Clay 5.11+
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| Type: | Trad, 2 pitches, 200 feet |
| Consensus: | 5.11+ [details] |
| FA: | FFA: Terry Lien, Jon Nelson |
| Submitted By: | Drewsky on Dec 30, 2008 |
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The second pitch of Clay (10d). I scrubbed it a bi...
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Description Pitch one is fairly well-travelled. Pitch two may not have seen an ascent in the last fifteen years. The first pitch corner has it all; well, almost! Thin, funky climbing off the ground leads to a lieback past two bolts to a crack and a stance under a roof. Crack, face climbing past wild jugs and finally stemming leads to a tricky crux finish. Spectacular climbing.
P2 climbs a slab with (possibly) fixed knifeblades. 5.10+ R; most likely not equipped for ('safe') free climbing.
Location From the waterfall, this area is to the right and past a subsidiary wall and the entrance to the Cheeks, which is accessed from a long ledge (the Beach) via 4th and 5th class scrambling and climbing.
Protection Nuts and small cams to a #4 Camalot, I believe. The bolts on the route are old but have continued to hold falls. Fixed anchor.
Looking down P1 of Clay (11d) from the belay. The ...
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Looking up at P1 of Clay (11d). All kinds of jammi...
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By dscramer
Dec 30, 2008
| As of last spring (2008) p2 was maybe only bit dirtier than I remember it being in the 80s. It was never "cleaned" and never had fixed pins. I think I placed two pins while leading it in the 80's. The top bolt midway up p1 is a 20+ yo Star Drive that is probably not strong enough to withstand a long fall, so be advised if you decide to run it out to the bomber jams at the roof.
From the Beach it is easy to descend this route and set up a TR. Look for a single safety bolt used to protect reaching the real anchors atop p2. Birds occasionally nest near this route in the spring. If they are around it is best to stay away.
Like many other Index routes if it was located in Yosemite it would be a world famous classic. (Only a slight bit of hyperbole) |
By Drewsky
Dec 31, 2008
| Would modern thin/tiny gear protect the second pitch, or is it more incipient than that?
Somehow that world class quality has remained a relative secret for decades, although our weather tends to obfuscate such things rather conveniently. |
By derekpearson
Mar 8, 2013
| I cleaned some old webbing off the p1 anchor and added a nice new shiny bolt now there are three 3/8 bolts. P2 looks really cool. |
By Drewsky
Jun 6, 2013
| Nice work, Derek. That anchor was a bit of a cluster and even had an aluminum hanger similar to the ones that caused a near miss on Calling Wolfgang. |
By derekpearson
5 days ago
| No sweat Drew I enjoy fixing up anchors when I can .
You know Clay would be an ultimate link up with p3 and 4 of the zipper . A real testpiece for someone looking to on sight five eleven at Index . |
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