This is a great and sustained route -- somewhat tough on the toes, but the crux is easy for the grade. All-in-all the rock isn't quite as good as the Regular Route, but it is much steeper -- it's a toss up as to which one is the better route.
P1: Begin by a large block that is leaning against the dome. Head up on somewhat low angle terrain with limited opportunities for pro, do a tough step left, then contour up and right and belay on an obvious platform ledge below the beginning of a long left-facing corner system. 5.9.
P2: Continue up on 5.9 climbing to another ledge below a thin finger crack.
P3: Climb up the finger crack past a crux move, and then onwards up a steep, left-leaning crack to a good belay. 5.10d. I believe there is a 5.9 variation out right near the start that avoids the hard climbing but that it is of lesser quality.
P4: Continue up the steep corner using the crack and knobs. 5.9.
P5: Perform a somewhat scary underclinging traverse left and around to another corner system and up this to a belay. 5.9.
P6: Continue in the same system. The climbing eases with the angle. 5.8
We climbed this beautiful route one day, and got back to the base in the early afternoon. The Regular route was starting to empty out so we climbed that as well. A fantastic day of climbing!
Pitch 5 as depicted here has another hair-raising option that we accidentally did, definitely more committing than the undercling:
Continue directly up the ever-thinning crack, past the undercling exit, using mostly knobs and the occasional good fingerlock. Pro is sparse, thin tcu's. Eventually, just as the thin crack peters out and your runout meter (if it's at all like mine) hits red you'll arrive to what you'll think is your salvation but turns out to be a nightmarishly hollow flake the size of a jumbo dining table. I belayed from here, not recommended - scary, left that belay with more grey hairs on my head. Beyond the flake, a committing traverse up and left past a big hole (runout, falling not an option considering the hollow flake) gets you back to the P6 crack as described above. I probably wouldn't do it again, and wouldn't have done it if I knew what it'd entail, but definitely a pitch I'll not soon forget!
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