Pitch1: Walk right from Where's Ray along a ledge to a yellow/orange lichen corner. Place a green Alien, and traverse right and up on easy rock to the first bolt. Place a blue Alien before the 2nd bolt and clip three more bolts as the rock gets steeper. Crux at last bolt. Fun climbing on small positive edges.
Pitch2: (12/15/2006) Face climb up past 2 bolts and follow easy climbing to a 3rd bolt (crux). Small wire may be placed and climb up and left to 4th bolt and anchors above. May be climbed as 1 pitch.
Pitch3: (3/14/2007) When doing the 3rd pitch, you should belay at the 2nd belay of the Bihedral Arete. Climb just right of the belay (red Alien and small wire to protect a hard start), then follow 6 bolts to the new anchor slightly higher (and more comfortable) than the anchor for the Bihedral Arete. Crux is at the last 2 bolts.
My father lasted 19 days on Iwo Jima before being injured.
By Ron Olsen Administrator From: Boulder, CO Mar 13, 2007 rating: 5.10
Some nice moves, but definitely needs more cleaning. The first-pitch crux at the headwall is solid 5.10, and goes right through a patch of orange lichen. Bring a wire brush with you. The anchor at the end of the first pitch is shared with Where's Ray?.
The second pitch angles up well to the left of the first pitch. The crux corner near the top felt like 5.9; could be harder if you're short.
Note: We did not climb the 3rd pitch, as it had not been put in when we did the route.
With a 60m rope, if you do p1 and p2 as one pitch, do not lower off the second anchor! If the belayer stands as high as possible and very close to the rock, the leader can barely lower to a high block on the left, but this is a lowering accident waiting to happen; see Photo. Instead, you should bring your partner up to the top and rappel. From the top of the second pitch, you can rappel straight down to the ground with a 60m rope.
With a 70m rope, if you do p1 and p2 as one pitch, it is possible to lower to the ground from the top of p2 after leading. But it still is a good idea to have the second follow the route on toprope and clean the pitch rather than trying to have both partners do it as a lead. The top of the second pitch is about 30' left of the start of the climb, and it would be difficult to clean while lowering or while on rappel.
I think it would be better to do the second pitch as a continuation of Where's Ray?. This would result in a straighter rope line, and might allow you to lower from the top of p2 more easily with a 60m rope. But the belayer should still be up high and close to the rock and tie a knot in the end of the rope if you want to lower.
Edit: Now that a third pitch has been put in, you can do the climb in two pitches: combine p1 and p2 and go to the Bihedral Arete belay, then do p3. Descend via two rappels: Rap back to the top of p1 of Bihedral Arete, then rap to the ground (60m rope required).
By Ron Olsen Administrator From: Boulder, CO Mar 16, 2007 rating: 5.10
Went back today and climbed the newly added third pitch; nice job, Greg and Kent.
I climbed Where's Ray? and the second pitch of Flags of Our Fathers as one pitch, belaying at the anchor atop the first pitch of Bihedral Arete. The only gear I placed was a red Alien to protect the moves over to the Bihedral Arete anchor; I also clipped 8 bolts and 2 anchors. Done this way, the pitch is 120' long and about 5.9.
My partner led the last pitch of Flags of Our Fathers, which was just put in on March 14th. It's a nice addition. Going straight up to the first bolt is about 5.9 and protected by a small wired nut; you can bypass this move by going up left and then back right to the first clip if you're not up for it.
The final move to the anchor can be protected with a yellow or gray Alien. The new anchor, above and right of the anchor on Bihedral Arete, is a big improvement, offering a more comfortable stance and an easy rappel back down. This anchor can also be used by climbers on Bihedral Arete. The third pitch is about 80' long and 5.9.
Starting with Where's Ray? lets you do the climb as a fun, two-pitch 5.9 route, avoiding the difficult 5.10 crux (in a patch of orange lichen) on the first pitch of Flags of Our Fathers. Bring some small wires and a red and yellow Alien and you're set for gear.
Got to lead the third pitch two days after it was put up. Thought it was a real nice pitch and certainly more than well worth doing. Echo Ron's words of good job to Greg and Kent. Have to admit though to wimping out a bit at the start and heading left for a bit. Somehow casting off into the unknown thin crack only protected by a small wire nut with the fall consequence being onto the anchor, it didn't seem like a good idea at the time, but next time!
I wimped out too at the start of P3, but only because I didn't bring any wires! An excellent climb and a fun introduction to multi-pitch climbing in general for your special friend. =^)
I had to get out today after not climbing outside for 5 weeks. I self-belayed this just beating the rain. I did it as one pitch at about 200' with a few feet to spare. The distance is not accurate, because I was using my shortened 70m which is approximately but not exactly 60m. The P1 crux took me a long time. Tried to the right, straight up, to the left. Repeat. I eventually climbed to the right of the bolts. There is one hard move on each of P2 and P3, with the P3 move right off the ledge.
The Bihedral
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