[Hide Comment] This is a great route to move into 5.8 territory. The 5.6 and 5.7 sections are steep and well protected with fun features everywhere.

I brought an old BD 3.5 that came in handy a few times, you could probably get away with a 3 but for that extra pro its worth lugging along.

Avoid a backpack, its definitely a nuisance in the chimney as well ad the 5.8 OW which is in a pretty sharp corner.

We linked 5 and 6 together with some nasty rope drag and wind, but everything worked out alright. Oct 26, 2009

[Hide Comment] I would say, and the word around the valley is, that due to the greasyness of the 5.8 OW the rating is fairly sandbaged Jun 18, 2010

[Hide Comment] This climb gets my vote for the best 5.8 around. I did it for the first time in 1982, did it many times after that. The hike to the summit of Higher Cathedral Rock is well worth doing, the view of El Cap is spectacular. I've sometimes lowered down a bight of rope and hauled the pack up the OW section, then left it clipped to some gear while I finished the pitch, just to save the second having to carry the pack up that stretch. Jul 14, 2011

[Hide Comment] One of my favorites of all time! Did it on Jan 2nd, 2012. Can be done in four pitches with a 70m rope. Jan 4, 2012

[Hide Comment] Second time up so I tried the 10c variation on p4 and it was really good. The final 10a finger section looked dirty so at that pointed you can also stem back to the regular route. Perfect hand jams on slight overhang. Really fun. May 25, 2012

[Hide Comment] Fun and exposed variation goes out right after traversing around the roof that caps the chimney/corner. Up to a ledge on right-slanting corner, then out right to good hands with lots of air under you feet and an amazing view of the complex, tiger-striped face of Higher's east face.

5-star route, no sandbag at 5.8, bring the #4 if in doubt.

Edit: This is not a PG-13 route, and none of the anchors on this route are sketchy if you do 'em right. Jun 11, 2012

[Hide Comment] Good time, there was a lot of easier face climbing that was pretty damn run out especially the 2nd pitch. Bring a #4 for piece of mind. Also 2 #3 camalots helped for piece of mind. I also found my C3s were handy. There was a lot of fixed gear that I clipped but never tested them. Also the pitons on the crux chimney was welcome, otherwise the chimney would have been more dangerous. I still thought it was a PG-13 route. I was also tired from climbing the week before though. Jul 6, 2012

[Hide Comment] I've climbed this twice over two years or so and I still think the crux pitch is harder than anything on the Northeast Buttress. And if you don't bring bigger gear it will sure be scarier too. When I think of the two now, therefore, this one makes me uhhhh way more nervous. Even though the NEB is way longer, I'd say it's way more doable as far as the climbing and pro go. Seriously, one should bring a 4 or 5 if there's any doubt. It's just for the one spot but I'm sure it could probably be used elsewhere Oct 15, 2012

[Hide Comment] Great climb at the start of a cold day...I just wanted to warn though: I got stung up pretty nicely by a swarm of yellow jackets that my partner accidentally riled up in the brush as we were hiking off. It was where you hike up an obvious trail right after topping out and it parts faintly to the left or right. We took the left - which included passing through the brush that the hornets reside in. Additionally, later I learned of a girl that was stung up two weeks ago on the same hike off after climbing Book of Job. Be warned! Oct 15, 2012

[Hide Comment] Regarding the location of the climb, the best place to park is NOT on South Side Drive in front of Middle Cathedral Rock. There are quite a few climber's trails here, most of them leading to various routes on Middle Cathedral Rock. Park on El Capitan Drive, the cross over from North Side Drive to South Side Drive. Walk down to the 3 way intersection of El Capitan Drive and South Side Drive, and there's a very obvious climber's trail at the west end of the intersection. This leads to what is probably the most efficient line up the Spires Gully.There are a few too many climber's trails leading into the Spires Gully, so keeping as much traffic as possible on this trail should minimize our impact on the area. May 13, 2013

[Hide Comment] The approach description in the previous post is spot on. You will gain a large obvious trail that heads up the gully between Higher Cathedral Rock and The Spires. Use this trail for any routes on Higher Cathedral Rock or Spire. I lead the first four pitches and there was a good amount of runout on some of the face parts and the large gear I plugged into the corner system was questionable at times. The fourth crux pitch felt 5.9 to me but I was kinda tired and not using the best technique at the moment. I was able to get good gear in the corner on the fourth pitch though (two #4 and one #5 Camalot). I was not able to clip the lower fixed pin on pitch 4 because my Black Diamond OZ carabiner would not fit through the eyelet of the pin. Started late and climbed the last pitch in the dark sans head lamp. FUN! That made the route live up to it's name, literally. Easy to get down off of Higher in the dark. You have to go south toward Hanging Valley until it almost cliffs out and then trend south east. It is not harder than class 2 so if you run into cliffs you are going the wrong way. Eventually you wrap around (keep trending left) and then are north east facing. Now follow the obvious trail all the way down the gully and back to the road (same one you came up on). Micro nuts would have been good for some of the belays but we got by without. The belay at the top of pitch 3 was sketchy. The rest are all pretty solid. May 20, 2013

[Hide Comment] Def. plenty of chimney action on this one, I was happy to have an old 4.5 camalot with me (equivalent to modern #5 camalot).

Old school 1960s Jim Bridwell route! proud line done way before cams. props. Jun 7, 2013

[Hide Comment] One of the first ascensionist' name is incorrect. Brian Betty is actually Brian Berry. Jan 11, 2014

[Hide Comment] We took 2 #4's, and a #5 to protect the wide sections, and a few small cams for the thin cracks - great day in the Valley Sep 13, 2015

[Hide Comment] Climbed this on April 30, 2016 and there are 2 very loose blocks/pieces on pitches 2 and 3 (or maybe 2 and 4?). Also, make sure you're not going up the descent gully (depicted) on the approach. ;)


May 3, 2016

[Hide Comment] Dropped an approach shoe from my pack from the belay just below the right arching off width (p4). Message me if found (thanks!).

