This route ascends the West Face of the Pulpit, and passes a cave in the cliff at mid-height. I didn't find the cave to be too exciting, but apparently that is the main attraction to the Pulpit. This route would almost qualify as a waste of time, if not for the excellent 3rd pitch, which is very interesting on great rock, with just the right amount of gear.
This route is most frequently describied as having 4 pitches, although we climbed it in two pitches (with a 60m rope) with little difficulty.
Begin directly below the cave, at the far right end of a small ledge with several trees.
P1: 5.7 or 5.8+ There are two options here. The original route climbs a 5.7 chimney. A newer variation climbs up a right-facing dihedral to sketchy face climbing at 5.8+. Numerous haphazard rap stations remain as a testament to the lunacy of this variation. Unfortunately I followed the variation, so I can't accurately describe the 5.7 version.
P2: 5.8+ or 5.7, From either variation, climb up to a large ledge where the two options merge. Follow mellow, low-angled rock in a large cleft into the cave. Explore the cave, then downclimb 10 feet. Traverse right around a rib to a spacious ledge and two brand new bolts.
P3: 5.7+, The crux lead. Above the belay is a series of three right-facing dihedrals. The two right-most (southern-most) extend down to the belay ledge, while the furthest north only appears 15 feet above the ledge. Begin up the middle dihedral, (or the left-most of the two that start off the ledge), with a few powerful moves over the slight bulge. Continue easily until its possible to traverse left to the next dihedral. Follow this to its end, then traverse further left, past a bolt that is nearing its 40th birthday, along a slightly runout face to easier terrain. Head straight up to a good ledge below a huge, leaning, right-facing dihedral.
P4: 5.6, cruise up the dihedral to a belay tree below the summit.
Descent: Continue E to the summit. There are 3 possible rap anchors, depending on your level of daring. The safest is right at the summit, but may require two ropes. If you have one 60m rope and are brave, downclimb NE over exposed rocks and shrubbery to a tree with rap anchors. Rap down the gully. One 60m rope will not reach to the next anchor, so TIE A KNOT in the end of your rope. An easy 30 foot down climb to the NE leads to the next anchor, where a 60 foot rap reaches the ground. Scramble down the base of the cliff for ~100 feet to the base of the Cave Route.
If after you complete the traverse to the dihedral on the second to last pitch instead of going up the dihedral you continue left and up, there is a wonderful large lunch ledge with one of the best views in the Sandias. From here there is a nice short vertical face climb that leads to the easy ridge that ends at the top.
By Jason Hundhausen From: Los Alamos, NM Mar 2, 2008 rating: 5.7
Good climb; I agree with mono that the cave is "meh," but worth glancing into as you cruise by on your way to the second belay. Beginning the third pitch, go up the middle right-facing dihedral to the right of the bolted anchor, not the rightmost dihedral which is >>5.7 and has a bunch of loose, crumbly rock (pulled out a bowling ball sized boulder from the crack).
By Scott Beguin From: Los Alamos, NM Mar 10, 2008 rating: 5.7
This climb can be done in two pitches with a 60 meter cord. Take long runners and/or double ropes.
Copied Monomaniac's photo from The Pulpit page (thanks for posting it!) and marked it with our belay point at the top of Pitch 1 - we wanted to visit the cave.
I replaced the anchor bolts in 1997 (they used to be on the ground by your feet), but I didn't get to the 1/4" piece of &%*# on the second pitch. NMCRAG sponsored the equipment replacement post-facto.
Fun climb. Rock quality is pretty good for most of route- just check before you commit because some of it is loose. I'd recommend hiking in from top and continuing down to the bottom after the climb but plan for a near all day trip due to the position of the climb. Agreed that the cave is not that impressive. Gearwise, I don't recall using anything above a 2. The rap however, seemed almost more dangerous than the climb ha ha
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