Casual Route

The Casual Route is an incredible climb at high altitude on the most famous wall in Colorado. This is the easiest route on the Diamond, but that doesn't mean it's not world class. The route includes incredible climbing with awesome exposure and high alpine weather. Although I have heard the route described as both stiff and easy for the grade, I think that the published ratings are quite accurate.

P1: Start in the middle of the wall at a less than vertical broken pillar. It is not hard to find. Pitch 1 is 5.4 up broken ground to the bottom of an obvious crack.

P2: Follow the steeper crack at 5.9 to a hanging belay 2/3 of the way up.

P3: A 100 foot 5.7 traverse with about three pieces of pro, two of which are fixed pins. This pitch is spectacular and has dangerous fall potential, although the climbing is easy. Although this pitch is described as runout, you should be able to keep the distance between pieces reasonable (10-15 feet at most) with the right route-finding choices.

P4: Climb up a dirty 5.8 crack and chimney to a belay about half way up the route.

P5: May be the best pitch of the climb. It leads up a steep 5.8 dihedral with a handcrack tucked in the corner. Belay halfway up the dihedral on a stance 

P6:  Continue up 5.8 to the Yellow Wall Bivy Ledge. The exposure hits you right here for the final, and crux, pitch.

P7: Climb up a really thin 5.9 crack with fixed gear to a 5.8 squeeze chimney. Trying to squirm your way up the chimney at 14,000 feet is about as strenuous as it gets. From here pull out of the chimney and perform the crux move, a well protected reach over a bulge on thin holds, 5.10a, and you're on Table Ledge.

P8: One last 5.7 traverse pitch leads to the exit onto Kiener's or the rap route.

Standard trad rack. 1.5 sets stoppers, 1.5 sets of cams 0.5 - 3. 1 set TCUs. About 6 extended runners and 6 draws.

Table Ledge marks the top of the route. From here, most parties choose between two options: rappelling the Diamond Rappel Route back down to the base, or continuing to the true summit via upper Kiener's Route and descending the Cables Route.

The rappel option is 5 double-rope raps from Table Ledge down to Broadway Ledge, then 4 more raps from Broadway down to the snowfield below, the first of those 4 can be done with a single rope, but the last 3 require doubles. That's 9 raps total, so budget time and gear (two 60m ropes) accordingly. From the snowfield, hike out around Chasm Lake back to the trail. 

Note: the anchor hardware on this route has been upgraded over the years. Chains have been added at the rap stations (as opposed to older bare rings), which makes it easier to clip in away from where the rope feeds through. Anchor locations have stayed consistent even as hardware has been swapped out, but as always, inspect anchors before committing and back up anything that looks questionable.

The summit option adds a real chunk of low 5th class climbing and mileage. From the summit, descend via the Cables Route: a 3rd class scramble down to Chasm View, with a 5.4 section that can either be downclimbed or handled with 1-2 single-rope rappels depending on your party's comfort and conditions. From Chasm View, continue down to regain the main trail in the Boulderfield and hike out.

The choice comes down to time, conditions, and how the party is feeling, with afternoon weather being a big factor. Colorado's alpine thunderstorms build fast even on good-forecast days, and the summit and Cables descent put you on exposed terrain with no quick bail option. Watch conditions closely as you approach Table Ledge. Parties have turned back and rappelled after finding wet rock on the pitches above it, and don't push into the afternoon if the route is running slow or weather looks unsettled. If you're seeing any of those warning signs, take the Diamond Rappel Route instead: it keeps you off the exposed upper mountain and gets you down faster if weather turns. Climbers who do continue to the summit generally have no issue on the Cables Route, but plan for a full car-to-car day (11-20+ hours based on reports).