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All Locations > California > Yosemite Nation… > Lower Merced Ri… > 21 - Reed's Pinnacle Area

Reed's Pinnacle-Direct Route

5.10a YDS 6a French 18 Ewbanks VI+ UIAA 18 ZA E1 5a British


 Avg: 3.7 from 321 votes

Routes in 21 - Reed's Pinnacle Area

11c Toprope Arete TR 5.11c 6c+ 24 VIII- 24 E4 6a
Arch OW at Bongs Away Left T 5.10+ 6b+ 21 VII+ 20 E3 5b
Beyond Lunacy T 5.11c 6c+ 24 VIII- 24 E4 6a
Beyond the Fringe T 5.10c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b
Bong's Away Center T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a
Bongs Away, Left T 5.8 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c
Children of Light S 5.11a 6c 22 VII+ 22 E3 5c
Chingando T 5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a
Deer Route, The T 5.7 5a 15 V+ 13 MVS 4b
Dr. Fun Time T 5.10d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b
Dream Easy T 5.8 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c
Ejesta T 5.8 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c
Flatus T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a
Independence Pinnacle, Center T 5.10d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b
Independent Route (Independence Pinnacle left) T 5.10b 6a+ 19 VII- 19 E2 5b
Iota, The T 5.4 4a 12 IV 10 VD 3c
Lunatic Fringe T 5.10c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b
Ol' 5.10 S 5.10d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b R
Olga's Trick T 5.10d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b
Phantom T 5.13- 7c+ 29 IX+ 29 E7 6c R
Porter's Pout T 5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a
Reed's Pinnacle Left T 5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a
Reed's Pinnacle Regular Route T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a
Reed's Pinnacle-Direct Route T 5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a
Remnant, Center, The T 5.12a 7a+ 25 VIII+ 25 E5 6a
Remnant-Left Side, The T 5.10b 6a+ 19 VII- 19 E2 5b
Remnant-Right Side, The T 5.7 5a 15 V+ 13 MVS 4b
Rocket In My Pocket T 5.11c 6c+ 24 VIII- 24 E4 6a
Scrunchy-Mungy T 5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b
Spring Fever T 5.11b 6c 23 VIII- 23 E3 5c
Steppin' Out T 5.10d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b
Stone Fist T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a
Stone Groove T 5.10b 6a+ 19 VII- 19 E2 5b
Unnamed 5.9 T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a
Type: Trad, 3 pitches
FA: Last pitch:Frank Sacherer, Mark Powell, Wally Reed, Gary Colliver, Andy Lichtman, 5/64. 2nd pitch: Frank Sacherer, Wally Reed, Chris Fredericks, 6/64.
Page Views: 30,799 total · 219/month
Shared By: Blitzo on Sep 26, 2006
Admins: M. Morley, Adam Stackhouse, Salamanizer suchoski, Justin Johnsen, Vicki Schwantes

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Access Issue: Closures for Peregrine Falcon Protection March 1- July 15 Details

Description

A Yosemite classic!
The first pitch goes up a short crack that you step into from a ledge. It curves left near the top.
The second pitch is obvious.
The third pitch climbs a chimney/offwidth to the top of the pinnacle.
Rappel off.

Location

Hike up the access trail. The climb is up and left.

Protection

Pro to 3".

Add New Photo
Photo Photo (copy)
Photos

RPD
RPD
 27
Rick Cashner and John Bachar, free soloing "Reed's Direct", 1982.<br> Photo by Blitzo.
Rick Cashner and John Bachar, free soloing "Ree…
 50
#4 cam on Reeds direct
#4 cam on Reeds direct
 13
Telephoto of unknown climber on route; from 3 miles distant.
Telephoto of unknown climber on route; from 3 m…
 6
Reed's Direct<br>
Reed's Direct
 4
Reed's Pinnacle beta photo.
Reed's Pinnacle beta photo.
 2
The money second pitch, from the Parking area.
The money second pitch, from the Parking area.
 4
Morning free-solo up Reeds Direct
Morning free-solo up Reeds Direct
 1
Plug and chug
Plug and chug
 1
Angela on the second pitch of Reeds Direct
Angela on the second pitch of Reeds Direct
 2
The second pitch
The second pitch
 4
First pitch.<br> Photo by Blitzo.
First pitch. Photo by Blitzo.
 1

17 Comments

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Blitzo
 
Blitzo  
 
Sorry, I ranout of space on the FA listing. The first ascent of all three pitches was by Royal Robbins, Gordon Webster and Terry Burnell, 10/66. Sep 27, 2006
Adam Steel
Salt Lake City
 
Adam Steel   Salt Lake City
 
Pro with standard rack can be less than easy. 3rd pitch, not climbed as often, is what gives the route the 10a rating. It is a 10a wide, however. One #5 Camalot should see you through. Jan 14, 2007
Sirius
Oakland, CA
 
Sirius   Oakland, CA
 
Not easy to slow down and place a lot of pro on the second pitch.

