BETA PHOTO: Looking down on the first belay. The first pitch m...
Description
This is an airy, exposed but totally safe journey up the impressive hanging arete on the far right side of the Ship's Prow (the north-facing side just above Chasm Lake). An awesome route in its own right, this is also a good Plan B tick if things are looking wet and/or ominous on the Diamond.
P1: (12a) Though the cracks on the sunny east side of the arete beckon, the first pitch actually climbs a thin, tips splitter around the right side of the arete, on the north-facing wall. Climb a 1.5" crack up to a roof. A bolt and a fixed stopper take you past a crux and into sustained 5.11 territory. Once the crack ends at a pegmatite blob, finger-tip traverse left past a fixed nut and a bolt (crux #2) to the arete, then climb easy ground to a double-bolt belay. If you're feeling heroic, drop a line in on Tommy Caldwell's Sarchasm (14a), the bolted line up the arete proper.
P2: (11+) This is a short but stout pitch that takes you out to a spectacular belay on the hanging arete. Climb easy corners (thin gear) up and right, then move left past three bolts on funky slopers to reach the belay.
P3: (12c) Possibly one of the best sport pitches around! Hats-off, kudos, and props to Pat and Jim for their multiple trips up to the Ship's Prow to hand-drill the 13 bolts on this pitch. This pitch is in your face right off the belay -- climb very overhanging rock on the undercut arete, pimping slopers, little crimps, and funky pinches. As the angle relents, so does the climbing. Tricky route-finding and devious cruxes on the upper arete and face will have you on your toes all the way to the double-bolt anchors at the top of the prow.
NOTE: This pitch is exactly 30 meters long -- you can get back to the belay with a 60-meter rope and your second can top-rope to clean the draws. Bring a 60 meter trail line and you can double-rope rappel straight to the ground from the belay at the base of this pitch. This is probably the easiest -- and safest -- way off the route. Rapping the route with a single line would involve lots of swinging around in space, kicking desperately at the wall to get back in to the lower set of anchors, and is *not* recommended.
Protection
This route mostly has bolts and fixed gear, but you'll need a light rack for the first and second pitches -- some stoppers, RP's, #0 and #00 TCUs, and doubles up through about 2 inches.
Ship's Prow
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