Start atop the same boulder as for beeline. Work up the face to the right of beeline to the right facing corner about 15-20 feet off the deck. Balance up and place some gear in this thin crack. Commit to the arete and clip the 1974 1/4 inch buttonhead. paddle up the slab to a dish where you can coax a chickenhead into being slung. In my humble opinion this is pretty serious climbing, although Kerry's book doesnt make it seem to be. THis felt to be the crux, and i would call it 5.8, but call it 5.7 if you want. Follow the glorious arete up to join beeline at the easy hand crack below the anchor. Breathe deeply as you clip into two good bolts about 190' from the start. If you want to rap, i guess you can, but the sceond pitch is worth it and not so hard. It is a wee bit run out (or maybe more so). Climb up through easy chicken heads and angle slightly left. Paddle on clipping a bolt, then up to the horizontal fracture with good gear (#3). paddle to the top. Rap chains are atop the second pitch- im not sure what the best way to get down is, we ended up rapping around the corner to the chains atop the 5.7 chimney climbs, which worked.
Protection
single set of nuts and cams to # 3 camalot, plus quite a few slings for tying off chicken heads.
I think there's a good case for a 5.8 raing here. Also, don't be like me and skip the corner. Going to the arete too soon is more than a little scary. You probably want the gear you can get in the crack before you commit to moving onto the face past that buttonhead. Fun climbing but I had to change my drawers.
Stronghold Dome
RSS Feed
