6pm on July 3, 2010. The first pitch was probably the most awkward, and the second the most physical (and pure awesome!).

To be honest, I found the p3 "offwidth" to be a little disappointing...I have small hands and found this to be mostly a very low angle handcrack with a few fist jams (without any tape whatsoever). You definitely want some wide gear (3.5-4") to protect it, but the crack wavers enough that no chickenwinging was required.

As good as 5.9 gets.

First pitch was very wet - which made it even more awkward and slippery! But the gear is good at least. The 5.8 OW is easy. I brought 2x(new)#4 and one #3.5 and it was more than enough, but I happily placed them all. A #3 goes in above the roof before it gets too wide as well.

The SuperTopo rap beta is confusing since there are two rap routes shown. When you look it at, you'd think you rap down the last two pitches of the route and then over the roof and straight down. This is not the case. You rap climber's left about 150' to a stance just up and left of the P3 top belay. Then you do a 110' rap over the giant corner system to somewhat hidden anchors perched on a stance just to the left of the arete - I almost passed these anchors, so be on the lookout. Then two more raps down.

Great route! P2 was my favorite.

I was intimidated by the 5.8 OW section for no reason. If Little John Left is 5.8 OW, IMHO this section is 5.6 or 5.7 fists (even for someone with small hands). It is low angle, narrows toward the back, and has some good feet to rest. Using Andy's recommended gear, it's not scary, it's super fun!

If you like long pitches, link 1&2 and 3&4.

Although, linking 2&3 is one of my alltime favorit pitches.

I agree with the comment about the 5.8 offwidth section being MUCH easier than Little John left.

P4 Double cracks reminds me of the top of Bishop's Terrace, except it lasts much longer. This was my favorite pitch, partly because it's a bit easier lead and overall the route was near my limit. For a strong 5.10 leader the most satisfying pitches are probably 2 & 3.