The following areas are closed to all visitor use to protect peregrine falcon aeries from March 1 until August 1 of each year or until the young falcons of the current year have fledged: Fifi Buttress Immediately west of Leaning Tower. Closure includes all routes on Fifi Buttress.
This information is a public crowdsourcing effort between the Access Fund,
and Mountain Project. You should confirm closures, restrictions, and/or related dates.
This is a good route to take beginners and first-time climbers on. It has a nice flat summit to hang out on, with great views, and the route doesn't require any crack climbing technique. This is NOT a good route for first-time leaders because the opportunities for protection are sparse.
There are bolted anchors at the top of the pitch. You probably want a 70m rope to get down.
Location
The Footstool is located at the base of the Southeast Face, about 100 yards to the right of the Alcove. From the Nose, it's a 15-20 minute walk mostly uphill. Just keep following the base and you can't miss it.
Climbing at the Footstool and the Gollum can be difficult in the spring. Snow-melt from the rim runs down the head-wall and then drips from the massive roofs on North American Wall. It creates an effect very similar to rain. The rain comes and goes as the wind shifts directions, but the downpour steadily increases throughout the day as the temperatures rise and more snow melts. If you want to climb anywhere near the alcove in the winter or spring, get an early start. By the afternoon, all the routes will be soaked.
My buddy and I tried to do this climb this past weekend. The approach seemed longer than 20 mins, like the supertopo said.
I would NOT recommend this climb right now. The area is very unsafe with lots of falling rock. Right as we tied in a massive slab 15 feet wide fell from about 250 feet up on el cap and landed about 30 feet away from where we were tying in to do the climb. We looked around and noticed where we were standing was all freshly fallen granite. Needless to say we got out of there fast rather than doing the route.
By Simon Thompson From: New Paltz, NY Jan 12, 2012 rating: 5.4 PG13
Did this climb in July and had a blast. Feels like you're starting up El Cap when you're on top. Though the climbing is "easy" it has a few tricky spots and the bottom in particular is quite run out.
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