Golden Corners (Blue Collar Free)

Special thanks to Benj Wollant for his hard work, and to Brian Prince and Audrey Ahlhom for all their help. Also, Sam Crossley for shooting amazing photos of the FFA and tolerating our junkshow three-man team for three continuous days on the wall.

Rob, Travis and I first learned about Blue Collar from our friend Kevin DeWeese, who did the FA of the route in 2014 with his friend Josh Mucci and local legend Steve Bosque. We’ve always been impressed with Kevin’s eye for new routes on obscure formations in Yosemite Valley and Blue Collar was no exception. When chatting with Josh Mucci about the route, he recalled pristine white and gold granite faces which he described as “the best rock I have ever been on in Yosemite…”. When we climbed Blue Collar for our first time, we quickly realized that Mucci’s impression was spot on and that this route was going to be special.

The free variation is stacked with difficult and sustained climbing on near perfect rock; six pitches of 5.12 (two of which are 5.12+), four pitches of 5.11, two pitches of 5.10 and not single pitch of throwaway climbing. Each pitch has its own unique style and requires nearly every climbing technique.

Due to the abundance of featured faces and closed off cracks, this route also required a lot of bolts. Although the majority of the added bolts were on free variations, some bolts were added to the aid line with approval by the first ascent team. Overall, this route is very safe and the traverses are tightly bolted.

Pitch 1: “The Sport Pitch”, 5.12, 12 bolts (no gear), 130’: A crux comes early on this qualifier pitch, 5.12 for breakfast, then thin crimps and diorite features on a steep wall to a second crux. This is quintessential granite sport climbing.

Pitch 2: 5.10, 5 bolts, gear 1x .3-.75, 70’: The cool-down. Climb the easy crack to more diorite features and finish at a small ledge.

Pitch 3: 5.12+, 10 bolts, gear 1x .1-.75, 110’: Layback an ear (gear) to a short crux boulder problem (bolts). A final redpoint crux (more bolts) traverses across mythic edges and finishes at an anchor with a small stance. Try to climb this pitch while it is still in the shade.

Pitch 4: “Undercling Traverse” 5.11+, 6 bolts, gear 1x .5, 50’: Techy traverse around an arete, to a rising undercling traverse. Paste those feet and go. Place your only piece of gear in the crack towards the end. Descending from the top of pitch 4 may be difficult  and would require leaving gear. If you climb this pitch, commit to reaching the top of Pitch 5. 

Pitch 5: “A Golden Corner”, 5.12-, 4 bolts, gear 1x .1-#4, extra .2-.3, 70’: Wide crack climbing (#4) to a ledge, then the first of many golden corners. Exit the thinning corner (left) before its end via bolt protected face climbing and to a stance at an anchor.

Pitch 6: 5.10, 5 bolts, gear 1x .3-#3, extra .4-.5 (optional: #4, extra #2), 130’: Crack climbing to a short bolted face traverse near the top. This pitch ends at the giant mid-route bivy ledge. 

Pitch 7: 5.11-, 12 bolts, gear 1x .3-.75, 130’: Climb a thin crack (gear) to a highly featured (and bolted) vertical face. Mostly 5.10 face climbing, divided by a few hands-free stances and short bouldery cruxes, which may be more difficult for shorter climbers. 

Pitch 8: 5.12- “The Golden Corner”, 15 bolts, gear 1x .2-.5, 1x #3, 110’: Climbing doesn’t get much better than this. Thin technical face climbing on perfect rock (bolts) provides access to a roof, plug in some gear and pull the roof into the perfect golden corner and layback for eternity on more bolts.

Pitch 9: 5.11- “The Golden Corner Cont’d”, 3 bolts, gear 1x .2-#1, 80’: More liebacking up a mostly gear protected golden corner. Skip the first anchor and climb 10ft more to a better stance to belay.

Pitch 10: 5.12+ “The Bear Hug”, 8 bolts, gear 1x .1-#2, extra .2-.5, optional extra #2, 110’: Liebacking on bolts to dual cracks on white and golden rock, then dig deep through a sustained section of steep gear protected crack climbing to a final bolted redpoint crux boulder problem.

Pitch 11: 5.11+, 7 bolts, gear 1x .2-#2, 80’: Perform a short traverse to an offwidth roof crack. Once past the roof, climb another 30 feet to a lone bolt on the left and perform an exposed sequence of moves to cross the arete and to a stance at the base of the final golden corner. Descending from the top of pitch 11 may be difficult or impossible, if you climb this pitch, you are committed to the top of Pitch 12. NOTE: This pitch was bolted so that the rope is directed away from features which may cause the rope to get stuck and/or cause serious drag, do NOT extend your draws on any of the bolts.

Pitch 12: 5.12- “Another Golden Corner”, 9 bolts, gear 1x .2-#1, 100’: Lieback up another perfect golden corner to a crux, gain a hands-free rest then perform an otherworldly v4 horizontal dyno (can also be done semi-static) to a jug. Moderate climbing, protected by a black Totem, provides safe access to the final anchor.

