Type: Trad, 800 ft (242 m), 6 pitches, Grade III
FA: Layton Kor and Chuck Alexander, 1950s
Page Views: 90,091 total · 319/month
Shared By: Charles Vernon on Dec 31, 2000
Admins: Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monty, Monomaniac, Tyler KC

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Description Suggest change

A 5.7 route of this length and consistent quality is rare. Kor's Flake is hard, sustained, and exposed for the grade. 

Hike up west past the large overhang of Turnkorner Buttress to a point shortly beyond the deep chimney separating it from the Guillotine Wall. Scramble up onto an outcrop below a deep, narrow chimney with some loose rock and a large chockstone about 30 feet up.

P1 - squeeze up the chimney, go right under the chockstone, and emerge to climb moderate rock for about 50 feet to a belay ledge. The namesake flake, a massive, left-angling 150 foot high exfoliation forming a long, right-facing, left-leaning corner, is visible up on the left.

P2 - climb the corner above the belay to gain the namesake flake, and go up it about 30 feet to an awkward belay (5.7).

P3 - finish off the flake, which turns into a wide crack/chimney, go over a small roof, and belay on a slab, about 150 feet.

2017 Edit: there are two ways to climb this pitch, both of which I've done on lead. If you stay out of the crack, it's 5.8 R (possibly R/X) stemming with *occasional* gear in incipient cracks. If you squeeze into the crack, it's a tight grunt but much more secure. Either way, bringing gear larger than a #4 Camalot is up to your discretion based on your honest assessment of your abilities on chimneys and/or 5.8 R face climbing. (Sorry if I sandbagged anyone pre-2017. When I first climbed this around 1999 or 2000, there was no mountainproject, the existing guidebooks did not recommend anything larger than 4", and I think it was probably rare to bring bigger gear on the route, but I could be wrong.)

P4 - climb up and left into a right-facing corner, but traverse left out of it after about 20 feet. Climb a continuous hand and finger crack to a good belay below a dihedral/roof (5.7, 130 feet).

P5 - climb around the overhang to the left (5.7), and stretch the rope out to easier ground. Finish up and right to find the descent gully.

Protection Suggest change

Standard rack to a #4 Camalot or larger depending on comfort level on the chimney pitch. If unsure, the comments below contain more gear beta than you can shake a nut tool at :)

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