Top rope soloing in Pinnacles?

Howdy all, never been to Pinnacles but I’m looking for a local spot to TR solo at. Any crag suggestions? Ideally there would be multiple easier (<5.9) routes in close proximity, with a short approach to the top for easy setup. However I’m pretty flexible on this criteria- I’d rather avoid the classic popular crags so I’m not congesting the good routes with my inevitable flailing. Anchors can be bolted or on gear. Thanks!

I've TR soloed at discovery wall before. TR setup is easy on bolts and the routes are... typical pinnacles choss. I believe it's also possible to TR at teaching rock. 

Jake Messnerwrote:

I've TR soloed at discovery wall before. TR setup is easy on bolts and the routes are... typical pinnacles choss. I believe it's also possible to TR at teaching rock. 

Thanks Jake, Discovery Wall is just what I’m looking for!

I started top-rope soloing at Beaver Street wall in the middle of San Francisco. It's pretty forgiving.

The Yaks are good too if I remember correctly. 

Edit: Yaks not good. 

^^^

The Yaks would not be a good place for a Pinnacles beginner to solo toprope.

The two Yaks themselves are pinnacles and reaching their tops takes 5.7 and harder lead climbing.

Although The Yaks Wall has great (!!) climbs, the formation is harder to find and, especially, locating its top anchors and identifying which routes they belong to is definitely not easy.

Discovery Wall and other Bear Gulch formations near it are probably her best choice.

Brad Youngwrote:

^^^

The Yaks would not be a good place for a Pinnacles beginner to solo toprope.

The two Yaks themselves are pinnacles and reaching their tops takes 5.7 and harder lead climbing.

Although The Yaks Wall has great (!!) climbs, the formation is harder to find and, especially, locating its top anchors and identifying which routes they belong to is definitely not easy.

Discovery Wall and other Bear Gulch formations near it are probably her best choice.

Agreed, the yaks are not what I was thinking of. Uppercrust is the area that is good for top roping. 

Damn, I was thinking Shoot the Tube at The Yaks seemed like a good one, but I was concerned about finding the walk off for the formation on my own- thanks for chiming in on that one

^^^

Shoot the Tube is a great, great route. Its top can be reached by walking and it's less than a rope length high.

But finding it and its top anchor would be a serious "adventure" for a person who is not already fairly familiar with Pinnacles.

Personally, I love adventures. And if you set out on that one, you'll know Pinnacles much better by the end of the day whether you find and climb the route or not ;)

Brad Youngwrote:

^^^

Shoot the Tube is a great, great route. Its top can be reached by walking and it's less than a rope length high.

But finding it and its top anchor would be a serious "adventure" for a person who is not already fairly familiar with Pinnacles.

Personally, I love adventures. And if you set out on that one, you'll know Pinnacles much better by the end of the day whether you find and climb the route or not ;)

I think I've failed at getting to the Yaks three times now, and I appreciate the park much more because of it

M Awrote:

Agreed, the yaks are not what I was thinking of. Uppercrust is the area that is good for top roping. 

Yes, another good suggestion for solo toproping.

And don't forget that days with light rain might be good for just hiking around and finding some of this stuff. Especially if you live close enough to make the drive fairly short.

EDIT:

I tried to post this separately, but the post-per-thread limit stopped me:

^^^

Ally, I know a fair amount about Pinnacles and about Discovery Wall. I've done every route on Discovery easier than 5.11d, including leading The Embarrassment of Riches (go look at that route and you'll see why I included it in this statement).

I'm not sure what your source of information is, but The Wet Kiss is a lead route, not a toprope. Like any lead route though it can, of course, be toproped - if you can get to its top anchor. And yes, that anchor is down the cliff face.

I can think of two "non-lead" ways to get to that anchor. First, yes, you could rap from bolt anchors on top of the cliff. However, the cliff-top anchors above The Wet Kiss' top anchor are not rigged for rappel (people normally walk off from this part of the cliff after climbing). So you'd need to rappel from lots of slings extending from those top-of-cliff bolts in order to be able to pull your rope down to The Wet Kiss' top anchor (you'd need to walk around later to recover your slings).

A second way to get to that route's top anchor would work easliy on almost every nice-weather weekend day and would also work on many weekdays. Discovery Wall is very popular and sometimes crowded (it is very easy to access and has many good routes). On a weekend day especially, it would be rare if at least one party didn't have a rope on it at almost all times. I don't recall ever meeting any jerks at Discovery Wall, and I can't imagine a party that wouldn't give you a toprope on their line, after which you could drop their rope and put yours in place (you'd naturally have to tow or haul that up behind you though). You'd then be set (and yes The Wet Kiss' top anchor is rigged for rappel).

Enjoy!

