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Elevation: 2,900 ft 884 m
GPS: 44.043, -71.3591
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Page Views: 17,498 total · 95/month
Shared By: M Sprague on Oct 13, 2010
Admins: Jay Knower, M Sprague, Jeffrey LeCours, Jonathan S, Robert Hall

Description Suggest change

The right side of Owls is home to the shear 5.10 wall, named thus because it looks to offer long pitches of face climbing at that grade. In fact routes here all turned out to be much harder than they looked, from 5.11 to hard 12+. If you like difficult, technical and sustained steep face climbing, this is the wall for you. There are some lines here that are the best of their kind in NE. Around left from the 5.10 wall's Hooters Arete 12a/b you will Find Dave Quinn's WiZe Owl 12b that follows flakes up the big steep corner, and further left, out above the upper apron, the stemfest Dragonfly Yoga 12+.

Below the 5.10 Wall, separated by a large wooded ledge, is an apron of slab, that offers good slabbing up to two pitches tall, from very easy to 5.10. Especially nice is the angling 5.9, Zigzag. Most of the slab routes are well protected, with a few perhaps a little overly (but they are good for real beginners).

To the left of the approach gully (the Contact Area) are a handful of mostly shorter routes, a couple of which will probably have to serve as your warm-up routes for the area (until more is developed). Most are worthy here, if not as classic as the routes above.

The right hand side of the 5.10 wall, towards the huge wet gully is still undeveloped, along with the extensive rock further right, including the prominent big sharp arete that is partially bolted, but has rebuffed efforts so far. Edit - The prominent arete and to the right has received some attention and is now known as the Lady Sky area.

Getting There Suggest change

Follow the directions in the main Owl's Cliff heading to get to the Oracle Boulders. From the uphill side of these boulders, traverse the hill side east for a few hundred feet then head up. This section is a little windblown as of 10/2010, but in a few hundred more feet @ N44.04235, W071.35912 you should be able to pick out a faint climbers trail heading up to the cliff.. The base of the cliff is only about 10 minutes up hill. You will meet it at a tongue of slab @ N44.04298, W071.35908, the starting point of the routes "Well Balanced Owl" and "Zig-Zag". On your right, below the slab will be a large boulder with a flat top, a nice place for setting your stuff if climbing here.

Heading up and left gets you to a steep "Death Gully" that runs up right towards the smooth face of the 5.10 Wall, situated above a tree covered ledge, with slabs below. The shorter bit of cliff to your left and the left wall of the gully is know as the Contact area, named after the route "Contact Owl".

Heading right, from when you first approached the cliff, above the large boulder, will get you to Vista CruzerSlab and with some scrambling to currently undeveloped but promising rock.

In his North Conway Guide, Jerry Handren describes a shorter approach used by some, leading to the top of the cliff, where you then rap in (and jug back out). I have never gone in this way though, so can not describe it.

NOTE- See 4/14/23 comment on this approach and the GPS track that the submitter put into ( “ onto” ?) the trail map. R Hall Admin. 

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Classic Climbing Routes at The Right Cliff

Mountain Project's determination of the classic, most popular, highest rated climbing routes in this area.
5.12b/c 7b+ 27 IX- 27 E6 6b
 4
Mr. Owl
Sport
5.12d 7c 28 IX 28 E6 6b
 4
Dragonfly Yoga
Sport
Route Name Location Star Rating Difficulty Date
Mr. Owl 5.10 Wall
 4
5.12b/c 7b+ 27 IX- 27 E6 6b Sport
Dragonfly Yoga 5.10 Wall
 4
5.12d 7c 28 IX 28 E6 6b Sport
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