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El Whampo
5.7,
Trad, 500 ft (152 m), 5 pitches,
Avg: 2.9 from 279
votes
FA: Richard Coats, Larry Reynolds, D. McLean, and D. Ross, 1964
California
> Tahquitz & Suic…
> Tahquitz Rock
> (b) N Face
Description
This route starts just right of Northeast Farce, by some shallow cracks. Go up these cracks, traverse left, and then over some small overhangs to a belay. Pitch 2 (5.7) traverses right to a crux finger jam move, leading up to a very nice 120 foot long jam crack. Easier climbing above largely follows Northeast Farce up to the shoulder of the rock above.
Protection
standard rack, a blue TCU or similar helps protect the traverse at the beginning of P2
[Hide Comment] After the second pitch it is possible to finish by heading up and slightly to the left over the root of the dihedral (making it a three pitch route instead of five). This avoids the loose uninspired last pitches. From the end of this pitch you can drop straight into the north gully descent. The best easy hand crack in Idylwild.
Jul 18, 2007
[Hide Comment] A spicier and longer finish is to go up then right over a small overhang.(this is well below the bolt) Run it out right face climbing to a vertical crack and ascend to under the arch to a comfortable belay, (5.7).
There are several alternative exits from the arch, all about the same difficulty. The highest quality alternative is to continue with an easy long pitch and exit at the overhang that is shared by N.E. Face West and several other routes.
This produces about a six pitch climb and adds a couple of quality ones.
Jul 26, 2007
[Hide Comment] Bolt? What bolt? The ORIGINAL way it was done was to take the arch exit to where the route joins the NE Butt. exit. Exiting where the NE Farce goes IS NOT El Whampo. Yep, the 2nd pitch was fun for the grade but the third pitch (headin up and right along a thin crack/seam) was fun too (5.7 friction).
Sep 25, 2007
[Hide Comment] Great crack on P2. I always back off going right on P3. Did not see any pro. Opted for going more right to the arch. very enjoyable.
Sep 11, 2009
[Hide Comment] missed the double cracks for p2. I continued up the dihedral (maybe 5.9?) until I reached the end of 70m (starting from the base). There was a long sling for a rap where I stopped, with which with a 70m you can rap to a sturdy bush where I discovered the double cracks.
Jun 21, 2010
[Hide Comment] Ha! Wish I'd read these posts before I went out on this one today...or perhaps it's best I didn't!
I was pretty sure I was off-route on the slab above the second pitch, since there's really no pro until you get a pin scar near the top of the slab. Pretty good feet for slab...there are a bunch of black inclusions in the rock that seem to give a pretty good purchase, but there's no hands. Run-out is maybe 20-25 feet. Not sure. Merits a PG13 probably?
Get gear under the roof you go over to get onto the slab. What a fun route!
Edit June 2012: This time went up and left toward the dihedral on P3 (instead of straight up). Turning the "roof" (more the remnants of the giant dihedral than a roof) is easy if you find the right way, much easier to protect, and there is much less loose rock than if you go to the right. Once you get over the roof, stay high on the buttress and it's easy going on clean, pretty solid rock to the dead tree where most people (?) unrope. Tom (below) must have found a different seam than the one i followed. I scoured it for placements and found nothing but a lot of dirt and moss in a shallow thin crack.
The crack on the second pitch is spectacular for the grade...in it's way as good as The Grack - Center in the Valley.
Jul 26, 2010
[Hide Comment] The thin seam on P3 protects well with small nuts and is another fun pitch. You can barely make out the seam up and slightly right from the belay at the end of P2. There's a great #1 Camalot before you step out onto the slab and the seam is reached about 8 ft later. No runout and very mellow.
Jun 24, 2011
[Hide Comment] The origional third 5.7 pitch is well worth doing but the crux moves are unprotected, might get a tiny nut in, it gets easier soon with good albiet small pro.
Follow the guidebook topo to finish it up, basically another traverse pitch and pull through a notch for another pitch of 5.easy climbing above.
