This route has access issues. Please read the note available on the Lumpy Ridge page.
The route from below the lower slabs.
Description
Look for a large, triangular roof at one third height in the center of the cliff; the first pitch begins directly beneath this. The second pitch is the unmistakable, giant, right-facing dihedral above. Fairly burly 5.10 moves pull a small roof ten feet off the ground to gain a nice crack. Follow the crack not quite all the way up to the large triangular roof and make a spicy traverse right (hardish 5.8) to the roof's right edge. Pull around into a corner and find a nice fingercrack in a slab on the left. Gillett's book says to belay at the top of this crack, but I continued up and right with a series of hard (10a?), and not wonderfully protected, mantels. These deposit you in a groove beneath the second pitch dihedral from which you can belay. From here, the route-finding is obvious; climb the gorgeous, and enormous, right-facing corner via fingerlocks and stems. The pitch, and the route, end below the massive roof above at a pin / bolt anchor. Rappel 165 feet. If the corner pitch were longer this would surely be a 3-star route. The guidebook calls the first pitch 10a and the second 10c. I felt them to be the other way around. Either way, they're both 5.10 and I would definitely say the first pitch is a more serious lead. Have a blast!!
For several years, whenever I found myself beneath The Citadel with my buddies Luke and Chuck I'd say, just, "Heart of Norway!", and we'd gaze up in awe at the huge dihedral, wondering what it was like, but a little afraid to go up there to find out.
Yesterday we committed to the adventure, and after a big battle, discovered that the dihedral was truly "splinter" in Chuck's words.
The first pitch was the crux by far. The roof is hard, harder still if you're short, and the crack above remains surprisingly hard at 5.10 something until the traverse right. The traverse right had me spooked, but after going back and forth several times, it went easily. The finger crack above had good gear with a move or two of 9.
While belaying Chuck and Luke up I had more than enough time to contemplate the "spooky series of 10a mantles" leading right and up to the base of the dihedral. I was partly hoping Chuck or Luke would lead that pitch and partly hoping not. I got the lead, in part because Luke and Chuck were concerned that the guidebooks might be correct with P1 as 10a with P2 10c, in which case we were in big trouble.
As a very light rain started to fall, I hiked right to start the second pitch. The mantles were not really mantles, more like sideways rolls over diagonal overlaps with good gear to the left. You'd slap into the lower slab, but it wouldn't be too bad.
We had no idea whether the dihedral was hands, fingers or what. Chuck was betting on rounded fingertip laybacks. Turns out to be mostly solid laybacks and jams in a sharp-edged crack but with few footholds after the initial 10'. The crux of this pitch for me was the last 15', hanging in with one hand to get gear with feet slowly sliding down the corner. On top-rope, Luke and Chuck thought the dihedral was perhaps 9+. Luke liked it so much that he did it again. Overall, I'd say the dihedral was somewhat anticlimactic, being shorter than it looked and easier than we expected. Ending at bolts at a somewhat arbitrary point felt a little unfulfilling.
Walking out I said, just, "Heart of Norway!", and we gazed up in awe.
Logistics, to supplement the good description above:
We approached via the Bookend and Lens Rock, which was not real fun. If you're not going to climb the Pear to approach, it would be more pleasant but longer in distance to approach up the gully right of the Pear. We missed the gully that leads to the ledge above the lower slabs, so we climbed a pleasant 5.6 pitch up a left facing corner system for 190' and then scrambled the rest of the way to the start of the climb.
On P1 I used doubled to a gold Camalot including some nuts. The crux roof at the bottom has mediocre pro to reach the jugs, then good but strenuous to place gear. You want to place gear before moving up to the crack, because those moves are 10 and treacherous, and it's not relaxed when you reach the crack. I downclimbed twice from the jugs to rest after placing gear. Save a gold and a green .75 Camalot for the end of the 8 traverse.
On P2 I used a single set of cams to gold Camalot for the approach to the dihedral and lots of finger sized cams. Triples in the green to red Alien size would be helpful. Nuts also.
P1 is about 95' if you belay on the slanted ledge above the finger crack. The advantage is excellent belay bolts to the left (on The Eliminator) from which you can rap with one rope to the ground. The disadvantage is you can't see into the P2 dihedral.
P2 is around 90' from the belay described above. At the top of P2 is one new bolt and one old 3/8 bolt, both with rings. I lowered from the anchors and TR'd Luke and Chuck. Doing that, it's one rap from the P1 belay to the ground.
By Rob Kepley From: Westminster,CO Jun 16, 2007 rating: 5.10c
We climbed "Root of All Evil" on the Pear to approach the Citadel. It required a little downclimbing at the top to reach the base of the route. The easiest way to access "Norway" is probably far right. We climbed straight up to the base on 5.6 corners to reach the start.
The first move getting off the ground does seem hard for 10a. I suppose someone who is at least 6 ft would find it easier. The first pitch is very interesting and tricky. High quality though.
Getting over to the corner on the second pitch is a little committing. Once over there the gear is good. The corner is similar to an Indian Creek climb, only granite. The rock quality is a little less than desired. If this route saw more traffic it would clean up a bit.
The Citadel
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