South Face

The South Face route offers 3 pitches of fun 5.7 liebacking and face climbing in one of Santa Barbara's most wild and scenic locations overlooking Santa Barbara, the Goleta Valley, and the Channel Islands. The route starts at the base of the prominent left-leaning lieback flake approximately 50 ft right/uphill from the huge cave at the base of the crag.

P1: This is the steepest pitch, and probably the technical crux of the route. Follow the lieback flake until it ends, then face climb up a few more feet via face holds out left to a small belay ledge with tattered old slings and build yer own anchor. (5.7, 80 ft, pro: bigger cams to 4")

P2: Trend up and left the whole way, zig-zaging past a series of small right-facing dihedrals to a shady belay in a large cave. You'll get some nice exposure when you move left over/around the last small dihedral. The last 30 feet is runout, but much lower angle. (5.7, 180 ft, pro: cams to 3" plus small nuts and micro stoppers)

P3: Exit the cave on climber's right and head up/right over a bulge via the slingable manzanita to a low-angle chimney with good face holds that leads to the summit. (5.6, 80 ft, pro: small cam, then manzanita, then 4" cam)

From the summit block, scramble off the backside down then right to reach the ridgeline and the trail back to La Cumbre Peak.

Start 50 ft right/uphill from the huge cave at the base of the crag, scramble up 15 ft of easy slabs to the start of the lieback flake.

2 sets of nuts, 1 set of micro stoppers, and 1 set of cams to 4” plus many long slings. If you bring a few large hexes to potect the initial massive flake/crack, you can skip the 3" and 4" cams.