Optional Summit Pitch: 5.7, gear .1-#1, 30’: Climb up to a small gear placement, then left to the arete and to the summit ridge. Belay at the tree above the pitch 12 anchor.

GPS coordinates of base (mixed reports of accuracy): 37.733808, -119.646118

Park at Wood Lot/Ribbon Falls parking. Hike 3/4 of the way up Ribbon Falls trail, at a steep, long, straightaway section, look for a large downed tree overhead (high above the trail) and a faint path on the right. The turnoff (~30 minutes) is/was marked by out-of-place tree branches and rocks blocking the path (may or may not still be there). Follow this trail or bushwhack across the sparse hillside and eventually to the creek. Cross the creek at the path of least resistance, it will be dry in Fall and in early winter (~15 minutes from turnoff). Late Spring crossings may be difficult or impossible, depending on the snow year. If the creek appears to be impassable, it may be possible to leave the main trail earlier and find an alternate crossing. Crossing lower and hiking on the east side of the creek can be unpleasant and will add considerable time to the approach. 

If crossing the creek at the recommended spot, continue to hike up the loose and eroding dirt slope towards the Hourglass Wall, staying on 2nd class terrain, with little or no visible trail. Stay close to the creek. Eventually, the wall will be visible through the trees, just past some large rock bluffs. Approach the main wall from either the left (better) or the right (gully) of the rock bluffs, staying on 2nd class. To approach from the left, after the initial creek crossing, continue to hike up the first few hundred feet of the eroding hill, then cut back over to the creek (fill water bottles) and then angle up and right from the creek towards the base. Depending on where you end up, the final portion of the approach may involve a short 3rd class scramble (~20 minutes from creek crossing).

During late Winter and Spring, you can get drinking water from the creek. When the creek is seasonally dry (Fall/early Winter) it may still be possible to collect water by hiking up the wash from Hourglass Wall to the start of Gates of Delirium.

It’s best to descend directly from the anchor at the top of pitch 12. If you want to climb the final 30’ summit pitch, then you may need to leave behind a sling at the tree to get back down to the pitch 12 anchor. It is also possible (but not recommended) to rappel from the anchor at the top of Blue Collar by traversing the summit ridge to climber’s right for about 50 feet to an anchor. Blue Collar directly descends P11 and P10 of GC, which is very awkward (use directionals).

The descent listed below is recommended, using 2x 60m ropes.

From top of pitch 12, rappel 150’ directly down the left side of the formation (independent rappel path), around the arete and to the separate rappel anchor marked on the topo. Take care when pulling the rope to avoid potential knot catching features on the arete (hold the end of the rope until it’s out of reach).

From there, rappel past P9 anchor, to the anchor at top of pitch 8.

From the top of pitch 8, two rappels to the big ledge (marked on topo).

From the ledge, rappel from the anchor on the right edge of the ledge, this will take you directly to the top of pitch 3.

From the top of pitch 3, two rappels to the ground (marked on topo).

17x mix of quickdraws and alpine draws, gear BD 1x .1-#4, extra .2-.5 (Totem equivalent in small sizes work great), 2x ropes 60m. An extra #2 and a single set of offset alloy + brass nuts are optional. All anchors are bolted.

When the creek at the base is running (late Winter/Spring), it can be extremely difficult to hear your partner on the route, so radios are very helpful (cringe).

This wall faces south and slightly east, consequently, it receives sun for most of the day and is a great option for the late/early shoulder seasons and the Winter. The morning shade is due to El Cap’s shadow. Prime conditions are during daytime highs of 50-60 degrees. Because the base of the wall is 1500' above the valley floor, it sits above cold air layer down low and is considerably warmer at the base, even on colder days. Route does not seep in the Spring.

Late Winter-Spring: Sun from approximately 10am-3pm
Fall-Early Winter: Sun from approximately 9am-4pm

This is a great mini free wall due to the mid-route bivy ledge which provides comfortable sleeping for two (additional parties may want a portaledge). The ledge also allows for easy access to both crux pitches (pitch 3 and pitch 10). The top of pitch 3 can be accessed with a single 60m rope fixed from the anchor on the right side of the ledge (Blue Collar). The base of pitch 10 can be accessed with two 60m ropes, one rope fixed to the top of pitch 7 and another rope fixed to the bottom of pitch 10.

Hang your food and/or use hard sided food storage since you may be sharing the ledge with a ringtail cat.

Only three hauls are required from the ground to the ledge. Leave your overnight gear on the ledge and bring only a light pack (or no pack) to the summit.

First Haul: 55m haul from the ground to top of pitch 2. Take care with getting the bag past the roof near the ground.

Second Haul: 30m haul from top of pitch 3, leave bag and haul line here while you climb the route to ledge.

Third Haul: From ledge, fix climbing rope to anchor on right side, lower to bag at top of pitch 3, ascend rope back to ledge, do one 55m haul to the ledge (jumar setup required).