An awesome, moderate route with great climbing, great protection, and great exposure for the grade.... A true Cathedral classic.... One of very few, real moderates on the cliff, this is a perfect first trad climb.... It can be accessed by hiking around from the top along the big ledge.... If you are a beginner, you might want to rope up for the last part of the scramble due to the danger of a BIG fall if you slip.... Most people climb Upper Refuse after coming up Fun House (5.7) or another moderate route, though as the name implies there is a Lower Refuse (5.8, not nearly as popular)....
Pitch 1: 5.3 Start up the ramp on really easy climbing, and keep an eye out for a few good slots for cam placements.... Belay at a good stance at a few pins (back em up with gear) at the top of the ramp section....
Pitch 2: 5.5 Choose your own adventure, go right up a groveling "V" chimney (not hard but not too fun, in my opinion) or from the belay go up and left following cracks to a layback and a few slabby moves (much more fun).... These two choices meet up in a gully formation which you follow to another choice, breaking right up a crack directly to a pine tree ledge is preferred by most however you can avoid a little difficulty by continuing up the gully then stepping right on to the ledge.... Belay from a pine tree on a very comfortable ledge....
Pitch 3: 5.5 Two choices again: follow cracks and face climbing straight up above the ledge (this is the usual finish and the one I like better) or if exposure isn't your thing, stick to the corner on the left following a wide, layback crack.... Both of these lead to the same ledge at the top where you can go up a short slab to belay from trees (the pins were removed from the top of the climb last season and I think it stayed that way)....
The climb can be done in one long rope stretch with a 60m rope, rope drag can be rough so plan for that in advance.... This is one of the most crowded climbs on the cliff, so on a busy day, plan on making a day of it and meeting lots of new friends....
Location
On the far, right end of the big ledge splitting the left side of the cliff just right of the nice open book of The Book of Solemnity (5.10a).... Look for the obvious weakness in the cliff a easy looking ramp to the summit with a few obstacles.... Take care on the approach as the last part of the scramble is a little technical and a fall would be fatal (when in doubt, rope up) ....
By Ladd Raine Administrator From: Plymouth, NH Jun 16, 2007 rating: 5.5
It is a little bit of a rope-strecher but you can run all three pitches together with very little rope drag, Belay up your second with maybe 4 feet of rope left at the top of the crack, then have them short rope you the rest of the way up to the path.
it is fun to run this in to one pitch (or better yet, black lung 5.8 to upper ref).... but care must be taken to avoid rope drag.... i would only recomend it to folks who are very comfortable on the route so you can run out sections that many would protect....
By Ladd Raine Administrator From: Plymouth, NH Jun 18, 2007 rating: 5.5
You can avoid rope drag if you extend the heck out of the lowest placements, take the right variation to the tree ledge and finish up with the left wide layback crack variation at the top, true I probably didn't protect as frequently as a would have if I wasn't comfortable at the grade.
For the solid 5.8 climber, I highly recommend one of the variation finishes to Upper Refuse: Commando Run. It's all the way right of the tree ledge at the top of P2, about 50 feet. You'll have to downclimb 6 feet onto a small belay ledge fenced in by two trees. The finish is the right-facing corner directly above you...move fast and mantle onto the top. Exposed and strenuous!
Barber Wall
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