Lepidopteres   5.8+

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Type:  Trad, Alpine, 5 pitches, 600 feet, Grade III Consensus:  5.8+ [details] FA:  Season:  late spring, summer or early fall Submitted By:  Eric_Dacus on Jan 11, 2012 You & This Route  |  Other Opinions (1) Your todo list: Your stars: Your rating: -none- [change] Your ticklist: [add new tick]

BETA PHOTO: View from the approach hike. Last bit of the appro...

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Description 

P1: Short pitch of easy slabs, a few bolts, 5-easy
P2: More slab with intermittent cracks, 5.7
P3: Cracks and corners, 5.8
P4: More cracks and corners, 5.8+
P5: Cracks and flakes till you gain the ridge, 5.7

Location 

Trend left from the base of the Arete des Papillons (the large ovious arete/ridge directly above the Plan station) and pick your way up talus (or early season snow) and onto a ledge system. There is one 5.7 step that has bolts at the top for an anchor if roping up. Take the ledge system up and further left than you might think necessary and when it fully flattens out make your way back right to the start of the route. The base of the route has green-ish rock that looks like and upwardly right sweeping crescent. The route starts on slabs below the left corner system and looks down on a lake.

The route can be rappelled directly, or alternatively once you reach the ridge crest there are rappel anchors about 8 feet below on the other side. Lastly, and the better option would be to continue along the Arete des Papillons for another pitch or two (5.easy but very exposed) until an obvious slung horn and rappel into the upper end of a couloir (dry in August 2011). Downclimbing, rappelling and trending generally left following a faint climbers trail leads back down to the moraine and back to the Plan station.

Protection 

A few bolts protect the slabs of the first pitch, and there is fixed gear or bolts at the belays. A single rack, nuts + fingers to hands is probably fine.