It's hard to justify giving 3 stars to a route when only one pitch is 3 stars...Topnotch, the name, is dedicated only to the crux pitch which is 3 stars...I thought this pitch was somewhat reminiscent of Butterballs in the Valley, just not as splitter. When standing under the right side of the east face its hard to mistake the 80 foot plaque of stellar rock...You only need to climb funky alpine rock on pitches before and after. The 5.9 pitch just after the crux is actually OK (exciting). After 4 or so pitches arrive on the large ledge of the East Meadows. A couple hundred feet of the Spiral Route puts you in the notch where you have two descent options...4th class weaving down the nothwest ridge or 3 double rope raps down the west face (2 bolt stations). To find the first rap: From the notch, 3rd class move over the chimney/gully toward the west, look for a large boulder leaning against the wall.
This is a great line. Got a bit of everything. And it can be climbed rather quickly. We simul-climbed the first pitches to the first 5.9R pitch. This is 400' of fun alpine climbing. This saves on time. The finger crack is excellent and had a little bit of veg in it when we did it. You were able to span the flowers still and get the good locks.
RSS Feed
