Geoff Settles getting ready to rappel off of Kings...
Description
King's hand is a great place to climb if you want to get away from the climbers on wall street, and are looking for scary, sandy, loose, runout slab. Two routes exist on this formation that I know of, a left and right variation. Both share the first pitch and a little at the end.
I have heard stories from a friend that when they climbed it, he pulled a refrigerator door sized rock off, just after pulling a microwave sized rock off. (don't you love how it all relates to kitchen appliances)
Getting There
To get to King's Hand, park at the Jaycee campground. Kings hand is located on a bench of rock above the campground. Hike climbers left from the campground until you can scramble onto the bench, then hike back right. 10-15 min.
We did King's Hand Right 3/31/06. Definitely runout, sanding and heady. I did find the pin on the first pitch. It is about 60 feet up roughly in the middle of the formation just after what I would call the second bulge. The were some more gear placements after that, but still a bit runout. We did the 10a second pitch. The crux is well protected with a pin and I added a bomber nut just above it. The only jug on the pitch is a bit smaller now. It came off in my partner's hand and is probably on Wall Street now. After that, a few small nuts provide mediocre protection on steep, sandy slab/dihedral. Never found the two baby angles. The third and fourth pitch were fun with some good gear and good rock as well as some soft rock. We rapped off in two double rope rappells with 60m ropes with good anchors and no problems. The most adventure I've had on Wall Street.
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