Avg: 3.2 from 82
votes
This route has a mixture of old bolting ethics and those from Owen's River Gorge. This means the first bolt is about 20 ft off the deck but the ones following are almost on top of each other. That said, it is still a classic, good enough to be placed on Hans Flourine's top six routes below 5.12! It starts on the left side of the block in the middle of the wall and goes up until you are just below and left of the first bolt. Traverse right, clip the bolt, and then follow the bolt line up to the anchors. Great for those days when Cracked Wall is packed and you need some shade.
Five bolts and a two eye-bolt anchor at the top make this a straight-forward lead for those just getting into sport climbing. (It usually is everyone's first lead anyway). NOTE: This is an old aid line that wasn't rebolted to be a free climb. Rather, certain bolts were just chopped and certain bolts were left (probably to avoid having to go through the arduous task of hand-bolting the route).
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SLO, CA
Sedona
SLO
EDIT:
Climbed the "second pitch" of Shadow the other day. It was actually very enjoyable. Be ready for a significant runout on the slabs above (same deal as Fields of Fire). Recommended! Feb 11, 2004
QUEEN CREEK
SLO
Jun 22, 2004
For somone looking for a first lead might i suggest Madison Squire Garden on Garden Wall. Its a much easier climb and the first bolt is much more accessable. Dec 28, 2004
Yosemite, CA
QUEEN CREEK
SLO, CA
Durango, CO
A leader should definitely consider this a RUNOUT climb. You can place a bomber nut/cam near the start, but you are definitely at groundout level before clipping the first bolt.
I highly recommend this climb! Most excellent. For added fun, set up a TR and play around with variations: stay left of bolts, climb straight over the bolts, climb Lycra, etc. Sep 16, 2006
"That's no 5.7." Sep 22, 2006
San Luis Obispo, CA
As for this being a good first lead, I guess I have two things to say. First, I think it depends on how that's characterized. Shadow is everyone's first lead? Surely Tom isn't claiming that it is everyone's first lead! He's not making a descriptive claim. No, he's a normative claim: he's claiming that Shadow is a good/appropriate/reasonable route for a first lead.[see Note 3] Yet, as many of you have said, it's pretty clear that it shouldn't be so. I agree with that assessment: it wouldn't really be good/appropriate/reasonable for just any new leader to make it their first route "on the sharp end." But that doesn't imply it isn't good/appropriate/reasonable for it to be some people's first lead. That's arguably just as false as the claim that Shadow is everyone's first lead. This leads me to the second thing: it may be perfectly good/appropriate/reasonable for someone to do as their first lead. I know some climbers who have been bouldering and TRing for years, who can send V5s and .11s, etc., who wouldn't even break a sweat were they to decide to start leading and make this their first route. As with all things in climbing (really anything we do), it depends on a number of relevant factors: the person's skill level in other types of rock climbing (bouldering, TRing, etc.), how much risk that person is willing to assume, the quality of the belayer, etc. I wouldn't recommend it to most new leaders (the operative word being 'most'), but I also wouldn't turn someone away from it if I thought that there is sufficient reason to think that they are more than capable to handle it. I'm sure we all agree that it's up to the climbing party to make that decision.[see Note 4]
At the end of the day, it seems to me that there's a really easy solution to all this worry. And it involves neither the old if-you-don't-feel-up-to-it-don't-lead-it adage nor, what I'm tempted to say, pace Mike Morley, is a worthless gear placement ten feet OTD and to the left. It is this: have someone spot the leader from the ramp. Let's be honest. Not only is a belay worthless until a quality first piece is clipped, but a spotter on the ramp makes the first section not much more than a 12 foot or so boulder problem.[see Note 5]
Well, that's my two-cents (more like twenty-five since it's more like a tome). I might be full of crap, maybe not. Of course, the beauty of this is that it's wonderful that we locals have a chance to dialogue and debate this such things. Cheerio.
Notes
1 Question: is the direct start the variation, or is it the left start/traverse version the variation?
2 This, of course, raises the old question about what exactly constitutes the crux of a route? The most technically demanding section, or the most psychologically challenging section (assuming that the two are different)?
3 Note that the use of 'good', 'appropriate', 'reasonable' are obviously not being used in a moral sense; they're being used in a prudential sense (that is, in the sense that is concerned with the person's future self-interests, e.g., as in the claims saving money is good, it's appropriate to check your rope for signs of substantive damage, etc.).
4 Of course, I have other views about how the new leader should learn "the craft" that many wouldn't agree with (e.g., I think it's a mistake to think that a new leader should learn the craft on sport rather than trad routes), but I leave that for another discussion.
5 One final thing. I honestly can't see how the left start/traverse version to the 1st bolt is any harder than 5.6. Jul 9, 2008
To answer and clarify a few things -
"The early guide books rated this climb 5.8" Nope. Go look at one.
Gulyash's guide rated it 5.7
My '94/'95 and '97 guidebooks rated it 5.7
Tucker/Steele rated it 5.8 (they got their info from Gulyash, go figure)
and finally my '06 guide rated it 5.8
To quote Dwight Kroll from an essay he wrote for me in '95-
"...and not until we got to Yosemite did we realize that the Shadow was one of the harder 5.7s around." Ha ha, probably because it wasn't 5.7. But nobody back then was gonna be the first weenie to say... "Shadow is hard- it's more like 5.8!" They had their reps to consider.