Sep 16, 2012
[Hide Comment] There is a terrifying amount of loose rock higher up. The climb was great, but climbing under another party wouldn't be wise. I'll second Chris D's note, stay high on the buttress after p4. This was a little confusing.
Jun 17, 2013
[Hide Comment] What a fun route, climbed 7-16-2013, not a single person on the route, and not a single person on the rock, at least to my knowledge. 2 rangers were waiting at the trailhead for the north face approach of tahquitz, warning people to stay off the mountain, and even claiming that the mountain might be shutdown due to the riverside county fire, the fire made for some cool looking smoke clouds while climbing tahquitz, too bad i didn't bring a camera.
First few pitches of this climb are a lot of fun, the 2nd pitch crack is great and deserves the hype it gets. Also, the 3rd pitch runout really isn't that bad, a small nut works perfectly in the thin seam, as tom mentioned earlier. Definitely go for the slab, runout or not, it's not hard. Rest of the climb got weaker and weaker by every pitch, but other than pitch 6, each pitch has something very interesting about it. Highly recommended.
Jul 16, 2013
[Hide Comment] Just did the left variation finish after p2, fantastic climb! I found it every bit as good as Fingertrip.
From the top of p2 head up and left for ~30-50' (don't remember exactly) before working your way right under a large dihedral before finally pulling over it to end p3 whenever you want. Great pro the whole way but use runners to manage the rope drag.
From here I worked lightly left again until I reached a great layback crack that headed up and right and eventually ended by pulling over a small dihedral. P5 I stayed away from the gulley to the right to keep climbing in the 5.7 range. About halfway up you it levels off for about 20' and then you have the choice of working right into a gulley or going straight up a 20' face. This face can be protected with a #2 C3 or maybe a .3 C4 about halfway up if you look carefully between the small bushes. After this face head right under a large dihedral and pull over it on good holds when you hit a corner after 10'. Then finish up to the top (dead tree) however you see fit!
Aug 25, 2013
[Hide Comment] Some very good pitches, notably the crack on P2 and the long slabby layback on P5. Of the 3 5.7 pitches (trying to follow Bob Gaines's description in "Best Climbs") the middle one (a move round an overlap on P4) seemed the hardest, UK 4c or thereabouts. I'm unclear about the easiest line for the traverse right out to the crack at the start of P2 - if you go low from the belay it's well protected but there is a tricky move to start the cracks (UK 5a?): I think Gaines suggests going right 10' higher along a friction slab (5.4PG).
Oct 3, 2014
Start/Scramble - Start the route by scrambling up a 3rd/4th class gully on your left to a large tree on a ledge. P1 - Climb straight up until you reach a small tree with slings on it. P2 - There are two variations to the start of pitch 2. You can traverse down low from the belay station to the crack where you can get one piece in before you reach the crack or you can climb 10 feet up and then make the traverse to the crack (no pro). I climbed 10 feet up and then did the traverse on slab. It's easy climbing but it makes for a more exciting/spicy start since there's no pro and it's all feet until you get to the start of the crack. P3 I went up and slightly left and built an anchor when I hit the small roof. P4 I traversed right for about 20 to 30 feet and then went up and over the small roof (maybe one 5.7 move) and continued up for maybe 70 feet on easy ground to a tree. P5 I continued straight up until reaching some large boulders and built an anchor. From there we unroped and walked to the top.
Sep 6, 2016
[Hide Comment] For the second pitch initial traverse you can get reasonable protection for the upper variation by climbing up about 15 ft and placing gear under the flake as far right as you can get a good piece. Then down climb to the white streak and traverse.
After reaching the main crack either do not place until well above the traverse piece or down climb and clean so your second isn't facing a bone crushing swing.
The left (straight up) variation of the third pitch now has a relatively new bolt. (really a pitch of El Grandote?) I still am of the opinion that the original traverse to the right is the superior route. It does not follow the undercling in the one referenced topo, but almost immediately after crossing the " crocodile head" above the second belay face climbs right (a bit run) on bumps to a vertical crack. There's an intermediate seam where some strictly psychological pro can be placed.
