Abracadaver 

The bolted line to the right of Abra was done by, of course, Scott Ayers.
I have done the first two pitches at .11a and .12a. According to what Scott told me several months ago, the next pitch is 5.10, then another .12 pitch and a .11 pitch. I think. I do know he said the 5.12 2nd pitch I did was not the crux pitch of the route.
Lots of hard slabby climbing, on this one.
Just the first pitch is fun and worth a quick go.

An absolute classic test piece.
11a ? I guess with sticky rubber, micro cams, etc...

I remember taking a fall from the top of layback in '77 or so.
I ripped two pieces and fell past Steve at the belay.
I had just grabbed the flake that stuck out (which later cut loose on some poor party.)

A few weeks later, Fig Fiola took a similar fall and broke his ankle when he popped the bottom of the small ramp. Very nasty walk out...
Steve and I were down in the drainage soaking sun and watching Fig and Dave have a go.

Another variation: In early/mid 80's, I led the first 3 pitches (this time the 3rd felt pretty good, hmmm, stickier shoes (Fires), TCUs (set of Bryne's beta versions) and better technique (done a few more finger cracks by that time) with JJ (John Juraschek.)

From the top of the third, I led out left across the main face for 50-100 (?) ft or so, no gear but easy climbing. This put us into the crack system over there that is probably the upper Jaberwocky pitches. It's a corner groove that took a couple of sketchy nuts. I believe it was a set of three discontinous cracks up and right. Belayed in the second one. I recall being somewhat frazzled by the moves with only 2 questionable pieces between me and a full rope whipper.

This set of cracks had been climbed a few weeks earlier by ??? (either Eb Webster or Chip Chase, Webster I believe.)

They eventually link you into the main cracks with the rappel bongs.

A bolt or two would make it a pretty neat variation. Maybe one at the bottom of the system or perhaps one towards the end of the long traverse ?

Does anyone know how many pitches can be linked on this climb? Especially if you have a 100m rope!!!

I suspect you could combine 1 and 2 (heh heh.)
And probably stretch the original #4 out for a long ways and belay up in the upper crack somewhere.

Not sure why'd you want to do that. The current belays are very natural breaks.

with a 70m, you can link pitches one and two. just make sure you bring enough pro for the belay. there are two good spots for the belay where the crack narrows below what is traditionally regarded as the third pitch. using the large pinch/flake located where the crack starts to narrow, you can belay off .75 and #1 camalots and/or large nuts. go another 10 feet or so and you can belay right at the base of the dihedral off of red TCUs, .75 camalots, and/or large nuts. while the higher belay may be more comfortable, it reduces the length of the stellar third pitch.

other notes:

third pitch didn't feel like 11a. more like 10a/b. bats like to nest inside this crack, fyi. kind of freaky when you climb past (or over?) them. take yellow or blue TCU for section (crux) below the roof traverse.

beginning crack of traditional 4th pitch feels close to 11a. purple TCU or small nut works well for crux. take some runners for the rest of this pitch. about a 180' pitch. belay atop flake is cozy, though.

fifth pitch has two bolts. after climbing up the 3-4" crack above teh belay, you reach a big flake/jug. directly above this about 10' is the first bolt. the next (and last bolt) is about 30' higher. moves at first bolt are fun, airy, and solid.

two metolius rap anchors have been put in next to the old rap station, of which only one bong is left. first rap station (down and to the left of the huge flake(pitch 4 belay)) is easy to find. we had trouble finding the last station, as it's a ways to the right and a pain to get to.

with offwidth, hands, fingers, laybacking, flares, and even some face climbing, abracadaver might be the astroman of cochise.

What a day! Rugged approach, excellent & varied climbing, solid rock, great position & beautiful views.

I thought the start of P4 was at least PG-13, and I never saw the piton. A fall onto that ledge would suck.

We finished on the 11a face. Tough move past the bolt, but then it eases off considerably, which is good because it's a long way to the second bolt.

I love the description above for P2: "Feed yourself into the offwidth above. Expect no mercy." Very descriptive. I taped my ankles ant still got ankle gobies!

A few things to add.
I thought it felt like yosemite 11A crack. Arizona??
Pitch 4 is the sleeper. I placed a red alien blind from a layback. I'd give the pitch an R. One of the best climbs of the grade on granite.

Paul H., linking 2 and 3 works very well and cuts out the hanging belay.

