Finished with the freeblast and on to bigger thing...
Description
Totally CLASSIC route in its own right! Will get you ready for typical El Cap weirdness. All the hardest pitches rely on good bolts and some questionable fixed gear.
P1. Start from the pedestal and aim for the double cracks. Cool opposing crack moves and lots of good pro tapers to a hand size crack with some loose flakes and then a 2-bolt anchor on the right. (5.10)
P2. Jam or lieback (better) the unassumingly awkward flake/crack to a hanging 3-bolt belay under the roof. (5.8+)
Belay low, away from anchor. Right bolt will be 1st piece for next lead.
P3. Demanding and committing free-climbing with small underclings, shitty feet and hidden pin-scar moves around the roof...Very exciting...Head up to the cool flare and stem up to a ledge through a fun blocky section. (5.11 R)
Gear at roof is one bolt, a sketchy upward driven pin and two fixed wired at the end of the roof (both have very frayed cables and one is about to snap as of mid June 2007).
P4. A face move connects to the continuous arching crack out left (can protect up high in right crack). Follow the awesome tips crack with good pro and lieback/stem your way up and over the bulge and onto a good ledge and bolted anchor. (5.10)
P5. Run it out up the precipitous groove. The groove thins to a heavily pin-scarred seam. Have all your offset nuts and Aliens ready to unload where you can but don't block your fingers! Do a trick move right over the bulge and link a couple more finger pods until you can clip the first of several good bolts. (10+ R) ...Tiptoe out left to clip bolts and a pin using long runners (ignore the pins/bolts that go up and left. Start a rising friction traverse out right past a couple bolts. Stay to the right of the bolt line for a hard stand-up crux move and clip a bolt which probably has a poot-sling on it. From the last bolt, balance through a thought provoking section with a drilled hook hole and blunt knob. Its run out to the anchor over easing terrain and mantles. (5.11)
P6. Friction climbing with some small edges follows a closely spaced bolt ladder (new bolts). (5.11-) At the end of the ladder make a tough move left to an overlap with a good pin to clip. Continue to make exciting crux moves until you can stand in the polished, crystalline dike and clip a bolt. A slippery traverse left finally puts you on a ledge...A very cool face pitch, my favorite. (5.11)
P7. Jam and stem up a right facing corner and up and over a steep section with some interesting flakes. Set up a belay off gear and pins below the Half Dollar flake. (5.9)
P8. The Half Dollar (the easiest of the wide features on the Salathe and quite fun if you do it right)...Undercling and jam to a stance at the sweeping corner. After a frustrating gear placement, stand-up and twist it up! There is good gear in the corner.
KEY BETA: Get your right side toward the corner and stem up and hopefully you can reach jugs on the left wall which can be liebacked as you stem until you can finally jam the crack. Once you are in the middle of the corner/chimney there are different ways to do it. Climb over a big block on the ledge and belay. Make it fun!! (5.10)
P9-10. Can be linked with a 70M or 60M and 20' of simul-climbing...Broken corners to a blocky, rampy crack system. Bolted anchor at the right edge of the big ledge.
Traverse left to another anchor and either start downclimbing or single rope rap to another anchor...Keep downclimbing the inside sometimes wide corner/crack (5.10) or do a double rope rap over to Heart Ledge and the beginning of the double rope rappels to the base...Look around for anchor options on the way down and slightly right.
Location
First ten-eleven pitches of the Salathe Wall route. Left side of the Nose buttress.
Protection
Runners and draws. Double set of cams from blue Alien to blue Camalot). Include a set of (offset) wired nuts plus double offset brass (HB's are nice). Tag an extra rope unless you KNOW FOR SURE that the raps are fixed and are rigged up properly! People do weird things up there...
I like pitches 1, 4 and 5 best, but each pitch is good. I had HB offsets with me, and though I was gripped I wouldn't give 5 an R rating. The protection reminded me of Poodles are People Too in Josh, small but solid. Plus, even a sizeable fall on this slab wouldn't be so bad I don't think.
I thought this climb sucked I hope the rest of freerider is better. We did beggars buttress and the rostrum on the same trip both were way better. Maybe my expectations were too high for freeblast but considering the location and history you can understand why. Most of the climbing was forgetable awkward or just plain blah.
I wouldn't call P5 R, the gear is thin but pretty good, bring aliens. The climb is awesome. All pitches might not be 4 stars out of 4 but the location is just perfect, an pitches 1,2,4,5 are consistently amazing! Pitch 2 has some funky fixed gear. get on it, really good outing when you're back from a bigwall and you aren't up for more hauling and want be on the big stone.
By Adam Winters Administrator From: Bishop, CA Jun 3, 2009
The cable on one of the two fixed wires at the roof of pitch 3 is now blown, the remaining one is still usable. There is also a new fixed .75 camalot on pitch one (dammit). We beat the rain on this one, and had Mr. Leo Houlding on our ass thru pitch 6 where he passed us very politely, climbing like the wind.
By Kat A From: Bart and Lisa Ville, CO Jun 5, 2009
I agree with the above comments - this didn't feel like it was R rated. The roof has two fixed pieces - an old pin and a decent nut. We found the crux of this route to be the 5.10 slabs on P5 and P6, rather than the 11a roof.
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