[Hide Comment] I agree with Tom and thought the standard seam way on the third pitch was fun and well protected. You just had to work for the gear and it felt spicy. Small nuts and one very small cam worked well for the seam. Climbing was easy for the Taquitz grade with good feet.
Aug 22, 2017
[Hide Comment] Climb El Whampo on Memorial Day. Wonderful route. There was a nicely coiled rope (orange/brown color, looked like a 10mm, maybe 60m) sitting at the top of pitch 5. Did you forget your rope?
May 29, 2018
[Hide Comment] I've posted a topo, and after some helpful comments from Tradiban, I made a revised version: mountainproject.com/photo/1…- . If anyone has additional comments or corrections, that would be great.
There seem to be a lot of different opinions about which variation of the pitch after the crack (my P4) is the "real" route. There seem to be four variations, three of which Justin Tomlinson has described carefully in a topo and a photo: mountainproject.com/photo/1…mountainproject.com/photo/1… . I've led the leftmost one (not described by Justin) and followed on it once. I haven't done the El Grandote one (not shown on my topo). I've only followed on the diagonal one (my var 2). I haven't done the undercling one (my var 3), which Justin seems to like the pro on, and Tradiban says is protected with cams under the undercling. Wilts 1974 seems to describe one of the two on the left. Vogel-Gaines 2001 describes the diagonal. Gaines Best Climbs 2013 describes one of the left ones and the diagonal one and calls the diagonal one 5.7 PG/R, which I would agree with based on my recollection of how heads-up it seemed when I followed on it. I claim the leftmost one is 5.3, and it's also easy to protect. This YDS rating seems supported by the fact that Vogel-Gaines describes it as also being part of Northeast Farce 5.3. It seems unlikely to me that the undercling one would have been the original 1964 FA route, unless it's protectable with pitons or something.
Vogel-Gaines describes El Grandote as exiting the arch at my var 4, although Gaines Best Climbs just says the two routes coincide. I was belaying underneath that spot a few days ago (just to the left of the mountain mahogany), so I got a long opportunity to check it out. Has anyone here done it that way? It looked like well featured slab with at least some possible protection with cams, but I couldn't guess the YDS grade or the quality of the placements just by looking from a distance. Someone had painted an X with chalk as if to mark it.
Aug 4, 2021
[Hide Comment] Park at the Upper parking lot, where the outhouses are located. The trail splits at the start. Hiker's trail is left. Take the unmarked right trail towards the fence, down to the creek, cross the creek, then back up. This will take you to the leftmost side of Tahquitz N Face. The trail splits into a Y. Looking uphill, the left trail is the North Gully descent, the right trail is to the base of the climb. You can stash your approach packs at the Y intersection, otherwise it is about a 15 min retrieve to the base of the climb and back to the Y. This is a much shorter approach compared parking at the Lower parking lot, going up to Lunch Rock, turning left, then skirting the base of the rock all the way to the leftmost side. Even if you park at the Lower parking lot, it is better and faster to walk up the road to the Upper lot and take the approach described above.
P2. As mentioned on earlier comments, there are two ways to approach the crack. I opted for the traverse right, then start the crack from the bottom. I am 5'1" tall, and it was quite a reach for me to get a secure hold in the crack to start climbing. Doable for a short person, but definitely spicy! This crack eats up medium size pieces. I used a BD #4, although it is not required.
P3. We did the 'escape route' left El Grandote variation. mountainproject.com/photo/1… This was more of an adventure pitch with route finding and clipping on two bolts. This pitch was about 60 meters long before it became low 5th class. Due to the wandering nature of the pitch rope drag was significant toward the end. After that, following the path of least resistance, we ended at the top of a tower and looking down at the descent gully. It was sketchy to downclimb the flake slab, so we proceeded to climb up low 5th on the main wall, traversed left, and joined the descent trail back to the Y intersection. Stay on the main descent trail; the talus/boulder field on the left was much slower to get down.
Oct 2, 2021
[Hide Comment] P2: Traversed right and protected the thin crack with a .2 Z4. Fit like a glove, and made that initial move into the crack safe.
P3: If you go left, and then once you hit the roofs, traverse right until you find a nice pod to belay, just right of where your partner is belaying you below.
