Early Retirement  5.8 R

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Type:  Trad, 4 pitches, 400 feet, Grade II Consensus:  5.8 [details] FA:  Tristan Higbee, Thomas Gappmayer 2/15/11 New Route:  Yes Submitted By:  Tristan Higbee on Feb 15, 2011 You & This Route  |  Other Opinions (3) Your todo list: Your stars: Your rating: -none- [change] Your ticklist: [add new tick]

BETA PHOTO: The route. The line is drawn in just to the right ...

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Description 

An adventure route in the same vein as other routes in the canyon like Jungle Rot Slot, Logical Fallacy, or Air China Flight 924. No bolts or pitons were taken or placed on the route.

Both climbers should have experience building natural anchors, and both climbers should be solid and confident at the grade.

Pitch 1: Climb the first pitch of Western Front. We cut straight up and left after the traverse (and before the trough/scoop heading to WF pitch 1 anchors), heading directly to the base of the second pitch dihedral. It was loose and didn’t protect well. A better option might be to do the complete first pitch of WF and then move the belay 20 feet to the left. 5.7, 100’

Pitch 2: Climb up the long dihedral, using good incut holds on the right side for most of its length. The rock quality varies widely, from pretty dang good to chossy. At the top, the crack curves to the right and ends under a roof. The moves over the roof are the exposed and the crux, but the rock is pretty good. Sling a horn for the belay, using a bolted anchor 15’ to the right as a backup. Best pitch on the route. Solid 5.8 PG-13/R, 140’

Pitch 3: The choose your own adventure pitch. We went straight up, to the right of a right-facing flake and left of a large block. (You could also go to the left in a brushy corner system or to the right on lower angled terrain). Moves on vertical rock above a grassy ledge are the crux. Top out on a large grassy ledge, and walk back 30’ to a belay on slung horns and a couple cam placements (#2 and #3 Camalot). Not as sustained as pitch 2. 5.8 R, 100’

Pitch 4: A short, easy pitch. Climb directly above the belay up to a little roof, then move around the roof to the right to a short chimney section. More easy climbing leads to the top of the quartzite above Bad Bananas. 5.6 R, 60’

Descent: Head north for a bit and then scramble down to the west. You should be able to see clearly the trail the leads off the top from Bad Bananas. Head for the trail, and then follow it down and west, above Training Camp. This will spit you out at the west end of the Training Camp. From there, either follow the trail back to the parking lot, or traverse back east to the base of the route to retrieve packs.

Location 

Climbs the bolted first pitch of Western Front on the far west side of Bad Bananas, then heads left and up into a dihedral system. The climb ends above where the other Bad Bananas routes end (see pics).

Protection 

1 set of small cams to .5 Camalot. 2 each .75 Camalot to #4 (We had a #4 Friend and old #4 Camalot). 3 .75s might have been nice. 1 set of nuts. Lots of slings. Quickdraws for pitch 1 if you don’t use the slings.

Photos of Early Retirement Slideshow

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Me on pitch 2, or the first pitch of the independe...	Thomas facing ground fall potential on pitch 3.	Bomber anchor :) Backed up with a cam behind the s...
The fourth pitch starts up the crack just right of...	Thomas on top. Mt. Nebo is in the top left of the ...