Portions of Arch Rock are closed as of May 21, 2009: Lower Merced Canyon. Closure includes all routes above Arch Rock, from "GRE" east to but not including "Juliette's Flake", including "Cross Country," "Kindergarten Crack," "Quickie Quizzes," and Arch Rock Pinnacle. The routes from "Anticipation" east to "Grokin" remain open.
The first time I was on this climb was mid June in 100F heat. Perhaps not the best conditions, because I only got hotter as I got higher.
The climb starts with the technical crux, a polished finger crack. Thankfully this is short and leads to a very good ledge and rest. If you ever want to hear sticky rubber squeak, this is your climb!
What follows is a great hand jamming sequence, up to the midway point of the climb. The crack slowly widens to wide hands, then to off width and finally to a polished chimney.
When you reach the anchors, take deep breaths and marvel at this classic climb, and wonder why size 8 friends never caught on.
Location
Located in the middle of the Arch Rock cliff
Protection
1 set nuts, 2 sets cams. V Large cams useful for upper section
You really won't use anything larger than #4 camalot, which you can use for the transition into the squeeze. The squeeze at the top is too big for #6 camalot I think, and you would be hard pressed to fall out. There is a chockstone with slings to clip in the back of the squeeze, and then maybe 20 more feet to a bolted rap on the left wall. Awesome route!
I brought the #5 c4 camalot and was stoked to have it. The 10b fingures is easy compared to the physical nature of moving in the squeeze. The chockstone is crap and I would not want to find out if it could hold. You can push the 5 for a bit in the back and it fits perfect. This pitch is excellent and a great journey in tecnique through almost every size.
Really fun climbing through a variety of techniques. Short crux at the bottom. I'm a proponent of Zach's gear recommendation: if you're comfortable on moderate chimneys, you won't need any big gear. Also, watch out for the poison oak inside the chimney. This route gets direct sun in the middle of the day, so plan accordingly and enjoy!
Used a C4 #4, #5, #6. The chockstone is definitely crap and rattled a bit upon inspection. I was able to walk the #6 up until about 10 ft below the chains. Echoing Skiclimber's comments, it really is an amazing journey through the sizes.
Is there still a beehive inside of this thing? I came to do it in October of 1997 and was bouted by bees. Haven't returned, but someday I would like to if the bees are gone.
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