P4: I traversed wayyyy right to the Northeast Face West exit and belayed just above the roof. You'll know you're going in the right direction when you see a piton on the way to the exit.
[Hide Comment] There's currently some snow still on p1 of the Ben Crowell topo. There's some easy scrambling that can be done to avoid this pitch and start at p2 of the BC topo that feels like the real first pitch.
(below based on BC topo) P2 - scramble a bit to a faint finger crack (see mountain project photo with red arrows). This section is a bit spicy with few opportunities for pro. There's a mini right facing dihedral that can be used for stemming that has a few pockets for pro. At the top reach a big ledge and walk the plank up and to the left taking you into the corner of the big right facing dihedral and climb up through some cracks to the P2 belay. The small tree at the top appears sturdy, but backing up with pro if you have enough is smart. ~70'
P3 - The money pitch. Venture out right on easy but exposed slab. There's a small section that's almost flat that you can use to make it almost all the way to the twin finger cracks. The left crack is shallow, but the right crack will take a BD .3 c4 and nuts very well. Use the right crack for foot jamming and finger locks while stemming in the left. A few cruxy yet enjoyable moves will allow you to get a foot on a knob between the cracks. After that you're on easy street, reap your reward as you cruise up the the long hand crack that eats gear from BD #.75 - #3. The crack eventually returns to fingers at the top and leans left. At the top, big positive edges help you pull up onto a ramp that heads right and down to the P3 belay. Be careful here as protecting the follower can be tricky and the belay ledge is full of hollow flakes/blocks that don't seem the safest for pro. Take time and build a solid anchor. ~110'
P4 - Head up and gently to the left. You should see some obvious flakes that will look a bit like steep ramps or the letter "C" that trend up and to the left. The topo lists this as 5.3 but there some steep moves that feel more like 5.6. Pro is also a bit more challenging in the flakes but exists. You should eventually find a short 4" crack and above it a manzanita tree/bush with an arch roof above you. Head right across some (5.5?) slabs made eaiser by underclings in the roof arch. Be sure to place gear for the follower. Eventually reach a tiny buttress that you scramble over to get into a small trough/gully and find a comfy spot to belay. ~85'
P5 - follow the trough/gully up easy 4th for ~15' to a break in the roof. The topo refers to this as a spicy move and it is indeed spicy and committing, but can be well protected with BD c4 #2s and a BD c4 #4 if you really want to sow it up. Once past the spicy move trend up and left up the gully towards a large healthy pine tree. Once at the pine tree continue further if you're able to spot a more appropriate belay. While tempting, a 70m rope will not be long enough to reach the top from the pine tree. If you continue up the easiest path, you should reach the top of the large buttress/dihedral from the beginning of the climb. Looking to your left should reveal the north gully (I did not see an easy way to exit early into the north gull decent and recommend going all the way to the top via P6). There are many cracks etc here from which to build an anchor on realatively comfortable ground. ~120'
P6 - Continue up easy 4th heading towards a large dead pine which is at the top of the climb. You should find yourself going up a slab ramp with a 7ish" 3rd/4th class crack to your left. A large granite block will be on your left and another large granite block will be in front of you (with the dead pine on top of it.). The corner where these two blocks meet has an easy dirty ramp up to the finish. Take time to create a solid belay and avoid using any of the large dead trees. ~120'
Decent - The north gully is to your left but is incredibly steep from where you are at the dead pine. Head further up class 2/3 continuing until trees in the gully look to be level with your height. Eventually you should come to a spot on your left that trends down into the gully and looks 3rd class and obvious. Start your decent into the gully. Take your time as the top is steep. Moving slowly, switchback and trend towards which ever section has the gentlest slope. Some butt sliding may be required in one section. The grade eventually eases and more 2nd class and dirty areas appear. After maybe 45 minutes, you should notice the descent becoming more path like. If you hear the river/creek you're on the right track. Eventually it starts to seem like you're on a real trail again, because you are. The trail eventually meets up with and crosses over the creek. After crossing head up a small hill and you should be able to see the parking lot bathroom.