First two pitches can be run together for one hell of a pitch.

We used one #4 Camalot on the wide section at the top of p2. Felt safe. Apr 22, 2007
Joe Stern
Moab, Utah
Joe Stern   Moab, Utah
An entertaining way to finish the route is to tunnel over to the Regular Route finish from the top of the second pitch. From the top of pitch 2, enter the horizontal chimney to the left. There are one or two pitons in there, and about 20 or 30 feet of squeeze chimneying will take you to a ledge on the other side of the pinnacle. Belay here and then take the 5.9 hands to fists to offwidth corner to the top of the pinnacle. Rappel Reed's Direct. Dec 20, 2007
Osprey Overhang
...
 
Osprey Overhang   ...
 
From the Chains at the bottom of Bong's away Left, you only need one rope to rap. From the chains, rap to the large ledge. From the chains on the end of the narrow section of the ledge, make one rap to the ground. Apr 2, 2010
daniel c
San Francisco, CA
daniel c   San Francisco, CA
Found sunglasses on the final rap of Reed's Direct on 6/6/10. Email me if you think they are yours and I'll mail them to you. Jun 7, 2010
Jeff Scheuerell
 
Jeff Scheuerell  
 
An older 3.5 C4 or new #4 C4 is the biggest peice you need on the third pitch. Just above the 3.4 or 4 there is a chockstone you can sling with a doubble length runner if you need to. Jan 22, 2011
Jeff Scheuerell
 
Jeff Scheuerell  
 
Hexes are nice on p2 Jan 22, 2011
Adam Stackhouse

Adam Stackhouse    
Not a move harder than 5.8, right? Mar 31, 2012
Cornelius Jefferson
 
Cornelius Jefferson  
 
3rd pitch is burly for a 10a Feb 1, 2013
Ian M.
 
Ian M.  
 
Awesome route. P1 is a great, mellow crack arcing to the left, spiciest right off the start. P2 is the meat; steep, wavy crack with great constrictions. Steepness makes it hard to rest long without tiring. If you wanna feel super secure bring triples in the #1-#3 size. #4 is nice for the OW and having two was fantastic. It actually takes nuts (and hexes) really well.

Did the tunnel through. Gotta be fit to squeeze through and make sure you move up and down during the chimney traverse to find the wider spots.

TR'd the 10a finish by chimneying the beginning 5.5 start, which was mellow. A couple pins protect up higher and it seems like a #5 would be nice between the last pin and the top out. I'd say it's similar difficulty to some portions of Steck-Salathe but given the limited pro, I'd want to be comfortable on Steck before leading this pitch.

Rapped from the chains on climbers right on the ledge at top of P2 (below Bongs Away Left) on a single rope to the bottom, attached our second rope at the base, and had my partner do the double rope rap. Was pretty fast. May 1, 2013
dnaiscool
 
dnaiscool  
 
There are two ways to finish the classic second pitch: A.) Send the wide crack...the legit way, or B.)head left and face climb out at about 5.8...Cluck, cluck..pa-Cluuuuck... Apr 1, 2015
Mike Holley
Boone, NC
 
Mike Holley   Boone, NC
 
Hmmmmmmmmm.....tastes GoOd!! An undulating mass of goodness! Mar 21, 2016
Mark Straub
Berkeley, CA
 
Mark Straub   Berkeley, CA
 
Phenomenal route! The offwidth finish on p2 is definitely recommended. You can slide a #4 the entire way up if you're worried. We did the tunnel-through finish (which is super cool, by the way) and then headed up the handcrack-to-offwidth in a single pitch. Rope drag surprisingly wasn't bad with all pieces extended. I used a #5 for the final offwidth, but I imagine that a #4 would probably work as well.

Just a note on rappel: If you are going to rap on a single rope, traverse the ledge at the top of p2 to climber's right. Don't try to rap with a single rope from directly below the top of the pinnacle, as it will probably not reach anything without some shenanigans. May 22, 2017
Michael Dom
 
Michael Dom  
 
The horizontal crack that traverses across the faces of the Pinnacle is a pretty neat experience. Granted it is covered in lichen. The topout is quite a view! May 30, 2017
King Tut
Citrus Heights
 
King Tut   Citrus Heights
 
I pity the fools that only give this 3 stars...let alone 2...your Yosemite Man Card is revoked. Jan 1, 2018
John Clark
San Francisco, CA
  5.10 PG13
John Clark   San Francisco, CA
  5.10 PG13
The transition from chimney to OW on the last pitch is a real thinker. Would recommend bringing a 5 and 6 to bump if you don't like sandbag flaring OW. Feb 12, 2018

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