Satan's Corner 

Excellent and sustained. Extra cams from #0.5 to #2 Camalot are useful if you lead the climb as one pitch. The crux section above the halfway ledge felt harder than 5.8.

If you haven't done this route, get off your A$$ and do it. One long pitch makes for better climbing as it flows, and then you get to lead the entire route. 50M rope gets you to the base of Stem the Tide and then downclimb the chimney.

First pitch is a little harder than it looks. The jams are pretty deep but climbing is straight forward. Second pitch is just plain fun with a sweet flake traverse loaded with great exposure. Don't forget your foot jam on the cruxy section above the halfway ledge!

love the exposure at the top

I heard a story years ago that local hardman Doug Heinrich was soloing this route (or maybe one of the other dihedrals routes), pitched, did two flips (used to be a diver I guess), landed on the ledge on his feet , broke both ankles, and survived! What a stud. I also believe the deaths had to do with a person getting such bad rope drag, they untied to solo over to the anchors...and took the big ride to Valhalla.

Great pitch...don't miss it!

After climbing this route a few times, the first pitch still feels somewhat insecure the whole way. 2 years ago, this was my 2nd ever trad lead as an aspiring 5.8 leader (very bad idea). Halfway through the first pitch I loaded up my shorts and bailed left to the 5.6 variation. The next week I drug an "over confident" 5.12 sport climber up there only to see him humbled in the same way. The second pitch is fantastic! Great exposure under the hand traverse. Definitely a classic.

tea, doug was soloing half-a-finger on his epic fall. as for the other deaths on SC: one involved the leader getting heinous rope drag, untying(!) and trying to solo the last moves; the other was a rappel accident when a fixed pin atop the "first pitch" pulled, iirc.

I did it as one pitch today, man this thing is cool. I find the bottom of the corner on the second pitch to be the crux. The first handcrack is so money, I ran it out (after the crux) without even realizing it.

Noah Duys died in 9/2004 while rapping from a single pin atop the first pitch. He was in a hurry as darkness approached, and rain was falling. I like to call this Noah's Corner, though I doubt that this will catch on.

Best 5.8 pitch in LCC?? Can't think of any better. I climbed it on 6/6/6 ;)

Have done this a dozen times and would do it many dozen more...one of my all time favorites! Each steep jamming part is made much easier with good foot jams.

I climbed this today; it was my first multi-pitch/lead/trad climb and it was very humbling. My friend and I messed up on our protection so many times we decided to do it twice to prove to ourselves that we can protect well. We climbed well the first time but protected poor and climbed poor the second time but protected better. I felt that the crux is on the second pitch about twenty feet up, and the crux feels a lot more difficult than a 5.8 to me. But, this was very psychologically terrifying for me so I wasn't in the greatest state of mind to judge. I thought the protection is safe, but again I'm not the most experienced judge in this situation.

Yeah, I'm the genius that got the above poster into trouble. Still, it was a rocking climb, and required a lot more finesse than I can usually pull off :P

The crux is definitely pulling up the crack on the second pitch. Don't be afraid (like I was!) to smear in order to get a good high foot jam. Super exposed traverse on the biggest rail you'll ever find (feels like a ladder rung) makes you feel like a badass!

P1 - Straightforward if you are comfortable jamming. I saw a strong sport climber take a fall on this section due to lack of jamming skills
P2 - Easy low angle crack to a steeper, left pushing hand crack, flaring in sections making jamming impossible. Agree with Taylor - key for me was to smear left foot (yikes! exposure!), jam right foot, walk up hands, repeat. Don't clip that manky old fixed cam!

Great route. Have fun with it!

The morning that I first climbed Satan's was ominous. My friend and I got to the base, and found thick, caked, dried blood all over the ground. It was just a few spatters--it was at least an inch thick in some places, and it was literally ALL OVER! Needless to say, we were a little freaked-out. It was about 5:30 -- 6:00 a.m. Great route though!

Should probably do the route in one pitch to save time and to get the "full value" experience. Kimber Almond told me he once saw Mugs Stump do this route placing only 2 pieces of pro. Merrill solos it all the time. What hardmen!

I don't think Merrill has climbed lcc since last decade

Holy name drop! Who the fuck is Limber Almonds?

I lean with those that say 5.9+, but I have only climbed it once on lead when I was tired (so I won't add my rating yet).

Classic.

Quick question though. When I got to the top piton, I threw up high for a big juggy ledge and then traversed. Some other guy says the proper way is to traverse from the piton to the bolts without popping to the ledge. That traverse looked crazy to me (though throwing up to the ledge felt crazy too :D). How do you guys do it?

I think it's fair to call this climb 5.8+. Definitely not 5.9 though. If you don't know how to handjam, then this climb will let you know! Also, how can you not climb a route with such a great name.

So we climbed this last night (great route) but it was getting dark and we ended up leaving a yellow cam at the top. If anybody was going up today and found it, wouldja mind keeping it for me? I'll pay you twenty bucks! Just post below this comment and give me your phone # and we'll pick a meet up spot. Thanks!

Azollo: The low way is not bad, but I like the high traverse myself. It's a good rail to grab on to, and plus there is a great spot for a small cam up there to protect your second. I've seen some folks intimidated by the move to grab the flake above the piton-it's a bit of a reach :)

I've seconded this twice in the last month and it is an awesome climb. I found it pumpy and the last move a bit scary but commit to the juggy ledge and it's a money feeling.

Great route definitely deserves the high rating. The traverse to the bolts isn't bad because there's solid feet all the way over. On another note I had a BD #2 walk way back into the crack just above the crux. It would be great to get it back in exchange for some beers.

Great exposure, fun moves, a new favorite.

Climbed this route during both dry and wet conditions. The lower pitch gets wet, but the jams are solid even while it is raining. The upper pitch (and crux) stay pretty dry during rain, as a slight overhang above provides some shelter. I don't recommend climbing Satan's during wet conditions, but lightening and thunder forced a quick retreat from the summit, and abandoned gear on the route required recovery. Good times.

The Wastach range guide warns that this rout is really difficult to protect and that people have died on it, so we almost didn't do it which would have been a big mistake. I thought it was one of the most fun in the canyon. I thought the pro was all pretty straight forward. We did it in one pitch using a single set of stoppers and a set of cams up to a 3 Friend with no duplicates.
Its also a bit safer now thanks to whoever got their $80 tricam stuck.