Wavebreak Wall

Jagged Edge 5.8, Wave Break 5.11a R

Description 

The Wavebreak Wall gets it name from its appearance. With a little imagination, you can see a breaking wave. I thought that it looked more like a book on a shelf, leaning to the right, but that wouldn't make for an aesthetically pleasing name. There is a small window in the rock if you're interested; however, you've probably hiked here for the climbing. Warm up on the Jagged Edge (5.8), a unique route with two aretes up the spine of the book. Then, get your pump surfing up Wave Break (5.11a R) on the overhanging side of the wall. The quartzite is solid here, with the exception of two spots along the arete. The steep face is shady in the afternoon, and the arete is always in the sun.

Getting There 

Park in a small gravel pullout after stairs power plant and before turning the corner.
A faint trail leads to a stack of rocks next to a seam in the large green pipe.
Climb over pipe and wind through the trees until you reach a boulder field.
Turn right and head east along a faint trail to a scree slope.
The faint trail heads straight up the scree and turns left west 30 feet before reaching the top of the loose talus.
Traverse west to the base of a boulder and after passing the boulder, diagonal towards the cliffs.
At this point, some scrambling and route-finding across scrappy shale and loose quartzite is required.
Stay close to the cliff on the right for the easiest scrambling.
A short traverse accoss the quartzite slab lands one at the Wavebreak Wall to the west.

The Classics