Mountain Project: Climbing High Sierra

This route is a great addition to the Hulk due to it's moderate nature and location. This can be climbed on colder days since the first five pitches get earlier sun and are sheltered from the wind.

P1 - 5.10a - 180' Start in the middle of the red wall in the wide crack/chimney. Switch to the left crack when possible and climb to the end. You may switch back to the wide crack if necessary. As you near the top the rock quality diminishes. Follow ledges up and right and be careful of many loose blocks. Belay at the base of a splitter crack.

P2 - 5.9 - 180' Move left and then climb a continuous crack in a corner. Follow this up passing a few 5.9 sections before the angle lessens and you find yourself on easy terrain. Climb ledges up towards the right of two cracks, again aware this is a new alpine climb with some loose rock. Belay below the next obvious splitter.

P3 - 5.9 - 180' Follow the right of two cracks up the face until it ends. There is a tricky section near the top with a few loose flakes that can be avoided by stepping right early. Belay at another great ledge below a stem box.

P4 - 5.9 - 100' Stem up the slot with very enjoyable 5.9 moves. continue up the face and eventually you will have the option to step left to easier terrain or continue laybacking on the right (harder). Belay on a sandy ledge below a sweet looking corner.

P5 - 5.9 - 180'. Go up the corner about 10-15 feet and then use an obvious section of slab to make your way to the right most crack. This section is a bit heads up but is no harder than 5.8. One established in the wide crack grunt your way up making liberal use of face features. For some this will be the crux of the route. The rock is not as great on this pitch. Work your way right then up and left to an alcove with great rock, belay here.

P5 Thin Corner Variation - 5.10/10+ - 180' Another option for pitch five is to continue up the corner instead of escaping across the face (slab). This requires thin gear and raises the grade significantly. You still will end up on the same ledge and can belay in the alcove.

P6/7 - 5.8 - 300'. Head up the corner using the nice crack on the left side while stemming on the right wall. Eventually you will have the option to step right and continue up the lower angle face.
At some point you will run out of rope and need to belay, or you can simul-climb (5.7). Continue up the cracks to the ridge and head left to the summit. A very large cairn should be visible on your right that notes the way to the rappel station. The rock really starts falling apart on the 2nd half of this pitch so be careful.

P6-7 10a ("A-Line") Variation Finish. Instead of stepping right continue up the steep corner with solid rock and great fingerlocks, 5.10. This should take you to a ledge with a few balanced rocks. Belay when it seems appropriate. Another pitch on good rock with a nice hand crack should lead you straight up to the summit. Wahoo!

Location

This route is located on the far right side of the Incredible Hulk. Walk up hill from the start of the Red Dihedral, past the "Falling Dihedral" until you find a large red wall with three cracks.

Protection

Double set of cams from thin fingers to #3 camalot + a single #4 camalot. + Nuts. Many Slings. No fixed anchors.

Comments on Beeline

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By J. Albers
From: Colorado
Aug 29, 2010

Wow, nice. Thanks for posting this Luke. How did you feel about the quality of this compared to the Red Dihedral? If you were going there with someone and they were only going to have a chance to get on one route at the grade, would you do this or the Red?

By Luke Stefurak
From: Mountain View, CA
Aug 30, 2010

The Red Dihedral is steeper with cleaner rock (from the RD pitch on up) and clearly sees more traffic. I've done the RD twice and personally don't enjoy the crux pitch. The repetitive jamming in the corner feels awkward. The 10a splitter, however, is amazing and the rock on the upper half is very good.

Beeline is much shorter and can be done in a half or short day. While there are more 5.9 pitches none are sustained even though the pitches are quite long. I think this is a good climb for the day you hike in or hike out but not a sole objective. It still has loose rock so be careful!

By Ben Collett
Aug 14, 2011

It is still a little loose. The first five pitches are fun, but it deteriorates a little on the last two. It is very accessible and way easier than the Red Dihedral.

By d e
From: Reno, NV
Aug 22, 2011

Found a lot of loose rock, climbing the 10/10+ and 10a variations are well worth it, the rock is solid, pro is easy and the moves are fun

By Rich Farnham
Dec 6, 2011

Trip Report on Supertopo from when Rob Dillon and I went up A-line, and possibly did the FA of the P5 huge stemming corner and some great 5.9-5.10 cracks above (July 2010). Info on Beeline and A-line at the time showed that both routes broke onto the slab right of of the P5 corner, and moved up easier terrain to the shoulder where it merges with the descent.

As Rob says in the TR, it gets hard to describe at the top. We didn't see some of the features that the FA parties for Beeline and A-line described. As best we can tell, we were left of their line, out on the arete. Most of the climbing out there was steller Sierra splitters. There was a short 5.8 wide grovel to link some features, but it was worth it.

In general, I'd recommend the variations that Luke describes above. This sounds pretty close to our line, and makes for a great route up the Hulk at a lower grade than most of the other lines. I'd say the crux pitch (P5 corner) is slightly harder than anything on Red Dihedral, but overall it is similar in difficulty.

Beeline

5.10-

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