Hanshi

With pitch after pitch of engaging technical granite, Hanshi is certainly a contender for top 10 big wall free climbs in the High Sierra. Stacked with mostly 5.11 and 5.12 climbing, the route initially pieces together corners, faces and dikes, before an improbable traverse pitch joins it with the crux of What’s Up Bubb (5.12). Hanshi then branches off left on an overhanging tufa pitch through the head wall to finish back up on the emperor (5.12) to the summit. .

The route was first started in the fall of 2015 by Townsend Brown, Nicky Dyal and Taylor Lamoureaux. The team climbed the opening pitch of the emperor (5.12) and then struck off right, climbing new ground as free as can be and drilling from stances. After 1000' of climbing, a nearby wildfire forced them to retreat. From their highpoint it still wasn't clear if the line would go free, but the obvious corner that stretches through the upper head wall gave some hope. 

It took a few years, but Townsend returned in 2019 with Chris Williams and began the process again. The logistics of big wall free climbing in the high country is blue collar work to say the least. 8 miles with heavy haul bags and camping gear before even starting the route takes dedication to the craft. After fixing ropes back up to the high point, the pair tried to push forward but a blank section left them stumped

Undeterred, Townsend returned home and left the ropes in place. A few weeks later I teamed up with him for our first climbing trip together, not sure what I was getting into. On day one I got to mini trac the fixed lines on some of the lower pitches and was instantly psyched-.   The climbing was amazing, and the stone was immaculate. 

The problem was we couldn't push the line any further up the corner that Townsend and Chris had worked on a few weeks prior. It turned out to be a closed-out seam in an overhanging, blank dihedral. The seam had looked like a crack from pictures of the face, so spirits were low upon discovering this. Demoralized and half in denial that the route was not going to go, we played around for hours on a wide section of slab below the dihedral, desperate to piece something together. We could just barely do the moves and, somehow, we made it across the 150ft to the right and linked up with the Crux pitch of What’s Up Bubb (512) and set up a new high point. 

Questing out left through a roof and back onto the headwall, we were struck by one of the coolest features either of us has ever climbed- a perfect tufa-like dike splitting the otherwise blank and slightly overhanging headwall. We bolted this and the crux pitch on the way down with a goal to return later in the fall to free the whole route. 

A few weeks later we were back on the wall in splitter 50-degree weather. This time, we started free climbing from the base. Our plan was to free every pitch on lead and use the fixed lines to commute back to camp and sleep in the valley. We dug deep and slowly started to knock out each pitch. Some of them took double digit burns with both of us throwing ourselves at them. By the end of day 2 we had sent the crux pitches after some monster efforts and our last day was spent we mopping up the final pitches to the top. 

Hanshi is a full value rock climb worth all the effort. Townsend named the route after the top-level Kendo degree in keeping with the route naming theme on the wall, but it is also named after Hansi Standteiner who puts a smile on everyone's face.

Descent

From the top rap down to the of bottom of pitch 9 then follow "What's Up Bubb" raps to the base. See topo for decent. 70m rope with tag line if rappelling. 

Route Description 

P1 Climb the first pitch of the Emperor.  5.11+ for breakfast   

P2 Follows the obvious dike out right. 5.11-

P3 Make 5.11+ moves off the belay and up left into a corner. Take this all the way to the giant flake above. Watch rope drag. Traverse out right and then back on to the face above. At the bush move right again to finish in the groove. 

P4   Easiest pitch on the route. Fun right facing corner to belay. 5.10 

P5 Make 5.12b moves of the belay for a few bolts then into a dike for another few bolts. Exit dike aiming for roof above. Finish at stance. 

P6 First crux. Head up the corner and make the delicate moves at the top out left. 5.12-. Climb up above for another 2 bolts, at the top of this section there are two options.

Right goes directly up the dihedral with crazy footwork or knee bars required to make it through. 

Left is slightly harder and requires a horizontal mantle if you can imagine such a move.  FFA took right hand variation. 12+ 

P7 Crux traverse.  Climb through the roof then directly right aiming for the obvious bulge in the middle of the face. Step down to better foot holds off of really poor hands 5.12+ (crux) keep going right on easy ground until you hit "What's Up Bubb". Obvious.  

P8 Climb crux pitch of What’s Up Bubb (Classic). 12-

P9 The Bonsai pitch! Go left off the belay through the grainy roof. Follow the obvious tufa to belay. Stellar pitch!! 5.12-

P10 Go to the right around the corner to stepped dihedrals. Climb these following bolts for 50ft. Head up knobs and broken ground to the belay. 5.10b

P11 Climb easy 5.6 to link up with What’s Up Bubb and eventually the upper 2 pitches of the emperor to the summit. 

Follow approach for Emperor 5.12A

Hanshi shares the first pitch of this route