The Fin Left  5.9

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Type:  Trad, Alpine, 2 pitches Consensus:  5.9 [details] FA:  Unknown Submitted By:  Bill Lawry on Sep 6, 2008 You & This Route  |  Other Opinions (1) Your todo list: Your stars: Your rating: -none- [change] Your ticklist: [add new tick]

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Description 

Start up a wide but short chimney. Work past the roof (crux) being careful of loose blocks. Continue up through interesting climbing while staying mostly on the left side of the fin. The easy second pitch ascends on the left side of the upper face.

Almost gave this three stars except that the second pitch is so much easier than the first. Also, the rating of 5.9 came from Barry and Rita Loucks' guide although that guide also lists Gemstone as 5.9.

For a fourth class walk-off descent, see comment at the bottom of a marked-up version of a photo from Monomaniac on the Gemstone West page.

Location 

The Fin starts about half way between the aid boulder and Gemstone route. Watch for the obvious fin-like rock structure on the first pitch. See a marked-up version of a photo from Monomaniac on the Gemstone West page.

Protection 

Standard rack up to 3 inches.

The first and second pitch can probably be combined with a 60 meter rope, so long as the belayer is close to the start. However, we did it in two pitches to better protect the second through the low crux; first pitch could be cut short for this purpose.