May 8, 2022
[Hide Comment] Left a fixed hex (Wild Country, Gold) on June 18th, 2022 on pitch 2. Willing to buy the hex from you if you liberate it. If you come across it, at least you know how old it is.
Jul 18, 2022
[Hide Comment] I think the topo above in comments (Sam Ricker) is maybe wrong on P4 (actually P3). At the manzanita bush I went left across some slabs as stated and then ended up on some dirty slab and then a steep juggy pull up onto some dirty/crumbly rock. It was fine, but some people may be sketched out. As it's based on the BC topo ( lightandmatter.com/tahquitz…), I looked at that and that seems to suggest going right at the bush, so perhaps it's a mistake posted here.
One advantage is we reached the healthy large pine tree with 60s going that way, and that's a delightful belay spot.
Jul 17, 2023
[Hide Comment] Good callout Gregor, my original post should have said, "... above it a manzanita tree/bush with an arch roof above you. Head right across some (5.5?) ...", but it actually said, "head left". Apologies for the bad intel. I've edited the original post for correctness and it should now line up better with the topo pictures.
Aug 4, 2023
[Hide Comment] Gear beta: Bring microcams and nuts. A .3 was a lifesaver on nearly every pitch. My partner and I followed the route per the guidebook topo for P3-5, going up and right, then made a roof move over a protrusion of rock at P4 which protected with a nut. We clipped 2 pitons along the way. We saw no “loose rock” going this way and I highly recommend this finish for more quality climbing.
Oct 17, 2023
[Hide Comment] Was really excited to finally get on this. Here is some route finding beta for you:
Pitch 1 is easy to follow. Use the pictures to get to that first belay (small bush/tree can assist with anchor here). Fairly comfortable and is directly beside the traverse.
Pitch 2 anchor is easy to find, but take care! Once the crack runs out, place a high piece and traverse down the ledge to the loose blocks. Very comfortable to sit on but I recommend a harness belay. I think I used the orange and yellow Metolius but never weighted it. Instead I used my harness to take the weight. It was just there to keep me from slipping off.
Pitch 3 goes up and left (see the picture I posted). You get to a waist high section you need to mount up on. This takes you to an arching roof that goes up and right. There is a small tree at the start of this traverse, and to your left should be some featured slab (I imagine a variation). Underling and slab feet to the saddle type depression.
Pitch 4 goes up over the roof with this semi wide, semi left leaning crack (short one). I felt like this is the crux of the entire route. Once you pull up, you aim for the nice large alive pine tree above you. Theres a small slab section that makes you think to get over to it.
Pitch 5 goes up the lichen covered gully. I thought it would be easy enough to free, but I was glad I had a rope. Follow easy slabs up to the dead pine. 70M will NOT reach but if your partner wants to set an anchor 20 feet higher than the tree, it might. If you are confident, you can simul climb like we did once the rope got to the end.
Continue up like 15-20 feet until you can safely enter the north gully descent. Follow path of least resistance down until you see easier slabs on the right (and harder on the left). Go on those slabs and follow it down to the talus field. Then at the end of the talus field, around the base of the rock, you can cut back to the face.
May 16, 2024
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Lander, WY
The best easy hand crack in Idylwild. Jul 18, 2007
Run it out right face climbing to a vertical crack and ascend to under the arch to a comfortable belay, (5.7).
There are several alternative exits from the arch, all about the same difficulty. The highest quality alternative is to continue with an easy long pitch and exit at the overhang that is shared by N.E. Face West and several other routes.
This produces about a six pitch climb and adds a couple of quality ones. Jul 26, 2007
Kernville, CA
Westminster, CO
the couch
I was pretty sure I was off-route on the slab above the second pitch, since there's really no pro until you get a pin scar near the top of the slab. Pretty good feet for slab...there are a bunch of black inclusions in the rock that seem to give a pretty good purchase, but there's no hands. Run-out is maybe 20-25 feet. Not sure. Merits a PG13 probably?
Get gear under the roof you go over to get onto the slab. What a fun route!
