The most popular multipitch in the county (world?)

Hiked to base of cathedral peak in Tuolumne last week and I’d never seen anything like it. We were there maybe at 10am and probably saw 10 to 12 different groups on the wall. All starting at various sections. Several teams of 3. Bunch of guided parties. Several people their first multis. Several people there ump-teenth time up cathedral. Young. Old. Pretty cool to see (largely  because we weren’t doing that route). 

Between seeing a tonnnnnn of climbers. And there just being such a well curated descent, it got me thinking that this has got to be one of the most climbed all-rock routes in NA? In the world? (I’m sure there lots of stuff in the alps that gets way more traffic but I’ve not been there).

Anyways curious people’s other suggestions. Just being that cathedral base is SO wide and so many people can essentially start at the same time - versus making a single file line to start - this has got to be a sort of unique one. 

I suspect it isn't Cathedral Peak, at least on an ascents per year basis, since the season for it is short. Cathedral Peak gets a lot of ascents per day in the summer, but on an annual basis I suspect it is surpassed by routes with a longer season. 

Bastille Crack?  Easy access, heavily trafficked, gets climbed nearly every day of the year.

Old Man’s Route at Seneca has to be a good contender 

Betting one of the frequently scrambled flatiron routes

John Clarkwrote:

Betting one of the frequently scrambled flatiron routes

Right. Yeah. That.

Though, does it count as a multipitch still if the majority of climbers aren't pitching it out?

JCMwrote:

I suspect it isn't Cathedral Peak, at least on an ascents per year basis, since the season for it is short. Cathedral Peak gets a lot of ascents per day in the summer, but on an annual basis I suspect it is surpassed by routes with a longer season. 

Bastille Crack?  Easy access, heavily trafficked, gets climbed nearly every day of the year.

According to MP, cathedral peak has 2,121 ticks, Bastille crack 2,489. Well guessed.

High E must be up there. 6145 ticks on MP as of posting. 

the bastille crack route has 149 comments

good lord

Standard route on Whitehorse has got to be one of the most traveled pieces of rock, at least in the North East

Cat in the hat 👒 

Would it not be routes that can be comfortably climbed year around ? No snow and very little rain ? Which popular  one is that ?

The thing about cathedral that’s interesting though is there’s no really reason to turn away from the climb on a busy day. Go to epinephrine let’s say on a busy day and you see that you’re the 5th group in line to start, you probably pick something else that day.

Cathedral, there were probably 4 groups all climbing P1 at the same time are various starting point. So the “line” isn’t that big.

Even though its climbing season is not full year 

Royal Arches, Nutcracker

Tony Danzawrote:

According to MP, cathedral peak has 2,121 ticks, Bastille crack 2,489. Well guessed.

Actually, this isn't correct - that's how many votes for the grade and/or number of stars there are. The Bastille has 9553 ticks. (You have to click through to see ticks) 

Timothy Primewrote:

Actually, this isn't correct - that's how many votes for the grade and/or number of stars there are. The Bastille has 9553 ticks. (You have to click through to see ticks) 

Ah I see, thanks for that info. The disparity is even greater then, with cathedral peak having 6516 ticks compared to Bastille’s 9553, although ahead of High Exposure with 6148. Not that MP ticks are definitive and all encompassing, though you could likely expect the same “miss rate” with all three routes regarding how many logged ticks vs. how many actual ascents.