Type: Trad, Alpine, 5 pitches, Grade II
FA: Eric Winkelman and Ken Trout, mid '80s
Page Views: 32,751 total · 118/month
Shared By: Orphaned User on Jun 30, 2001 · Updates
Admins: Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monty, Monomaniac, Tyler KC

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Description Suggest change

Leave the parking lot and hike over to Spalding (adjacent peak). I believe the hike was around 40 minutes and the trail is faint. After passing some steep chimneys/gullies, start looking for a 2 bolt rap anchor (with chains) at the edge of the wall (Black Wall).  Use two 60m ropes to rappel twice, or one 70m to rappel four times, trending right.  If rappelling with one 70m, the last station is the top of p1.

To start the route, locate a flake system that leads to a thin crack/seam. Also, from the top of this flake system, the beautiful looking 4" crack Road Warrior appears to the right.

P1 (crux)- start up the flakey features, moving upward and slightly right, passing a fixed pin and leading into a crack. This crack narrows into a seam. I promise that somewhere before the crux, a bomber #2 Rock can be placed. Continue to a small ledge system which jogs up and to the left towards some fixed anchors. This pitch is given 11a, but may be a hair easier.

P2 (9) - step a to the right from the belay and work yourself onto what can best be described as a really large flake (crux of P2). At the top of this flake, move a few feet right to access a killer splitter system (8). Most of this is around the 3.5 Friend size. This pitch finishes in sort of a sheltered pod/alcove just above some blocky stuff and puts you at the base of a wide dihedral. Anchor gear isn't obvious; use a #4 Camalot and big stopper for a bomber belay.

P3 (8) - continue up the wide dihedral and move right at its roof. Move up and around right and into another good crack system (probably 3 - 3.5 Friends). This ends at a small ledge and roughly a steep right-facing dihedral with a roof not too far above. Carefully set an anchor as some of the rock is hollow sounding.

P4 (10/10+) - move upward to the roof in this steep section. The climbing is very unique on this pitch. It was a mixture of crack and face holds. Pass a fixed pin before the roof. At the roof, move left and around a corner to gain a small belay ledge with three modern bolts

P5 (5.easy) - there are probably a few ways to gain the top (only about 30 or 40 vertical feet) from the end of P4. I moved left and did a bit of traversing. Move upward where it looks easy. This seemed to be the path of least resistance during a good rain. This put me near a large flat boulder about 25 ft. behind the top of the cliff where I set my belay.

Additional Comments: As we began the 2nd pitch, it started to rain and continued for the rest of the route. With the exception of the last pitch the route remained dry (or dry enough) to climb. It is steep and protected by the roof near the top. Be careful on the last pitch if it is wet - lots of traversing and not much gear. This route was awesome and no one was on it but our 2 groups of 2. At the top we saw a herd of mountain goats as a bonus.

Hang your packs over the edge from one of the anchor stations or the marmots will eat them.

Protection Suggest change

Your rack should include anything from a #1 WC Rock/DMM Wallnut up to a #4 Camalot. [Definitely] bring 2-3 pieces of each in the 3 to 3.5 Friend sizes. There is some fixed protection on the route and at a couple of the belays, but you'll want to supplement these.

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