Edit June 2012: This time went up and left toward the dihedral on P3 (instead of straight up). Turning the "roof" (more the remnants of the giant dihedral than a roof) is easy if you find the right way, much easier to protect, and there is much less loose rock than if you go to the right. Once you get over the roof, stay high on the buttress and it's easy going on clean, pretty solid rock to the dead tree where most people (?) unrope. Tom (below) must have found a different seam than the one i followed. I scoured it for placements and found nothing but a lot of dirt and moss in a shallow thin crack.
The crack on the second pitch is spectacular for the grade...in it's way as good as The Grack - Center in the Valley. Jul 26, 2010
Fort Collins, CO
running springs Ca
San Diego, CA
Follow the guidebook topo to finish it up, basically another traverse pitch and pull through a notch for another pitch of 5.easy climbing above. Sep 16, 2012
I'll second Chris D's note, stay high on the buttress after p4. This was a little confusing. Jun 17, 2013
california
First few pitches of this climb are a lot of fun, the 2nd pitch crack is great and deserves the hype it gets. Also, the 3rd pitch runout really isn't that bad, a small nut works perfectly in the thin seam, as tom mentioned earlier. Definitely go for the slab, runout or not, it's not hard. Rest of the climb got weaker and weaker by every pitch, but other than pitch 6, each pitch has something very interesting about it. Highly recommended. Jul 16, 2013
From the top of p2 head up and left for ~30-50' (don't remember exactly) before working your way right under a large dihedral before finally pulling over it to end p3 whenever you want. Great pro the whole way but use runners to manage the rope drag.
From here I worked lightly left again until I reached a great layback crack that headed up and right and eventually ended by pulling over a small dihedral. P5 I stayed away from the gulley to the right to keep climbing in the 5.7 range. About halfway up you it levels off for about 20' and then you have the choice of working right into a gulley or going straight up a 20' face. This face can be protected with a #2 C3 or maybe a .3 C4 about halfway up if you look carefully between the small bushes. After this face head right under a large dihedral and pull over it on good holds when you hit a corner after 10'. Then finish up to the top (dead tree) however you see fit! Aug 25, 2013
Cheshire, UK
Start/Scramble - Start the route by scrambling up a 3rd/4th class gully on your left to a large tree on a ledge.
P1 - Climb straight up until you reach a small tree with slings on it.
P2 - There are two variations to the start of pitch 2. You can traverse down low from the belay station to the crack where you can get one piece in before you reach the crack or you can climb 10 feet up and then make the traverse to the crack (no pro). I climbed 10 feet up and then did the traverse on slab. It's easy climbing but it makes for a more exciting/spicy start since there's no pro and it's all feet until you get to the start of the crack.
P3 I went up and slightly left and built an anchor when I hit the small roof.
P4 I traversed right for about 20 to 30 feet and then went up and over the small roof (maybe one 5.7 move) and continued up for maybe 70 feet on easy ground to a tree.
P5 I continued straight up until reaching some large boulders and built an anchor. From there we unroped and walked to the top. Sep 6, 2016
After reaching the main crack either do not place until well above the traverse piece or down climb and clean so your second isn't facing a bone crushing swing.
The left (straight up) variation of the third pitch now has a relatively new bolt. (really a pitch of El Grandote?) I still am of the opinion that the original traverse to the right is the superior route. It does not follow the undercling in the one referenced topo, but almost immediately after crossing the " crocodile head" above the second belay face climbs right (a bit run) on bumps to a vertical crack. There's an intermediate seam where some strictly psychological pro can be placed.
