This route starts just right of Northeast Farce, by some shallow cracks. Go up these cracks, traverse left, and then over some small overhangs to a belay. Pitch 2 (5.7) traverses right to a crux finger jam move, leading up to a very nice 120 foot long jam crack. Easier climbing above largely follows Northeast Farce up to the shoulder of the rock above.
After the second pitch it is possible to finish by heading up and slightly to the left over the root of the dihedral (making it a three pitch route instead of five). This avoids the loose uninspired last pitches. From the end of this pitch you can drop straight into the north gully descent. The best easy hand crack in Idylwild.
A spicier and longer finish is to go up then right over a small overhang.(this is well below the bolt) Run it out right face climbing to a vertical crack and ascend to under the arch to a comfortable belay, (5.7).
There are several alternative exits from the arch, all about the same difficulty. The highest quality alternative is to continue with an easy long pitch and exit at the overhang that is shared by N.E. Face West and several other routes.
This produces about a six pitch climb and adds a couple of quality ones.
Bolt? What bolt? The ORIGINAL way it was done was to take the arch exit to where the route joins the NE Butt. exit. Exiting where the NE Farce goes IS NOT El Whampo. Yep, the 2nd pitch was fun for the grade but the third pitch (headin up and right along a thin crack/seam) was fun too (5.7 friction).
North Face
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