Absolutely stellar route! I just climbed it last Saturday (Dec. 12) and feel it's the best route I've done in Arizona. I know that means little without a list of routes that I've done there, but the route is outstanding. Each pitch has such unique character. It was quite cold when we did and somewhat wooden hands might have colored my perceptions. I thought the first pitch had one very hard, super insecure move. It just didn't seem like it would work out. Besides that one move the first pitch isn't too bad. Some offwidth at the top to warm you up for the second pitch. The second pitch is probably sustained Yosemite 5.9+ offwidth, meaning, it's pretty brutal. But you can push an old-size #5 Camalot up almost the entire way, so it is very safe with this piece. Besides this piece bring one more #5 Camalot (old size) to leave, and singles of #4.5, #4, #3.5, #3, #2, and #1. I used the #1 and #3.5 for the belay. There is an old bolt about 40 feet up and a fixed copperhead/stopper 20 feet up.

The lieback pitch felt very hard, following, and obviously harder leading. Pulling out of the lieback to place gear is really burly and I was glad my partner led it. The crux of the pitch is just endurance and getting into the stem when you hit the roof. Your fingers never really sink into the crack. The traverse to the belay is 10- at most.

Pitch four is a bit heady to be sure. I took a 15-foot fall here. It's sort of hard to get the gear in. Small cams and RP's work well, but the crack is a seam and you have to run it out between placements. The fixed pin is gone - there is no fixed gear on this pitch now. It is also a long pitch, at least 150 feet, but the hard climbing is all in the first 40 feet.

The fifth pitch is ridiculously easy compared to the other pitches. 11a??!! No way. It is literally one move, with your nose at the bolt. My partner called it 5.9. It might be 10-. Above there the climb is 5.7 and on good edges - no dicey friction moves. The next bolt is 20 feet up and it causes zero stress. The rest of the pitch is super easy slab paddling.

Finding the summit is indeed very complex. There is a great description in the Southern Arizona guidebook. It took us 90 minutes and 6 tries to finally find the route. We were only the 4th party all year to summit.

I am sooooooo glad that I finally got on it. I climbed it with Chris, and hats off to him for leading the second pitch. I thought it was really straighforward climbing (except pitch 2, which involved some serious effort). Pith 3 is amazing, if it could only go on and on. I would highly recommend this route to anyone climbing at the grade. Pitch 4 is a little heady to start, but eases up and the friendly flake is absolutly wild! We didn't have enough time to do the final 6th pitch, but I WILL STAND ON TOP SOON. I cannot wait to do it again!

Outstanding!!

FWIW - Steve Grossman always felt the 4th pitch was the true crux of the climb. Maybe technically it is. Nasty little fall.

There's also the first pitch which no one ever mentions. Relative to the others it's not that notable but if you're not familiar with groove climbing, I bet it could wake you right up. How does it protect these days with newer gear ?

I'm still waiting to read about the new route up the rappel line.

Hi Paul, protecting the first pitch is now a no-brainer, with cams.
I wonder how it was with nuts & hexes back in the day ?!
New route in the rappel line? Would love to know about it.

Is it useful to carry a #6 camalot up this route?

Not really unless you wanted to push it up p2. Otherwise it might be hard to climb 'around' since it would be out on the edge. You'd benefit more by doubling up on 3's and 4's. They go in deep enough to allow climbing past. Might be able to place a 6 on p4 somewhere but definitely not required.

I had one when I led it, but I'm also kind of a wimp and I suck at OW. I find it relatively easy to rest throughout the pitch, but harder to move up, so that lends itself to walking the cam pretty well.

Like Daryl says though, it is definitely safe with nothing bigger than a 4. Nice to keep in mind that Dave Baker led this pitch with something like one #11 hex above the bolt on the FA!

You can leave the #6 or other wide gear at the anchor on top of pitch 3 since you'll be rapping back down that way anyway. But carry a #4 camalot for a short 5.7/8 wide spot on P4.

Stellar climb, certainly among the very best in the Stronghold.

The route descriptions here are terrific, to this I can only add a topo to consolidate the information. It can be downloaded from www.geir.com/climbs.html

Skip the #6, you don't need anything more than singles including a #4 BD camalot

The OW is the crux!

Awesome topo Geir but you left out the breakfast sandwich, lower two-thirds of small intestine and socks I barfed up on p2. Last I checked, it was all wedged in right about where you have "5.10OW" annotated.

^^^^^^^^^ Hahahaha Daryl I just saw this post!!!! Hilarious! And sorry to hear that too. :)