Also, Shadow was a bolted aid climb. No pitons. Not a legend, it's a known fact. In a journal excerpt from Bob Garing written in '72 and given to me in '94-
"Two young men were on the rock setting BOLTS (my emphasis)...Shadow Rock, the name given to the route by Bob Russell."
Routes do change over time after a lot of traffic. 1970s were a long time ago.
So I don't think Shadow got downgraded, it was in the beginning 5.7. Certainly it is not the first route to adjust over time. Take Lycra... 5.10a? I doubt it. But that is what the FA party called it, Pete, everyone else back then, but now I'd say it is at least .10b or even .10c (esp. as an onsight)? As an author, it is difficult to get out of one mind frame and reset. Back when I was climbing in early '90s Shadow was always said to be 5.7, so you just go with it. It would have been out of step for me to challenge Dwight, Pete etc. and come in as the new guy and call it 5.8. Plus, with all those earlier guys calling it 5.7... you certainly doubted your own evaluation of it. There were no climbing forums, and nobody was gonna say it was 5.8. And they didn't, until much later.
Also, as far as the "everyone's first lead" comment... poorly written. Everyone's first lead at Shadow Wall. It was mine. And if you can keep it together for 12' then once you hit the traverse ledges it's like 5.2. The bolt is deceptively high, but don't forget there is a ledge to start off of that is 5' off the ground, and it is only about 12' to the foot ledges. Anyway... it's 95% mental, and let's face it, many climbers today don't get a lot of practice on routes like that (enter sport climbing). Most of Bishop is like that if you're leading the routes. They are mentally challenging. So is Shadow. Keep in mind that not everyone starts off leading 5.4, or 5.6. My nephew's first lead was 5.9. He's a very strong guy. We all start in different places. That's cool.
But... for sake of argument, what else on Shadow would you rather lead? Desperado maybe (now), but that's it. And most climbers (all?) sent Desperado back then straight up (5.9 - sandbag!), not way right and then stretch over to barely clip the 2nd bolt. In fact, the Gulyash guide has no 5.7 variation (I added that in '97 guidebook), and it even shows you stepping back left after clipping the first bolt (Gulyash). Back then Shadow had more bolts than anything else on that wall and they were close together. And it was the easiest route there rating wise, with the exception of Swallow and Easy St. But both those routes had no bolts and you had to know what you were doing with small nuts to get protection. So actually, it was a lot of people's first lead around town. Like I said, not everyone starts with the easiest route they can find. They do what they can do. Shadow has grown into a sort of mini-Inner Sanctum, but believe me, it wasn't a big deal back then. But hey, to each their own. I'm not faulting anyone for not wanting to lead it, or start on it.
Also, anyone with eyes knows that you don't clip the first bolt on Pressure Drop and then move over to Shadow. You'd have to down climb and do a huge traverse, rope drag, etc. I was not computer savy in '97 and didn't draw my topos for that guide and it is incorrect. But come on...
Also, keep in mind, the original Gulyash guidebooks ('82 & '86) did not have any text after route names and pro list. It read -
"Shadow 5.7 Nuts not necessary" That was it. There were no route descriptions AT ALL.
Climbers today are spoiled with a wealth of info.
Also, straight up is the variation. Left start (original) is easier.
Times have changed at Bishop. Perceptions change. The climbing is what it is, but not everyone sees it the same way. And what's wrong with that?
I hope this helps add to your appreciation of Shadow. It's a good one. Jul 17, 2009
Pitch 2 was fun, but after the 3rd bolt I reached the low point in the line of vegetation and was unable to see the anchors in the spot indicated in Slaters guide, so I had to choose to go left or right on bare rock to avoid the vegetation. Fortunately I chose to go left (I don't think there is an anchor on the right side), running it out about 50' before encountering a 4th bolt just before the anchor, which is much higher and left of where it is illustrated in Slaters guide, slightly higher and right of the anchor shown for Inner Sanctum and Pressure Drop. Mar 22, 2010
Atascadero, CA
I've also seen a guy slide down on lead, keep his footing when hitting the ledge and jump to the ground, sticking the landing! It was scary, but nicely done. No injury.
I like to pre-clip the first bolt on a lower from Desperado, removing the groundfall potential. Jan 26, 2014
San Luis Obispo, CA
Oceano, CA
Asheville, NC
San Luis Obispo, California
Fresno, CA
Hemet, CA
Fresno, CA
Atascadero, CA
Sedona
Atascadero, CA
Who is this "climbing community" you refer to? Was there a meeting and a vote by this community? (no) Or was it a couple of guys that decided to add a bolt? I have a neutral position on this new bolt.
But don't kid yourself into thinking there was some consensus/vote on adding this bolt. One way to seek climbers' opinions would have been to post the proposal on Mountain Project. Another way is to post a sign at the trailhead or near the climb about the proposal with a phone number. Nothing of the sort was done.
Some places have a local climbing coalition for such matters.
That said, the bolt may prevent some injuries! Nov 30, 2023