Question about Lover's Leap/Tahoe Area

I'm from Arizona, but I'm trying to get up to the Tahoe area in a few months. I want to take a friend of mine who lives in the area on a multi-pitch adventure and I was looking at Lover's Leap (specifically Corrugation Corner). My buddy doesn't really have crack climbing experience, and so I was wondering what this route would be like for him as a follower? He's followed me on some 5.easy trad before (5.5 and less) and now I want to take him to some better climbing. Any other suggestions for routes 5.6-5.9 in the area? Sport would also be okay, but trad is preferable.

I don't remember any jamming on CC, even though there are cracks aplenty for pro. It's a great route but you should make sure your friend understands multipitch, communication, etc.

Keep in mind that LL is mostly north-facing, so it wouldn't be a good winter destination. Fall is good.

The Supertopo book for South Lake Tahoe has Lover's Leap and several other areas, too. Good info.

supertopo.com/climbingareas…

Your friend could probably do Corrugation. Surrealistic Pillar is another easy one but does have some hand jamming on it. Still lots of people with 0 crack skills get up it.

The east wall at LL has some classics too that don't require much crack technique - East Corner, Bear's Reach, etc.

Also look at some of the stuff down on the Hogsback. Lots of easy but pretty fun stuff there too.

Thanks guys! Sounds like CC will be perfect. I'm super stoked to check out this area. The climbs look amazing.

Are we forgetting the traverse (5.6) on P1 and the chimney (5.7) starting the last pitch, P3? Without guidance, i would think the chimney would shut down a 5.6 climber, it can be confusing.
Also, the traverse after the chimney (after the follower unclips the pin)has great potential of swinging into the dihedral, dropping (rope stretch) 20' and being on a really hard section to get back on the climb.
Things on Hog's Back at the leap are much less crack intensive. "Better with Bacon" is all about the slab, and the 5.8 section can be walked around, and the leader is belayer 8' above the move.
Pop Bottle is an easy intro to the area. Surrealistic Pillar is hard for the follower because of the P2 traverse, a fall would be painful/dangerous.
Just my 2¢....

Not sure what difficulty you're looking to lead yourself ... but there are several good single-pitch 10a sport + trad pitches with convenient bolt top anchors, starting off the same long ledge as Corrugation Corner (two of those 10a lines are not in the print guidebook, so check on MP). Meaning "good" by LL standards, therefore great at lots of other places.

back to your friend ...
There's a rather fun Trad 5.6 pitch off that same ledge. But you should only do it on an uncrowded day and time. Because the second pitch it leads to is of disputed quality ("best 10a at Lovers Leap" versus "best in California" -- or is it the best Trad granite 10a single pitch in the northern hemisphere?).
Hospital Corner's first pitch of 5.6 could also be considered for your friend -- but it wouldn't be fair to block other parties from getting to the famous P2.

Ken

Thanks for all the advice so far. I'm getting super pumped for this trip.

To clarify, my friend can probably TR up to 5.10 in the gym, so I'm okay with things beyond 5.6 since I'll be leading everything. He's really only done gym climbing though so he's had zero exposure to crack climbing. I just don't want to plan a multipitch and find that he can't follow bc one of the pitches requires jamming.

That being said, any suggestions on single pitch hand cracks for me are super welcome!

As for me, I'm comfortable leading trad up to 5.9 and sport to 5.10+/5.11-.

psakievich wrote:Thanks for all the advice so far. I'm getting super pumped for this trip. To clarify, my friend can probably TR up to 5.10 in the gym, so I'm okay with things beyond 5.6 since I'll be leading everything. He's really only done gym climbing though so he's had zero exposure to crack climbing. I just don't want to plan a multipitch and find that he can't follow bc one of the pitches requires jamming. That being said, any suggestions on single pitch hand cracks for me are super welcome! As for me, I'm comfortable leading trad up to 5.9 and sport to 5.10+/5.11-.

It's rare I come across a route under 5.9 that requires real jamming and crack technique. Usually they are <5.9 precisely because there are enough face/other holds to eliminate the need for pure crack technique. I know there are exceptions to this rule, but if your partner can muster a single hand jam I'm sure they'll be fine. Maybe steer clear of 5.8 OW for their first multi pitch.

csproul wrote: It's rare I come across a route under 5.9 that requires real jamming and crack technique. Usually they are <5.9 precisely because there are enough face/other holds to eliminate the need for pure crack technique. I know there are exceptions to this rule, but if your partner can muster a single hand jam I'm sure they'll be fine. Maybe steer clear of 5.8 OW for their first multi pitch.

really? Most of the 5.9 and under routes I've done in JTree require crack/jamming technique...double cross, sail away, toe jam, the bong just to name a few...

To OP: I was just there few weeks ago and I would highly suggest Surrealistic Pillar. Good route where your partner can get away from not needing any crack technique.

Jan Tarculas wrote: really? Most of the 5.9 and under routes I've done in JTree require crack/jamming technique...double cross, sail away, toe jam, the bong just to name a few... To OP: I was just there few weeks ago and I would highly suggest Surrealistic Pillar. Good route where your partner can get away from not needing any crack technique.

Yup...done all those routes...I guess I meant to say that while they might require some degree of jamming, they rarely require you to exclusively use crack technique like many >5.9 routes do. Even if they are routes that only have the crack and no extra face holds, they are so low angle that you can often use the slabby feet outside the crack.

Even a new climber can figure out how to make a jam or two as long as they have an outside foot or hand, but routes with no extra face holds (i.e. usually <5.9) that are exclusively crack climbs are much more difficult, especially for the gym-raised climber.

Do Surrealistic Pillar and then from the top of Surrealistic walk up to the base of Corrugation. That would be an epic link-up and from what you've said, you're buddy would have no issues. They are about 95% face climbs with 90% jugs. He'll figure out the short tricky bits (every other newbie climber seems to!). Have fun.