Did this route in 4 pitches with a 70 m. Pitch 1 to the slings on the vertically aligned pitons. This used the whole rope. Then pitch 2 to the base of the right arching off width. P3 was the standard p4, the right arching off width. Then 5 and 6 (our p4) could be linked to the top, on great easy climbing. Jun 8, 2016

[Hide Comment] Detailed trip report of our ascent can be found at goodlooksandcamhooks.wordpr… Jul 23, 2016

[Hide Comment] P4 10c variation is wild fantastic fun. the frontfacing roof directly above that finish goes at 5.9 or so, with dangling airy exposure. P6 up the daunting steep face via the improbable line of happy jugs also awesome cool Sep 17, 2016

[Hide Comment] Man, what an adventurous day. I had twice hiked up to this climb previously only for a partner to realize they'd forgotten something important (shoes, then rope), so last weekend was dubbed Revenge on Braille Book.

The first pitch was kinda hollow sounding and loose, but the second/third pitches were righteous fun, and there's even chockstones to sling at a couple of the cruxes if you need to pull through. Did the 5.10c handcrack variation, which I would highly recommend. I placed more gear on that mini pitch than the rest of the climb combined I think, and the airy finish out climbers left is a *must* do.

I brought a #4 and a #5, and my friend's team brought two #4's. At the end of the day, we both thought that we would have been better off with the other's rack. Don't forget thin nuts if you want to protect the chimney at the end of the third pitch. It's not super hard, but a slip would definitely end in a broken back if you don't use the thin seam going up the left wall of the chimney for gear. May 29, 2017

[Hide Comment] dunno about being a good first 5.8, if you are already solid on yosemite wide 5.7 then yeah. The cruz OW/stem will be a real eye opener if you havent been on much yose wide before haha. I'd say brail book is significantly harder than nutcracker or bishops terrace, in terms of protection, technique and approach. The crux sections are also longer, and there are more of them than on BT and NC. Apr 30, 2018

[Hide Comment] Great classic route. Unfortunately got caught in storm after topping and had to make a rushed descent. Wasn't able to make it back to the base to grab some gear. If anyone happened to pick up a Patagonia Ascensionist 25L backpack with a guide book in it, please DM me. It would be greatly appreciated. Great route, fun moves, the approach is long and well worth it if 5.8+ is your speed. Be conscious of time, the descent can be kinda tricky. May 14, 2018

[Hide Comment] Seems stiff for a 5.8, at least if you never get to practice stems etc.
The third pitch is about 180 ft from end of longer p2 option, not 80' ft as indicated in Supertopo and RockClimbingYosemite.com topo Oct 16, 2019

[Hide Comment] What a nice climb!
Extremely windy day with sun in the morning and then light snow near top of 4th pitch.
-Wobbly chock stone near top of 3rd.
-Got attacked by bees on approach. 4 stings. Angry little critters. They are hiding in the bushes be warned, as previous comment stated.
-Tampon on top of first pitch belay...why. Oct 29, 2019

[Hide Comment] Compared to Saleganella (5.8), Commitment (5.9), and Nutcracker (5.8) this route is easily a 5.9+. I think the grade is comparable to Higher Cathedral Spire (5.9+).

But maybe I'm not as good at offwidth, chimney, and steeming as I would like to be?

Correct me if I'm wrong, doesn't each belay station have rap potential without leaving gear? Jun 21, 2020

[Hide Comment] Matt lead and I followed on this route on May 8, 2021. How one can lead this after having not climbed for a year AND with a shoulder injury is beyond my understanding. I thought it was hard, especially terrifying off-width crack on pitch 4 (I pulled on gear throughout it but then again, I don't climb off-widths).
Time management is a good idea on this route. Approach (uphill scrambling) took us 2 hours and then we climbed it in 7 pitches instead of 6 (unintentionally) so it was already getting dark when we started descending. I thought the boulders would never end... and then I got my ankle twisted in a gap between them. Today is a week from it and my ankle still hurts, looks like it'll do it for a while. This is my first ankle injury in adulthood and I'd suggest to avoid it as much as possible by wearing ankle-stabilising boots and doing the descent during daylight.
Other than that... Yosemite never disappoints ❤️ May 15, 2021

[Hide Comment] We led the first pitch to the comfy ledge before the corner. The second pitch was closer to 140' done this way.
The #4 camalot was wonderful to push ahead in the P4 OW. Oct 18, 2021

[Hide Comment] Great climb, but be in for a long day. There is no trail beyond the Boulder field. Identify the feature you will be climbing, and scramble/bushwhack deliberately towards it.
This may be easier coming from slightly below, but I have no idea.

Wide section is no sweat, those with normal sized hands will find enough fists and hands to get through it easily; and the face on the right has plenty of feet.

This would definitely warrant more stars if the approach and descent didn't involve so much bushwhacking. Nov 11, 2021

[Hide Comment] Incredible route with lots of signature "Yosemite Valley" style climbing - knees and elbows are as important as hands and feet!

A fun P1 variation heads up the splitter to the left of the book (for less rope drag you can do a mini pitch to the tree). The crack continues past the obvious roof on fists then fingers (5.10), and after opening up to accept hand sized gear, big jugs appear for a traverse back into the corner near the top of the first pitch. From the ground, this roof begs to be climbed so I was surprised by the amount of lichen up there indicating that it doesn't get climbed very often. May 2, 2022

[Hide Comment] Our TR and pictures from above and below: dashertonclimbs.com/2022/05…. I loved this climb and I feel that this is good prep for NEB. May 23, 2022