At the beginning of the "double dihedral" crux sec...
Description
This route is on the Third Elephant Buttress, on the north side. To access it walk along the pipe till you reach a gully between the Second and Third Buttresses. Scramble about 20 feet up the gully to the base of the climb. This climb follows a left facing dihedral that begins about 40 feet up. The route is to the right of Left Wing and starts up a short face to an obvious, chalked finger crack. Make some challenging moves to gain the finger crack (5.10ish) and follow the crack a few moves to a great rest below the steep part. You can climb up and left to reach higher and get in toprope pro for the start of the crux sequence, then downclimb and fire straight up from the crack. Pull a couple of awkward, strenuous and pumpy moves, mixed in with a few insecure feeling wide stems through the steep bulge. There are a few fixed pins in this section. Where the bulge enters the dihedral is the crux. From a slopey right facing lieback reach around a corner to your left and gain an elusive finger lock. Getting your feet anywhere and shifting into the dihedral is good and balancy, and will have you in doubt until the end. From here, rest and breath and then follow the dihedral up much easier ground to a nice belay ledge. To gain the top climb a short second pitch (5.6). This route has great pro and excellent, challenging moves. I really recommend it to anyone in the area who feels like climbing something harder than what The Dome has to offer.
Protection
Standard trad rack with emphasis on TCUs and small stoppers is good. You don't need anything bigger than a #1 Camalot. Bring some long slings and draws, because there are many fixed pins.
I got out in a really wide stem and was able to switch my hands into the dihedral with no problem. This made getting into the fingerlocks pretty easy, meaning the crux for me was the steeper climbing below. I have really long legs however, so this might not be feasible for everyone.
FM is one of the BEST one pitch trad routes I have climbed. The rock quality and movement are exceptional!! In addition to the pitons, there are two fixed stoppers in the extended "old school" 5.11 crux section.
I went up to FM today with a hammer, chisel, and a selection of pitons with the hopes of clearing away and replacing the piton that broke on me a few weeks ago. As soon as I got a good look at remainder of the pin, I realized there was no hope in replacing it. The pin broke off well inside the crack and reaching it was near impossible, so the hammer and chisel were never put to use. I did notice a good stopper placement a few inches above the pin and a very good cam placement above that, so the route is still well protected through the crux, you'll just have to work a little more for it.
I remember clipping a number of fixed nuts and pitons on this climb a few weeks ago, but there are only the piton below the crux and another fixed nut higher up on the crux now. A green Alien will protect the traverse crux well.
By Rob Kepley From: Westminster,CO Sep 3, 2006 rating: 5.11c
Hands down 4 STARS! This is an incredible route that eats great pro all the way up. Although, some is quite strenuous to place. Hats off to Briggs for this gem.
There's a bird nest on the lower part of the climb right above the first pin. The nest itself is about two feet above the pin but there's plenty of bird poop between the nest and the pin.
Third Buttress
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