Jeff on the Arrowhead Arete. Arrowhead Spire is in...
Description
Several pitches of fun, moderate climbing that make for a pleasant outing. The standard pitch count is listed as 7 pitches, but I'm sure you could link many with a 60 or 70m rope. Four 5.7/5.8 pitches lead to the base of the "Great White Flake". Continue on 5.6 that turns to 4th class terrain. Another bit of 5.7 to 4th class, followed by an easy but super-exposed knife edge ridge.
From the summit, rap gully to the west with a single rope.
Location
From the Church Bowl area, walk west along a foot trail. Locate a trail that switchbacks up Indian Canyon, and hike/scramble to the west towards the base of the Arête. There is a good approach topo in the Supertopo guidebook. Supertopo lists the approach as "2-3 hours". My notes (from 1999) has our approach time listed as 1 hour, 15 minutes, but your mileage may vary.
The knife-edge ridge was a fun bonus! I would have given the climb 3 stars if the approach wasn't so bad.
By Mike Morley Administrator From: Oakland, CA May 29, 2009
Climbed this again today, 10 years after first doing it. As George suggests, climbing the Spire first is recommended, adding a couple pitches of climbing plus a cool summit. 3 out of 4 stars done this way. The knife edge ridge is worth it!
Also, the approach/descent is really not as bad as it's made out to be. It's on par with Braille Book - a fair bit of elevation gain, but fairly straightforward. Took us just over an hour to get the base, and about the same to get down from the top. All told, 6.5 hours car to car, and thats from a couple of old guys.
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