Phosphorescent Flow takes the right arete of the huge buttress on the lower west face of the Witch. This buttress has Gorilla Warfare on its left side and The Pit and the Pendulum to the right. Spot a first and second bolt way the heck up there...
Getting past these first two bolts is quite terrifying -- you're looking at certain injury and possibly worse if you blow it, but the climbing is really good and the holds are all positive. A great approach/warm up to the harder climbs on the upper south face of the Witch.
It is possible to rap to various anchors with a single 70m rope to get down from this long pitch.
Protection
Draws, plus a few finger-sized cams to protect some of the runouts in the middle section of the route.
In it's original form, this climb was always a favorite of mine. The bolts were in the perfect places protecting the harder moves. When GV rebolted it he removed the originals, and increased the count with bolts in new locations. Then some gents I know went and chopped enough of GV's new bolts to bring the count back down to 3 (I think that was the original number) but they were not in the correct places any more. I know, 'cause I went and did it and the harder moves were not well protected, as they were. Unless this has been remedied since then, the route cannot be said to be in it's original condition.
The Witch
RSS Feed