Sep 6, 2016
Eagan, MN
Pasadena
San Diego, Ca
Fullerton
There seem to be a lot of different opinions about which variation of the pitch after the crack (my P4) is the "real" route. There seem to be four variations, three of which Justin Tomlinson has described carefully in a topo and a photo: mountainproject.com/photo/1… mountainproject.com/photo/1… . I've led the leftmost one (not described by Justin) and followed on it once. I haven't done the El Grandote one (not shown on my topo). I've only followed on the diagonal one (my var 2). I haven't done the undercling one (my var 3), which Justin seems to like the pro on, and Tradiban says is protected with cams under the undercling. Wilts 1974 seems to describe one of the two on the left. Vogel-Gaines 2001 describes the diagonal. Gaines Best Climbs 2013 describes one of the left ones and the diagonal one and calls the diagonal one 5.7 PG/R, which I would agree with based on my recollection of how heads-up it seemed when I followed on it. I claim the leftmost one is 5.3, and it's also easy to protect. This YDS rating seems supported by the fact that Vogel-Gaines describes it as also being part of Northeast Farce 5.3. It seems unlikely to me that the undercling one would have been the original 1964 FA route, unless it's protectable with pitons or something.
Vogel-Gaines describes El Grandote as exiting the arch at my var 4, although Gaines Best Climbs just says the two routes coincide. I was belaying underneath that spot a few days ago (just to the left of the mountain mahogany), so I got a long opportunity to check it out. Has anyone here done it that way? It looked like well featured slab with at least some possible protection with cams, but I couldn't guess the YDS grade or the quality of the placements just by looking from a distance. Someone had painted an X with chalk as if to mark it. Aug 4, 2021
P2. As mentioned on earlier comments, there are two ways to approach the crack. I opted for the traverse right, then start the crack from the bottom. I am 5'1" tall, and it was quite a reach for me to get a secure hold in the crack to start climbing. Doable for a short person, but definitely spicy! This crack eats up medium size pieces. I used a BD #4, although it is not required.
P3. We did the 'escape route' left El Grandote variation. mountainproject.com/photo/1…
This was more of an adventure pitch with route finding and clipping on two bolts. This pitch was about 60 meters long before it became low 5th class. Due to the wandering nature of the pitch rope drag was significant toward the end. After that, following the path of least resistance, we ended at the top of a tower and looking down at the descent gully. It was sketchy to downclimb the flake slab, so we proceeded to climb up low 5th on the main wall, traversed left, and joined the descent trail back to the Y intersection. Stay on the main descent trail; the talus/boulder field on the left was much slower to get down. Oct 2, 2021
Los Angeles, CA
P3: If you go left, and then once you hit the roofs, traverse right until you find a nice pod to belay, just right of where your partner is belaying you below.
P4: I traversed wayyyy right to the Northeast Face West exit and belayed just above the roof. You'll know you're going in the right direction when you see a piton on the way to the exit.
P5: Easy climbing to the top. Dec 8, 2021
San Jose, CA
(below based on BC topo)
P2 - scramble a bit to a faint finger crack (see mountain project photo with red arrows). This section is a bit spicy with few opportunities for pro. There's a mini right facing dihedral that can be used for stemming that has a few pockets for pro. At the top reach a big ledge and walk the plank up and to the left taking you into the corner of the big right facing dihedral and climb up through some cracks to the P2 belay. The small tree at the top appears sturdy, but backing up with pro if you have enough is smart. ~70'
P3 - The money pitch. Venture out right on easy but exposed slab. There's a small section that's almost flat that you can use to make it almost all the way to the twin finger cracks. The left crack is shallow, but the right crack will take a BD .3 c4 and nuts very well. Use the right crack for foot jamming and finger locks while stemming in the left. A few cruxy yet enjoyable moves will allow you to get a foot on a knob between the cracks. After that you're on easy street, reap your reward as you cruise up the the long hand crack that eats gear from BD #.75 - #3. The crack eventually returns to fingers at the top and leans left. At the top, big positive edges help you pull up onto a ramp that heads right and down to the P3 belay. Be careful here as protecting the follower can be tricky and the belay ledge is full of hollow flakes/blocks that don't seem the safest for pro. Take time and build a solid anchor. ~110'
