The Gates of Eden takes the strenuous, overhanging slot immediately left of Double Jeopardy. Nothing to hide here! The climbing is reminicent of the struggle-fests found on just about every multi-pitch 5.9 in Yosemite- this is a good trainer for building confidence in thrashing. The climbing is actually quite good, and well-protected to boot. Getting off the ground is the hard part, but the whole climb provides a sustained workout. Step left to anchors on Grand Inquisitor or Hound Dog, then rappel; or continue up and right to join upper Cosmosis. The aspiring 5.9/5.10- trad climber could devise a bit of a marathon on Bell Buttress by climbing Gates of Eden, Double Jeopardy, Cosmosis, West Crack, and West Face in-a-day. A good trainer for something like the NE Buttress on Higher Cathedral Rock in the Valley...
A more realistic training day for the NE Buttress on Higher Cathedral Rock in the Valley would be to do these 5 routes at least twice, and then hike Green Mountain.
By Tony B From: Boulder, CO May 22, 2002 rating: 5.10+
Gear to a #4 Friend sounds good to me. The opening overhang is tough for 10a, and somewhat insecure. I remember wishing I had a second fist-sized piece.
Steve's right about the workout for NE Buttress of HCR in Yosemite, except that you should hike Green Mountain first. NE Butt is the 5.9 climber's Astroman. It is big, burly, and the second half is much harder than the first half. Even 5.11 and above climbers (like Steve) respect this route.
Gates of Eden is a pretty cool route. I agree that doubles of fist size stuff makes it seem less scary. It's a good alternative if people are on Cosmosis and West Face. Don't be put off by its daunting appearance.
I lugged a #4 (Camalot) and doubles on the hand sizes, and ended up only using a single rack up to a #3. The crack in the back of the flare varies in size enough that you don't need lots of big gear. Rather than going up and way left to the anchors on Hound Dog, it's very easy to place a directional and step right to the anchors at the top of the new bolt route on the arete just right of Double Jeopardy (Yeah, the one with the bolts right next to the crack). If you runner the route well, you can lower off these anchor bolts and belay from the ground.
This climb is pretty tough. The opening overhang has spaced hand jams with weird feet. However, once you get into the offwidth the climbing becomes easier--but getting into the thing is challenging. Look for the sidepulls on the right side of the chimney
RSS Feed