SECOND EDIT:

I wasn't fully considering how people toprope solo when making the above comments. The cliff there is only 110 feet high, so you could also just hang your rope from a top anchor, rap down to the top of The Wet Kiss, clip a directional to that top anchor and continue to the ground on rappel. You'd then have a single rope in place on the route and above it (and isn't that how folks toprope solo? Using a single line with a soloist device?).

My friend Gavin, who lives 1/4 miles from Discovery Wall, runs up there and does routes toporope solo like that all the time.

I like your attitude, Brad! Sometimes I forget that the national parks have more to offer than just climbing…like adventure scrambling :)

Thinking I’ll TR solo at Discovery then spend the rest of the day trying to find Yak.

I got a question about Discovery Wall though, not sure how familiar you are with it…The Wet Kiss is listed as a TR climb but it looks like the anchors are well below the top out ledge for this wall. Am I missing something here or am I supposed to rap down from the anchors of Plague?

Ally Lwrote:

I like your attitude, Brad! Sometimes I forget that the national parks have more to offer than just climbing…like adventure scrambling :)

Thinking I’ll TR solo at Discovery then spend the rest of the day trying to find Yak.

I got a question about Discovery Wall though, not sure how familiar you are with it…The Wet Kiss is listed as a TR climb but it looks like the anchors are well below the top out ledge for this wall. Am I missing something here or am I supposed to rap down from the anchors of Plague?

Given that Brad wrote the Pinnacles guidebook, I'm sure he'll be able to answer your question. When we climbed wet kiss we led it, I'm not sure how you would get to those anchors otherwise without rapping from the top of the wall

I like the idea of a directional. I haven’t decided if I’m going to TR solo with a single strand or both, but I don’t think my 70m wouldn’t quite get me to the ground for the latter. Perhaps I’ll TR Trauma instead- would that roof push my rope out too far from the wall?

Also MP doesn’t indicate the approach to the top of the cliff. Is there a climber’s trail that branches off from the Rim Trail? Thanks a ton for all your help, Brad!

Also wanted to mention that Embarrassment of Riches isn’t on MP :(

  Just added this map, which may help.  Click on the blue text link for the full size version.

https://www.mountainproject.com/area/107173454/teaching-rock   Easiest to find and set up, 5.4 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 .  Popular with guided groups.

https://www.mountainproject.com/area/106330235/the-back-door   Easy to find.  5.8 5.9 5.10c   Just added a topo.  Tricky to find the scramble down to the base, and there is poison oak.

https://www.mountainproject.com/area/107439635/upper-crust    Slightly tricky to find, but there is a trail along the base that continues to the top as I recall.   5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8+ 5.9 5.10a 5.10b 5.10c   Usually not crowded.  A good choice.  Just added a topo

https://www.mountainproject.com/area/106067797/tourist-trap    Complicated to hike to the top.  5.7 5.8 5.8+   Just added a topo

https://www.mountainproject.com/area/105734225/discovery-wall    Has the longest routes of these, but only a few are good for toprope.  Ordeal 5.8   Broken Arrow 5.10c   Cleft 5.6   Tricky to find the tops of these routes the first time.

Many people who climb at the Pinnacles a lot use an older rope there.  The rock can be very rough on top, and you can "core shot" your rope if it is stretched over the lip and you fall a couple of times.  Watch out for poison oak, too.

Have fun,

Clint

Auto Cream/ Sun Wall would be a easy and fun place to do some TR rope solo climbing! 

Zay, don’t underrate your own input, I’ve found it just as helpful as Clint and Brad’s! I’m thinking I’ll do your some of your circuit but backwards- seems like Upper Crust will be a good spot for first time TRSing, then making my way back north the way I came.

Oh I’ve had nothing but positive experiences through MP- whether that’s through finding partners, getting beta, or buying used gear. Hell, even laughing myself to sleep reading the General Forum made shivering in my car at night that much more enjoyable. 

Following up with what Zay said, he mentioned the mudncrud forums. It can be found here: http://www.mudncrud.com/forums/index.php and the people you'll find there are literally Pinnacles legends (like Brad) and though you've (amazingly) gotten great advice here on MP, that forum can turn you into a Pinnacles Mud Master in no time at all. 

And if you're ever interested in the aid side of the Pinnacles (don't. it's a horror show of type 2 fun) drop me a line as I've done most of the aid routes  in the park (both clean and nailing) that aren't just A0 gear pulling moves or bolt ladders. 

Brad Youngwrote:

My friend Gavin, who lives 1/4 miles from Discovery Wall, runs up there and does routes toporope solo like that all the time.

Gavin's hawk avatar makes a lot more sense now.

Danny Herrerawrote:

Gavin's hawk avatar makes a lot more sense now.

It makes even more sense if you blend in the fact that he's the raptor monitor for the park too (plus he's a very dedicated birder).