This route is mentioned in the description of Prelude to King Kong. It is usually done as the second Pitch. It begins with a beautiful, steep, left-facing corner with a nice crack. The difficulty is around 5.9 here. After cranking up through the corner, there is a low-angled traverse to the right. Although the angle is less, the holds are much smaller. There are a few thin placements followed by a relatively committing move to gain easier ground above a large flake. Here, the difficulty seems to be around 5.9+. At the top, there are many large boulders and a few cracks to make an ultra-bomber anchor. Enjoy!
Protection
This route protects fairly well. The first part takes about a #1 or #2 Camalot in the corner. A few smaller cams (like #1 and #2 TCUs) and some medium to small nuts are also useful for the upper part of the pitch where the pro gets thiner.
I had a memorable epic on this route once. Doing this 2 pitch route after work one evening we got caught by darkness. Good idea to throw in a headlamp for this one if you are starting after 6 PM!
Nice climb, though the 2nd crux is definitely balancey. One month after I led it (in 1997 or so), I went back with a different partner. He fell at that spot, pulling his gear, and landed on the ledge 25 feet below. He fractured a rib, broke his arm, and sustained a head injury (no helmet). We needed help from Rocky Mountain Rescue to get down the hill below. Place good gear at this crux!
As I'm sure many of you know, "Hot Henry" Barber on-sight free soloed this in the mid-1970s and, according to his account, came closer to taking the big one on it than on any of his other solos. When climbing GD this is easy to understand- a difficult start into thin, insecure climbing, and a bit of routefinding on the slab. Henry stated that, in retrospect, it was a poor choice for a free solo, but his approach at that time was pretty much to "do it and ask questions later", so to speak. I always found it curious with his comment that, when confronted with the possibility of a fall from the slab 100+ feet up, he scanned the ground and tried to picture where it would be best to land- as if a fall from that height was survivable.
Henry was perhaps the most impressive and accomplished of the 1970s free climbers, and unquestionably had the greatest influence on world-wide climbing standards of any climber at the time. He was one of the first climbers to travel widely. His style was to show up at an area, and blow the local standards out of the water. In one trip, he single-handedly jumped technical standards in Australia by more than a number grade. Other accomplishments include succeeding on the often-tried Butterballs in Yosemite (a climb that everybody who was anybody had attempted) with an almost mystical onsight, pre-camming protection; blazing a trail of desperate first ascents in the Gunks; onsight free-soloing dozens of routes on many different rock types, up to hard 5.10, at a time when the 5.11 grade was only starting to soldify; and blowing the climbing world away with his free solo of the Steck Salathe on Sentinel in Yosemite. His repetoire of moves, creativity, and problem-solving abilities, and his tremendous self-confidence and mental control, set him apart from his contemporaries. In the 1970s Gunks, he was an integral member of the "A Team" quartet: Henry, John Stannard, Steve Wunsch, and John Bragg. Unfortunately, his career ended on a sour note after an epic accident with Rob Taylor on Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. The press was always a bit harsh on Henry, perhaps due to his brash personality (a little backstabbing occurred in the original CLIMB! book when the only photos of Henry were of him failing on Kloberdanz), but his significant contributions to freeclimbing standards are undeniable. I find it curious that many young climbers have never heard of Hot Henry- kind of like music lovers who think Paul McCartney's first band was The Wings.
By Ernie Port From: Boulder, Colorado May 29, 2003 rating: 5.9+
Henry's still around. I saw him doing solo laps on the Dome's E. face couple years ago, like he was at the track doing 400 repeats...finish, go back do it again, like 3 times. I was surprised when I ran into him again last month on Reggae, and he was actually roped up.
By Ernie Port From: Boulder, Colorado Oct 15, 2003 rating: 5.9+
We climbed this tonight and I led P1 and followed P2.On P1, the first move up and around into the dihedral isn't too bad... good holds. The next move is more cruxy and favors taller folks, with decent holds way up high, but not much for feet. My shorter partner,could not reach the high holds and settled for working the thin crack, which is good down low but off hands higher. Once past that move, easy climbing to a ledge.The start of P2 is cool...yard up off the ledge using a good little flake out left and the crack to the right (a bit smooth from chalk build up) to a pretty airy stance. Work up the overhanging corner over a bulge and exit right. Make a delicate traverse right (runnout) over to a nice flake and mini ledge to start the layback. Work up the flake (crux), smearing the feet and reaching left for a high seam, then step up. Follow a wide crack a short distance up to the summit...
Great finish for Prelude To Kong, but expect it to be significantly more difficult. I found the crux to be in the corner above the traverse right, where you roll onto your right foot after a fairly sustained lieback. Really not that big of a deal, but it is a bit heady - as you are committed a few moves above your last piece and a good 5+ feet from your next one. It felt 9+/10- to me, but I think a second go at it would prove that the 9+ is more appropriate.
The Dome
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