P4 - Head up and gently to the left. You should see some obvious flakes that will look a bit like steep ramps or the letter "C" that trend up and to the left. The topo lists this as 5.3 but there some steep moves that feel more like 5.6. Pro is also a bit more challenging in the flakes but exists. You should eventually find a short 4" crack and above it a manzanita tree/bush with an arch roof above you. Head right across some (5.5?) slabs made eaiser by underclings in the roof arch. Be sure to place gear for the follower. Eventually reach a tiny buttress that you scramble over to get into a small trough/gully and find a comfy spot to belay. ~85'
P5 - follow the trough/gully up easy 4th for ~15' to a break in the roof. The topo refers to this as a spicy move and it is indeed spicy and committing, but can be well protected with BD c4 #2s and a BD c4 #4 if you really want to sow it up. Once past the spicy move trend up and left up the gully towards a large healthy pine tree. Once at the pine tree continue further if you're able to spot a more appropriate belay. While tempting, a 70m rope will not be long enough to reach the top from the pine tree. If you continue up the easiest path, you should reach the top of the large buttress/dihedral from the beginning of the climb. Looking to your left should reveal the north gully (I did not see an easy way to exit early into the north gull decent and recommend going all the way to the top via P6). There are many cracks etc here from which to build an anchor on realatively comfortable ground. ~120'
P6 - Continue up easy 4th heading towards a large dead pine which is at the top of the climb. You should find yourself going up a slab ramp with a 7ish" 3rd/4th class crack to your left. A large granite block will be on your left and another large granite block will be in front of you (with the dead pine on top of it.). The corner where these two blocks meet has an easy dirty ramp up to the finish. Take time to create a solid belay and avoid using any of the large dead trees. ~120'
Decent - The north gully is to your left but is incredibly steep from where you are at the dead pine. Head further up class 2/3 continuing until trees in the gully look to be level with your height. Eventually you should come to a spot on your left that trends down into the gully and looks 3rd class and obvious. Start your decent into the gully. Take your time as the top is steep. Moving slowly, switchback and trend towards which ever section has the gentlest slope. Some butt sliding may be required in one section. The grade eventually eases and more 2nd class and dirty areas appear. After maybe 45 minutes, you should notice the descent becoming more path like. If you hear the river/creek you're on the right track. Eventually it starts to seem like you're on a real trail again, because you are. The trail eventually meets up with and crosses over the creek. After crossing head up a small hill and you should be able to see the parking lot bathroom. May 8, 2022
San Diego, CA
One advantage is we reached the healthy large pine tree with 60s going that way, and that's a delightful belay spot. Jul 17, 2023
San Jose, CA
San Diego, CA
My partner and I followed the route per the guidebook topo for P3-5, going up and right, then made a roof move over a protrusion of rock at P4 which protected with a nut. We clipped 2 pitons along the way.
We saw no “loose rock” going this way and I highly recommend this finish for more quality climbing. Oct 17, 2023
Huntington Beach, CA
Pitch 1 is easy to follow. Use the pictures to get to that first belay (small bush/tree can assist with anchor here). Fairly comfortable and is directly beside the traverse.
Pitch 2 anchor is easy to find, but take care! Once the crack runs out, place a high piece and traverse down the ledge to the loose blocks. Very comfortable to sit on but I recommend a harness belay. I think I used the orange and yellow Metolius but never weighted it. Instead I used my harness to take the weight. It was just there to keep me from slipping off.
Pitch 3 goes up and left (see the picture I posted). You get to a waist high section you need to mount up on. This takes you to an arching roof that goes up and right. There is a small tree at the start of this traverse, and to your left should be some featured slab (I imagine a variation). Underling and slab feet to the saddle type depression.
Pitch 4 goes up over the roof with this semi wide, semi left leaning crack (short one). I felt like this is the crux of the entire route. Once you pull up, you aim for the nice large alive pine tree above you. Theres a small slab section that makes you think to get over to it.
Pitch 5 goes up the lichen covered gully. I thought it would be easy enough to free, but I was glad I had a rope. Follow easy slabs up to the dead pine. 70M will NOT reach but if your partner wants to set an anchor 20 feet higher than the tree, it might. If you are confident, you can simul climb like we did once the rope got to the end.
Continue up like 15-20 feet until you can safely enter the north gully descent. Follow path of least resistance down until you see easier slabs on the right (and harder on the left). Go on those slabs and follow it down to the talus field. Then at the end of the talus field, around the base of the rock, you can cut back to the face. May 16, 2024