Wow, this thing is hard. My big toes still hurt three days later and I’m not sure if I ever want to get back up there. The line is a little contrived but none the less it’s still a good rock climb and you’ll have a fun time trying to move off those dime edges.
For the first three pitches the route follows the large black steak between the Regular Route and Heart of Stone. On pitch four traverse right along the dike for about twenty feet and head up the thin golden plates (these are your hand and foot holds). Pitch five is the crux, much similar to pitch four just harder. Three more pitches of easier climbing bring you to the large U-shaped ledge. From there you can rappel (two rope required) or climb two easy pitches to the top of the dome.
You won’t get lost on this climb because it’s heavily bolted almost the whole way. The last two pitches wander a little but there’s enough bolts to keep you on track, bring some 1/4 to 1 inch cams for these pitches.
The guide book gives this route a 5.12 rating but if could be harder due to fragile edges (holds) breaking and crumbling. My partner and I broke a few.
RSS Feed
