The slabby face climb up the steep part of the southern formation. While some of the moves are balancy and worthy of 5.9 difficulty, the climb is gradual enough that you can rest almost anywhere. Making it a great .9 to solo!
Protection
Use the top rope anchors atop the South Formation. They can be easilly reached by going left around the entire climbing area (which isn't too big) and scrambling up the back (4th class) to the highest point in the park.
I used to solo this regularly in the 80's. I had no idea of the rating at the time. It seemed pretty easy and not 5.9 at all. Since I was doing easier problems in my first year of climbing, I figured it was maybe 5.8. The holds, though small, were pretty obvious even to me, rank beginner I was at the time.It always made me feel pretty good to get up in the ankle sparin zone without a spotter.It brought me to the attention of Chuck Ostin, who figured that if I was doing 5.9 face climmbing unroped I was worthy of climbing with. He got me up my first 5.10 and 5.11 climbs.
I have been out of town for 17 years. Is Chuck still alive and climbing? He would be about 65 now.
By Aron Quiter Administrator From: Berkeley, CA Apr 29, 2004 rating: 5.8+
I routinely use this as my downclimb from the top of the main rock at Remillard. 5.9 is a stretch, but hey I'm pretty good at 5.9 slab / dihedral stuff.
South Formation
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