High E Rock Climbing

Corners! Aretes! and more corners! Oh boy!

This section starts with its namesake route, High Exposure, which starts up a major corner and cleft, heads out onto the adjacent face, and ... I won't spoil the rest here. High E is one of the classic airy Gunks 5.6 routes that you'll remember the rest of your life. Several other, harder classic routes nearby share the High E "money" pitch, including the Directissima arete and Directississima (aka Doubleissima).

To the right of the High E buttress start the many corners featured in this section of cliff. Ants' Line, Bonnie's Roof and Groovy are three corners you shouldn't miss! (and if you like those, make sure you head to the next section for The Spring-Winter).

Uphill from Groovy, you'll find In the Groove, then the gully-to-chimney of Silly Chimney, which marks the northern extent of this area. Past this, you'll see the yellow rock of the Yellow Wall.

Approach: The

scampers up in between boulder problems - as you're walking down the carriage road, look for the Twilight Zone roof, then the next huge buttress over a roof features "The Move" of High E.

The

down heads up directly to Ants' Line, and can also be used for High E.

Descent: The High E rappel line was one of the first sets of bolts to appear on the cliff. It heads down the gully to climber's right of High E; three rappels with one rope (if you're linking the last two raps, watch the rope ends) get you to the ground. It's a good idea to familiarize yourself with this rappel.

There is a set of bolts shared by the first pitches of Sleepwalk, Ent Line and Ants' Line.

You can also rappel from the top of Bonnie's Roof (two ropes mandatory - it's free-hanging the entire way) or Ursula (one rope from the top to a mid-cliff station).

The P1 anchor for Ursula, shared by Groovy is my least favorite in situ anchor on the cliff. It's webbing +/- rope wrapped around some very sharp edges; the fixed stuff has to be replaced almost yearly. Caveat emptor.