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Ewephoria [Suggest Change]
5.8 YDS 5b French 16 Ewbanks VI- UIAA 15 ZA HVS 4c British
Avg: 3.1 from 295
votes
Routes in The Sheepshead
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Absinthe of Mallet T 5.10- 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a |
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Animal Husbandry S 5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b |
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Bantam of the Opera S 5.10+ 6b+ 21 VII+ 20 E3 5b |
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Bruise the Rooster T 5.10- 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a |
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Burning Calves S 5.11a 6c 22 VII+ 22 E3 5c |
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Climb Too Tough To Die, The T 5.10- 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a PG13 |
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Dark Horse T 5.10- 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a |
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Ewephoria T 5.8 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c |
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Get The Flock Out Of Here T 5.10+ 6b+ 21 VII+ 20 E3 5b |
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Greedy Little Varmint T 5.7+ 5a 15 V+ 13 MVS 4b |
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Hardskins of Our Forefathers T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a R |
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Ides of Middlemarch T 5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a |
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Last Roundup, The T 5.10+ 6b+ 21 VII+ 20 E3 5b |
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Mad Cow Disease T 5.11 6c+ 23 VIII- 23 E4 5c |
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Peacemaker, The S 5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a |
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Phony Pony T 5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a |
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Stampede S 5.11a 6c 22 VII+ 22 E3 5c |
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Tombstone Stripper, The T 5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a |
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Unmitigated Audacity S 5.10+ 6b+ 21 VII+ 20 E3 5b |
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| Type: | Trad, 750 ft, 5 pitches |
| FA: | Scott Ayers |
| Page Views: | 42,003 total · 294/month |
| Shared By: | Mike on Sep 17, 2006 |
| Admins: | Greg Opland, Luke Bertelsen, JJ Schlick |
Your Star Rating:
Description [Suggest Change]
Ewephoria is a nice, mostly bolted route up the North side of the dome. Though not as classic as Absinthe of Mallet or Stampede, its shorter length, many bolts, and easier rating make The Sheepshead more accessible.
P1: Up the dihedral until a bolt leads out left, then up to a bolted belay. This pitch looks super-easy from the ground but is surprisingly harder than it looks. Gear: small to 3".
P2: Move left for a move or 2, then up past bolts & small cams.Then climb up and right to a bolted belay just left of the gully. Do not go all the way to the gully. Gear: a few small-medium-ish cams.
P3: Follow the tightly bolted line up a slippery slab to a headwall. More bolts take you up and right past the headwall. Run it out a bit on giant holds to a bolted belay amid the huge chickenheads. It is possible to get some gear by slinging chickenheads and/or large nuts/hexes between the plates. Gear: a couple big nuts/hexes and some long runners.
P4: Climb straight up past more chickenheads, then up and right past bolts to a large ledge & comfy, bolted belay. Gear: 1 or 2 large slings or cord to wrap chickenheads.
P5: The regular route then follows the large chimney on your right up to the top (the original finish for Absinthe) or for a much better option, finish on on Too Tough To Die, which goes at 5.8. To do this, follow bolts up from the belay to a huge chickenhead. Surmount this, then climb up and right past bolts on an exposed slab to the top. Gear: an optional large nut/hex for the big chickenhead.
To descend follow cairns down and left to the obvious gully on the North side, then follow the trail back to the start.
For topos & more information check out these two links:
cochiseclimbing.com/ewephor…
toofasttopos.com/free/sheep…
P1: Up the dihedral until a bolt leads out left, then up to a bolted belay. This pitch looks super-easy from the ground but is surprisingly harder than it looks. Gear: small to 3".
P2: Move left for a move or 2, then up past bolts & small cams.Then climb up and right to a bolted belay just left of the gully. Do not go all the way to the gully. Gear: a few small-medium-ish cams.
P3: Follow the tightly bolted line up a slippery slab to a headwall. More bolts take you up and right past the headwall. Run it out a bit on giant holds to a bolted belay amid the huge chickenheads. It is possible to get some gear by slinging chickenheads and/or large nuts/hexes between the plates. Gear: a couple big nuts/hexes and some long runners.
P4: Climb straight up past more chickenheads, then up and right past bolts to a large ledge & comfy, bolted belay. Gear: 1 or 2 large slings or cord to wrap chickenheads.
P5: The regular route then follows the large chimney on your right up to the top (the original finish for Absinthe) or for a much better option, finish on on Too Tough To Die, which goes at 5.8. To do this, follow bolts up from the belay to a huge chickenhead. Surmount this, then climb up and right past bolts on an exposed slab to the top. Gear: an optional large nut/hex for the big chickenhead.
To descend follow cairns down and left to the obvious gully on the North side, then follow the trail back to the start.
