White Maiden's Walkaway 

Careful, it is easy to get off route. There are a lot of clean lines up the buttress that climb harder than 5.6.

The natural line of this climb should take you through some 5.4 to 5.6 movements. I'd highly recommend finishing WMW via the direct 5.7 line. Highly enjoyable and protectable.

Awesome climb! For anyone who doesn't bother climbing anything this "easy", you're really missing out on a fun climb. Not sure why this page rates WMW as 5.1, it's listed as 5.4 in the guide and I agree. P4 is the money lead - that exposed step around makes the climb, when after almost 4 pitches of comfortable climbing the rock falls away beneath you, 500 feet to the bottom of the Long Climb.

Although the 5.3 finish is exposed and fun, you're right about the final pitch Marc. Great 5.7 finish! And the 5.3 traverse variation to pitch 3 is a lot more fun than the 5.1 standard line.

The 5.6 variation to the first half of the second pitch (a little to the left of the original route) is a great hand and lieback crack that will call your name from the belay. Make sure to cut back right to the top of a tower feature for a comfy belay.

Unless your looking for an adventure, bring the route topo photo someone kindly included and try to follow it.

I found many moves on this climb which are in the 5.6 or even 5.7 range, (particularly going up and right from top of gendarme rather than up and left).

The pro is not always as available as one would think for a supposed 5.1. The rock on this side of Tahquitz is pretty weathered compared to the west and south sides, with flared or pod like cracks that are not as easy to place pieces in. If you can bring thinner cams that might help. 1/4"-1" gear seems most usable.

I wouldn't recommend this route to slow parties starting late or new leaders - it takes more route finding, has tougher moves and more difficult pro placements than many other higher grade routes at Tahquitz.

From the top of pitch 3 (the first pitch after the lower buttress spike) we deviated straight up instead of going left on the big ledge to the bushes. The climbing was excellent, but the rock was pretty hollow. This ended up connecting us to the Fools Rush as it switched dihedral directions.

Great route! Agree with the other comments about getting off route and route finding. My partner and I agreed that we were pretty certain we made a number of 5.6-5.7 moves. Never got into any sections of 4th class like the guidebook states. We were able to do the entire route in 4 pitches with a 60 meter rope. We finished off right going over an exposed lip with marginal hand holds. Anybody ever finished this way?

As per the Tahquitz/Suicide guide, the route checks in at 5.4, not 5.1.

Gray Tradster....care to explain "exactly" where the 5.1 is at? Randy Vogel will want to know first hand! Done this route solo and find several spots that would compete with other "old skool" 5.5/5.6's put up in the 40's. Today, the YDS has adjusted as the grades continued upward. We all know that for many years, 5.9 stayed that way until someone was bold enough to slap on a 5.10 label on many of those so called "5.9's" (later, some of those 5.9's were given 5.11 ratings by the original FA.)

There's been serious grade inflation since Chuck Wilts established the decimal grading system at Tahquitz.

The Maiden is 5.1

I guess we did the two 5.6 variations on the first and second pitches per the guidebook. Never found the 4th class section per the guidebook so we probably were off route a bit. Wasn't my intention to inflate the original rating be it 5.1 or whatever.

Our party did the route in 4 pitches as well, I agree with P4 being the Money Lead, the 5.6 lieback is awesome, and I don't think the trees in the beginning are a big deal. Cool Route, go do it

To really appreciate the route, buy a copy of Chuck Wilt's 1979 edition of the guide for Tahquitz and Suicide. You can buy it at Chessler Books for 99 cents!!! Here's a link that worked as of today.

Mark, I did that finish. Kind of sketch with pro but sweet.

Anyone ever start on the right side of the buttress in a crack in the corner there? I did that start unintentionally and felt it was home to the crux move of my climb, but I led it! Barely...I took a mini fall, like maybe a foot long fall!

just climbed this today and it was alot of fun. We climbed more of a direct line in 5 pitches. first two as goes in the book and then from there went straight up to meet up w/fools rush. then finished the route as others have said by traversing the 5.3 section. I would also agree that If you want an easier climb make sure that you traverse left at the bushy ledge on after pitch 3, because once you commit to going up straight there is not much in vars. to go back left with any gear.

As far as the rating goes, my partner and I would say that the route we climbed goes at about 5.7 ish, with not that many hard moves, but they where there. Also I have the guide book from 1970 and the supplemental guide book, both by chuck wilts. In there the rating goes at 5.4, so I am not sure what all this inflation nonsense is about.

