Rocketman starts by climbing the first pitch of Billy (5.11c / 15 bolts) and the first three bolts of the second pitch of Gneiss Route (5.12-) and traversing left. This accesses a huge belay ledge. If you climb all of this in one pitch, be mindful of drag by placing appropriate slings, and back clipping.
Climb out the huge Rocketman roof (Pitch 3 proper), 8 bolts. There is a brief move of 5.11 around bolt 3, and the crux is pulling over the biggest part of the roof at bolt 7 (5.12c). Belay at airy stance above the roof. The last pitch cruises past 4 bolts on the North East arete to Surette Ledge (5.7).
Descent: From Surette, rap 70' to the roof lip and 200' to the ground (BIG AIR!).
Protection
15 - 20 draws/slings of various lengths. 2 60m ropes for rap.
At time of writing, the crux pitch has not gone free. I consider it an open project. Good luck, the crux is stinkin tough -- just let me know how you make that final move over the lip. I gave it another go last week and removed my draws (no, they werent stolen...)
Oh yeah, please leave the sling on the last bolt of the first pitch of Billy, trust me, you will appreciate it...
Big Air is an understatement. 150 feet of dangling 20 feet from the wall! Darren picked the biggest roof on the center of the wall and puched this line right out of it.
The pitch itself is quite fun, but the overall combo of Billy, Gneiss Route, and Rocketman makes for a spectacular outing. You pull out 6 roofs amounting to 20 feet with the toughest for last. A final pitch up off the Surrette ledge would be the icing for the hardmen out there.
The crux move is brutal for a non 5.12 climber such as myself, but there is a nice bolt at your chest that a Lucky Pierre can pull right past with a long sling. (I wonder how how I knew that....?) C'est Magnifique! Bonne Chance!
Is it possible to get across the creek this time of year? Is the Tyrollean in place? I was thinking of checking out the crag this weekend (5/30). Thanks for the info.
I was able to free this today. It took me a while to figure out the crux moves, but then I got the redpoint first try. That probably means it's about 12c or d.I definitely recommend this climb. Billy and the bit of Gneiss Route give full value on the approach. The exposure on the crux pitch is spectacular. The main holds seem solid, but especially low on the pitch there was a fair amount of crumbling underfoot, which the belayer can avoid but can be bad news if there are climbers below. As it gets more traffic and cleans up, Rocketman will be a three-star climb. Many thanks to Darren and Matt for conceiving of this line, the great bolting job, and for making it an open project.
Warning Beta Follows: Darren, you asked about the crux moves so here's my beta. After getting the jug at the lip, I moved my hands to good holds on the diagonal above it. I heel-hooked left on the bump and made a long, hard pull to get my left hand on the best of the holds in the crummy horizontal. I switched the left heel to a toe and then brought the right hand up to a little hold in the horizontal for just a second and then moved to the deep hold. After I got my feet up, I reached up and left to a dish with a little hold in it and it was over.
If you want to even out the length of each pitch, you can break up P1 (Billy), by sneaking right to belay at Wild Child's P1 anchors. Use the first clip of Wild Child starting P2, then you should be back on track with the bit of Gneiss Route P2 (use long runners on the first two clips). P2 now longer with better belay position and view of its crux.
Should make sense when you are up there. This makes four interesting short pitches, needing no more than 10 draws total, and couple long runners.
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