Pedestal Left  5.4

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Type:  Trad, TR, 40 feet Consensus:  5.4 [details] FA:  Submitted By:  Pete Hunt on May 26, 2008 You & This Route  |  Other Opinions (5) Your todo list: Your stars: Your rating: -none- [change] Your ticklist: [add new tick]

Pedestal left.

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Description 

Pedestal Left follows the crack up the dihedral on the south end of the east face of Yellow Lichen Buttress. It is an excellent first top rope for a beginner or a good introduction to leading on quartzite. It was my first ever trad lead and I was greeted by a five foot snake coming out of its winter slumber on my way up. The crux lies in the first half of the climb, but the rock becomes more featured for the second half and the difficulty eases up significantly. The crux is well protected, though it can be slightly difficult to see into the crack to assess your placements.

Location 

The route starts in the dihedral left of the large pedestal in the middle of the buttress as the name implies. Scramble up the gully on the south side of the buttress to get to the top (brief 4th class) or take the trail through the woods for a safer option.

Protection 

Standard TR set up.

The protection is very adequate on lead, but not completely straight forward given the nature of the rock. Experienced leaders will have no problem. I find that a set of nuts and small to medium sized cams do a good job of protecting this climb.