EDIT: The original topo I put together and posted here was totally wrong (at least as far as the finish goes). I've posted a new one here now. To verify the route, I took this photo with me up the route a couple of days ago, checking features as I went. The yellow line represents the route and belays we used, right or wrong (historically speaking), and it went at about a modern 5.4. My apologies to anyone who died trying to climb the route based on the topo I posted here before! Caveat emptor, I guess? Errare humanum est?

If you don't scramble pretty far up the bottom of the buttress before flaking your rope out, you'll need to stop before the comfortable ledge belay at the end of P1. The start of the 5.1 variation of the final pitch is interesting. Leaving the belay on the Doubtful Corner pitch, there's a nice variety of easy, sometimes steep, exposed climbing. You may be able to skip Belay 5 with a 60m rope.

Sorry about the size, but I thought it merited it to get the detail.


Below is a preview of the topo. MP won't permit an image the size of the full version, so please use this link to access that from my flickr site.

well, i gotta say that i have done the route at least 2000 times, and i'd say this topo does not really show the real route accurately, or all of the routes, or... but this is getting ridiculous... seriously...

Edit: I corrected the topo and replaced it.

I should probably have included a disclaimer :) Where is this topo inaccurate?

I agree that the discussion would be ridiculous if:

- the route wasn't so popular with new climbers
- it weren't so easy to find yourself in more difficult terrain than anticipated.

Here's a link to a blank photo of the buttress if you'd like to have a shot at creating a topo, based on your 2,000 climbs. ;)

Also, here's a giant mosaic photo (18mb, 91mp) of Tahquitz from near Humber Park that anyone who wants to can used to create a topo for routes on the North Face.

Mountain Project..."beyond the guidebook," right?

This route was my return to climbing after years of relative inactivity.I made a bad judgement about starting a little late in the day ,coupled with a slow and inexperienced partner,added to getting off -route on some slower-going 5.7 crack, all resulting in an overnight,unplanned biv on a ledge right before that last exposed slab pitch. I wanted to lead that pitch in the total dark but my partner was having none of it.(We stupidly forgot our headlamps)So there we sat on that exposed position from roughly 8:30 pm to 5:30 am
dressed only in shorts and t-shirts. I managed to stay somewhat warmer by placing our small pack inside of my t-shirt and then putting my head inside and thereby making a sort of pathetic mini-tent.My partner spent the night bentover and wedged between the wall and a small detached rock horn.We programmed a cell phone to alarm every hour so we could take our little swig of water.We had roughly 20 ounces of water and no food.
Fortunately in early July it only gets really cold up there about every 1/2 hour when the wind routinely kicks up.At that moment only the wind and teeth chattering can be heard.Sort of like a Latin samba beat.

Had a great climb. We certainly ran into at least two 5.5+ -ish moves. The first was a smooth steep slab with piton in the middle with small corners on either side (P3?). The move requires some good stemming and if you're really short, this can be a problem. At least the piton gives some confidence. The second was a sketchy exposed slab traverse going left (P4?). Other than that, the route is 5.3 or so with plenty of places for pro and quite fun.

By today's standards this route is probably 5.5, but this is Tahquitz and the route was put up in 1937, so take the ratings with a grain of salt. My guide calls it 5.3, which is still inflated from it's original rating.

A step up in difficulty, length, and exposure compared to The Trough. Let your conscience guide you - it's pretty easy to follow the path of least resistance. I had no topo during the climb,, and after looking here on MP, I would say that Chris D's topo above is pretty accurate. I added another fun 200' of fourth class slabs/cracks by starting at the very lowest point of the buttress.

Thanks for the photo topo. Is that someone I see on "The Price of Fear"?

A great intro to multipitch, as advertised! We ended up taking the 5.3 variation (heading up and the right, around an overhang to some easy mantling) at the finish- the 5.1 looked scarier from the belay! We took the Vogel/Gaines guidebook and managed to stay essentially on route the whole time, save a small unintentional variation (5.6?) on P4.

Chris: Yes, there's climbers on The Price of Fear and at least three or four other routes that you can see in the "giant mosaic photo" that I link to in the post above. Kinda neat.

I see a lot of people miss the "doubtful corner" (middle of what I show as the fourth pitch in the topo above) on this route by going straight up, and it's a shame. The exposure on the move where you step out onto the tree is tremendous for the grade.

Busy day on the route. My partner and I opted a different start for the first two pitches. I led the first two pitches. Barry led the rest and finished on the roof section. Loved this route!!!

Did this last Sunday. Did the 5.7 finish and prompted me to say, "5.7 my ass!" Interesting lead.

Great fun! We just followed a direct line to the roof then exited the roof. Such a great way to end the route!