For topos & more information check out these two links:
cochiseclimbing.com/ewephor…
toofasttopos.com/free/sheep…
Protection [Suggest Change]
The first pitch is trad and takes pro to 2". The second pitch is mostly bolted, but pros with a couple of small to medium pieces in the crack. All other pitches are bolted. However, a couple of large hexes & nuts slotted between plates will help tame the runout on easier terrain on pitches 4 & 5. All belays are bolted.
Location [Suggest Change]
Take the approach trail to where it meets the dome at Absinthe of Mallet. Follow a trail left, contouring around the dome and working up until reaching the 1st pitch ramp/dihedral (see picture). Note that you can't see the 1st belay bolts from the ground.
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, AZ
nyc
If you're not completely sure where the route starts, you can hike a little more up the trail and see the anchors from the side. Apr 15, 2007
missoula, mt
Casa do Cacete
Nov 25, 2007
Casa do Cacete
I asked Geir Hundal today and he said about 5.8.
toofasttopos.com/free/
Hope you're enjoying Tucson.
Cheers Dec 1, 2007
Sierra Vista, AZ
Grand Junction, CO
Las Vegas, NV
Very good intro to multi-pitching. First pitch is significantly harder than the rest of the pitches - I'd probably say 5.8+. All of the run-outs are on 5.4ish terrain. TTTD finish is definitely a GREAT way to finish, with excellent exposure! Jan 3, 2009
Denver, CO
Kowloon, Hong Kong
My gear list: 1 ea, blue TCU, .5 and .75 camalot, 2.5 friend, 2 ea 1 and 2 camalot, 2 pink tricams. There were many opportunities for additional placements if needed. The moves on P1 aren't hard, but they aren't terribly obvious either.
The 5.9 finish is an excellent option. Very airy as you pass the bulge and top out on the arete. Feb 16, 2009
Tucson, AZ
toofasttopos.com/free/sheep…
Enjoy! Oct 8, 2009
Phoenix, AZ
Mesa AZ
Good Route, great new climbing friends, and awesome day! Nov 16, 2009
Phoenix & Prescott, AZ
The last airy move is definitely tricky for the follower (Did it both ways, obviously) -- watched 2 parties struggle with this because of poor communication. The follower has to have enough slack to flick the rope around the arete and move left. Dec 6, 2009
Oakland Park, Florida
Flagstaff, AZ
Sierra Vista, AZ
Tucson, AZ
There is a bad bolt on the "Too Tough To Die" finish just before the traverse. I didn't notice it, but my second said it was spinning in its hole... Sep 8, 2012
Tucson, AZ
Wayne, PA
Phoenix,AZ
Looking for the photographer who got the great shots,
Sun2stone@cox.net Dec 10, 2012
Sahuarita, AZ
Cedar City, UT
www.cochiseclimbing.com
I have hundreds of route descriptions just like this. Can't wait to get you on some more climbs! Apr 22, 2014
Tucson, Arizona
At the end of the 2nd-to-last pitch, rather than crossing the dihedral onto the tree ledge belay, finish directly up. Follow the chickenhead highway up toward its natural end. Then, depending on finishing plan, rope length, & drag, either belay here on chickenheads or in dihedral. Or (as I did, on 80m rope) continue up dihedral into & through roof/bulge (crux). Pull challenging 3-star sequence to get into hand-crack wedge and finger lock in lip of bulge and top out above this. Kinda rad & hard.
You could either belay above the roof/bulge (#3 Camalot + bolt on Unknown to right(?)) or, for bonus points, connect as link up w/ Unknown 10+ to top.
On Geir Hundal's topo, this would basically go straight up from "5.6R" thru "140'" and connect to "5.10c".
Due to rope drag & non-.11 climbing partner & fading daylight, I ended up up using the Unknown bolts to lower & backclean & downclimb to still bring my 2nd to the ledge below. But it was a fun onsight to link that section, direct line. The full awesome-sauce would probably belay on chickenheads below then connect a pitch to the top into Unknown to right, joining in rather naturally by traversing 5' right after bulge into join that line. (BTW, is that hand hold on Unknown chipped there?)
Protects very well on gear. Upper part of dihedral (easy part) protects well with sequence of standard BD cams. There are multiple placements for smallest BD C3s in horizontal bulge.
(Both Luis C. & SA that day confirmed they were unaware of this line being climbed before.) Dec 6, 2014
Gilbert AZ
Santa Fe, NM
Bern, CH
As for the climbing... Great Route! I was surprised how almost every pitch had solid 5.8 cruxes. I felt I needed a little more than a single rack for the first pitch, doubles .75-2 BD should help. Also, the scary spinner on the TTTD variation for the last pitch has been fixed as of this posting. I'd recommend full length slings on the last two bolts before clearing the roof, it makes the slab more enjoyable to have a smoothly running rope, and I suspect the odd direction of pull caused by shorter draws may have caused that bolt to spin out of its hole. Oct 3, 2016
Tucson
Tucson, AZ