Finishing the crux pitch of Thunderbird on the FA.
Description
Starts at the head of a small gully 60 ft away from the start of Little Yellow Jacket and ~100 ft (a couple switchbacks) below Second Coming. The route begins in very obvious right-facing dihedral and climbs generally straight up for 6 pitches to the top of Muralla.
P1 (95 ft – 5.11-): Climb an obvious right-facing dihedral and pull a roof to a fixed pin below a second roof. Back up pin with nut and traverse right under roof to belay on ledge with another fixed pin.
P2 (90 ft – 5.11): Climb a right-facing dihedral under a large roof past a bolt on the face. Turn roof at right end, clip another bolt, and then go left and up after a long reach to some large edges eventually reaching easier terrain and a large ledge for the belay.
P3 (110 ft – 5.10+): Climb approximately 10 ft left and up to groove/left-facing corner. Follow the groove systems up and right, eventually passing a fixed pin and bolt. From the bolt head up and left to a one-bolt belay at a small ledge below a roof.
P4 (90 ft – 5.9): Traverse left past a fixed pin and turn the left side of a roof into a left-facing dihedral. Follow the left-facing dihedral up and then go right to a ledge. From the ledge, head straight up to small roof and climb finger crack to an excellent belay ledge with two bolts.
P5 (100 ft – 5.12-): Climb up and right to a fixed pin that can be backed up with some gear to the right (The groove to the right is Little Yellow Jacket). From the fixed pin, head up and left into a small seam and follow it upwards to a bolt. Placing a long sling on gear in the seam will help significantly with rope drag. Follow the obvious climbing up past 3 bolts, passing the crux and eventually gaining a thin crack that leads up to a large belay ledge.
P6 (160 ft – 5.11-): Traverse right to a flake, then go up to a bolt located on Little Yellow Jacket. After clipping the bolt, head left and up into a groove/dihedral, following this feature until reaching a large pine tree atop the climb.
Established ground-up in September 2006.
Location
Standard Muralla approach/descent
Protection
Standard rack up to #2 camalot, doubles from #0 TCU to 0.5 camalot, and small wires
A #3 camalot is optional for the belay at the top of the 2nd pitch
Good route, crux pitch is definitely the highlight. Don't get too scared by the R rating on pitch 2. The bolt is just before the crux, and the runout is on easier terrain. Technical face climbing with great exposure on the 12- pitch. The 11a last pitch seemed like it could be harder for someone who is vertically challenged. Some of the belay stations with single bolts had mediocre gear placements, might be nice to have another bolt. Overall though, definitely worth doing.
Mick and I added a bolt to the R section on the second pitch. The likelihood of taking a factor 2 fall or hitting a ledge or your belayer is now greatly reduced. Still exciting though.
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