Avg: 3.3 from 351
votes
This is a delightful 5.6, almost as nice as Madame G's or High E. The crux is as exciting as any 5.6 in the Gunks.
The first pitch is easy to locate: Use the same access trail as for CCK, just past the Andrew boulder. At the top of the access trail you'll see an obvious crack/corner system leading straight up. This is about 35' left of the huge Erect Direction corner.
P1: Climb up the face just right of an overhang and head for an obvious anchor on some small trees. Then follow the corner up to a bolted belay at the GT Ledge. 5.5, 130'. Alternatively, you can start by climbing the crack behind the flake to the left, at 5.7+R, then continuing up the left-facing corner.
P2: Move right on the GT Ledge about 40' (this is the same as the start of the 2nd pitch of Erect Direction) and climb up, diagonaling left, towards a large roof. Once you reach the base of the overhang, look for a fixed pin to the left and place a nut or two to back it up. Now, the crux: cower left, down and around the corner to a stance. This is all balance - no big jugs to save your ass until it's over. Then up through a nice finger crack to the final corner (easier on the right-hand wall) and the top. 5.6, 100'.
If your second falls at the crux, lowering to the GT Ledge may be your only way to get back onto the rock.
Descent: there is a bolted rappel line fairly close to the south, starting from the chains over No Glow, which will get you to the ground with a single rope.
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Albany, New York
Montreal, Quebec
In other words, great climb. Mar 5, 2007
If High E is busy, don't hesitate to do Moonlight. I don't think you will be disappointed. May 30, 2007
Gardiner, NY
San Pedro, CA
Espanola, NM
P2 is fantastic. Thoughtful, delicate moves combined with gunks big air. The only reason to not do this climb would be having an inexperienced or easily spooked follower.
Gear beta for P2: Many good nut placements of all sizes. I found offsets particularly useful. Cams up to #1 C4. Oct 5, 2015
New Paltz
One thought,if you think your second is going to have trouble or need coaching, various belays can be set just beyond the traverse. Just be sure that the second has a good directional after the traverse if you belay over in the corner (which is the base of the Gottlieb finish to Keep on Struttin and is a great pitch too, but 5.9). Belaying here is a nice way to enjoy all the exposure up there too. Apr 29, 2017
The Road, Sometimes Chattan…
After the traverse, I had good luck with a strategy of placing a piece, moving up, placing another piece, and backcleaning the previous piece for a few moves, until I was above the crux. This gave me some protection while saving my follower from a crazy swing, and reduced rope drag too. I was glad to have done this, because my follower got stung by a yellow jacket and fell at the crux.
I think the crux to this is hard to grade. It isn't strenuous at all--it's balance-y, so if you're looking only at strength required, it's arguably 5.5 or even lower. But I think most 5.6 leaders are going to find the balance and body positioning of this crux challenging. Additionally, this isn't the place to sandbag--I don't mind sandbags if the protection is good and falls are safe, but that's not how this is. The original person who added this didn't see fit to give it an appropriate safety rating, so I'd rather see this get a soft rating so nobody gets in over their head and gets hurt. So until I see a PG13 or R on this I'm rating it 5.7. Aug 10, 2018
Cambridge, MA
We did the direct start protected by a number 4, which was probably the most enjoyable single move of the route. The big cam made the start fun and safe. If you place that big cam then you either need to back clean that piece to lessen the rope drag or split P1 into two by belaying at the tree, which is what we opted to do.
P2 scared me. The gear is a little bit sparse around the crux traverse. I found some good nut placements and a low purple c4 but I didn't extend everything enough and the drag was so bad that I had to build a belay on the slab and split that pitch up too. The slab provides a couple of good opportunities to belay, so it's no big deal if you choose to stop here like I did.
Take all of this with a grain of salt of course, this was only my fourth day leading trad. Overall it was a memorable adventure. Jun 24, 2019
P1: Start to the right or underneath of the flake. Inconsequential either way, both seem very approachable relative to the rest of the route. A #3 or 4 C4 might make protecting the flake directly more comfortable ... eventually progress to the face. Belay off the tree
P2: 30' or so to the right of the tree (passing a second tree) the second pitch begins. If you have a #3 or 4 with you, you can protect the start in a huge horizontal ~ 2 steps off the GT ledge. As you aim for the crux traverse, there will be a piton middway on very easy climbing up until the piton protecting the crux as you move up and left. As other have said it is good to back this up - you do not get another obvious piece of gear for another 10-15'. However, I'd say that the first half of the traverse is more difficult (made easier by downclimbing a step or two) than the second half -- so a little extra distance between you and your last piece is more of a mental crux for the newer leader. After pulling this, you are greeted with some very enjoyable face climbing / crack moves -- outside of the traverse, this was the most fun / thoughtful part of the route. Mar 10, 2020
High Falls NY