BETA PHOTO: The Duomo wall with the route "Above the Hearth" d...
Description
Climb straight up to a roof. Hand traverse right along the lip of the roof, and mantle up unto a shelf to the pink face above. Clip a bolt, then thin face climbing leads to another bolt. Easier, but slightly runout climbing leads to a funky small cam just before the mantle at the top which will allow you to reach an anchor consisting of a bolt and a fixed knifeblade.
Location
Located on the Duomo Wall. When you reach the wall from the gully just east of the Cathedral, hike east along the base, underneath some roofs until you reach a sloping ramp 3-5 feet above the ground. The route starts just right of that ramp and just left of the main section of roofs.
Protection
There are two bolts encountered during the lead. You will also want a set of cams to a #3 camalot size.
On the first ascent, I placed a 3.5 camalot (a .5 will work in the same spot), a #2 camalot, and a .4 camalot in a funky placement near the top. The bolts were drilled by hand due to the "wilderness area" regulations. Even though the whole time I was drilling I could hear someone firing an automatic weapon at the gun club. The anchor is 1 bolt with chain and a fixed knifeblade. This route turned out to be of higher quality than I originally thought it would be. I would have given it more stars except for the approach, which is short but kind of sucks. A #2 camalot sized camming device is pretty crucial to protect the mantle onto the face.
Many thanks to Maura for the belay!!
By Dave Budge From: Wasangeles May 17, 2009 rating: 5.11+ PG13
Definitely the best route on the Duomo! Above the Hearth links a nice chunk of continuously difficult climbing. It was cool to see Lance get the second ascent, but we realized that 5.10+ may be a bit (unintentionally) sandbagged. Ben was climbing really well last year, making it hard to tell the difference between 5.11+ and 5.10+. A proud send by both Ben and Lance.
A few long slings help minimize drag at the bottom.
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