Wizard of Air  5.12a

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Type:  Trad, Alpine, 7 pitches, 600 feet, Grade III Consensus:  5.12a [details] FA:  William Penner and Eric Whitbeck, September 2005 Submitted By:  Williampenner on Mar 7, 2008 You & This Route  |  Other Opinions (5) Your todo list: Your stars: Your rating: -none- [change] Your ticklist: [add new tick]

Looking up the 2nd pitch. The route climbs the ob...

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Description 

Pitch 1 (5.11-) follows bolts and gear to a ledge and bolted belay that is located somewhat near the beginning of Wizard of Odd (Most folks start Wizard of Odd by scrambling around the south end of the Torreon and up a gully onto a ledge that is about 80 to 90 ft off the ground).

Pitch 2 (5.10-) follows obvious seams up into a short left-facing dihedral, exiting right beneath a small roof to a small ledge with a bolted belay. The upper section of the pitch is shared with Wizard of Odd. The folks who got the first ascent of Wizard of Odd were consulted prior to placing this anchor.

Pitch 3 (5.11+) goes up then left passing a bolt until you can turn the roof at its left side. Trend up and right passing bolts and a hard crux until a large ledge and bolted belay is reached right around the corner. An excellent pitch.

Pitch 4 (5.12-) follows fixed gear on the obvious (and beautiful) arete easily visible from the La Luz Trail. After a section of thin face, trend left past the crux to the arete and eventually turn around the arete to its left and heading up to another ledge with a bolted belay. One of the best face climbing pitches in the Sandias with awesome exposure.

Pitch 5 (5.9+) trends up and left wandering for almost a full rope-length until a large ledge. Use your instincts.

Pitches 6 and 7 are typical Sandias last pitches--ie, grainy, blocky, loose. Wander up the remaining portion of the south prow of the Torreon.

Location 

Wizard of Air starts ~100 right of Mountain Momma. The route was established ground up in 2005.

If you top out the route, descend the standard way for the Torreon.

A better option is to do the first four pitches, rap the route, and go blast up Mountain Momma for a full day. A single 60 m rope will get you down from the top of Pitch 4 but barely. It is safer to take a 70 m rope and be careful rapping Pitch 3 as it overhangs quite a bit. All anchors have chains.

Protection 

1 set of cams from #3 Friend to purple Metolius TCU and a full set of nuts. Extras of the yellow and green Aliens are good but are not critical if you are solid at the grade.

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Florian follows the glorious arete.