[Hide Comment] I hope someone can come in and add a better description of this. Beta on rigging the rappel, how to manage the ropes, a pitch-by-pitch, and some info on how to set up the tyrolean would be very helpful for this fantastic route. Jan 24, 2007

[Hide Comment] The first pitch goes free at 10d. The second at 12a, I think.

Darshan Feb 3, 2007

[Hide Comment] The rap requires 2 60M ropes. (A third rope is to be used for the climb itself.) There are a few healthy pines nearly directly across from the spire that can be slung. The guidebook indicates an anchor right in line with the rap where passing the knot is to be accomplished; we didn't find it. Perhaps we were a little too far right. We used some 1"-2" gear to rig an anchor nonetheless.

Once at the notch, the follower should tag line the ropes used for the rap, checking occasionally for snaggage. The route twists up the spire approximately 180 degrees, so be careful to check the line by pulling the slack up (& then releasing it- too taut and you won't be able to make the turn around the spire.)

Once the top is gained, pull the line tight and secure it on the myriad (of newly replaced) anchors on top. This will only use one of the ropes; bag the extra. The first to traverse gets a belay and then once on the rim secures his end much like for the rappel. On the spire, the second ties the traverse line to the belay line and feeds it thru the anchors. Pick one to traverse (and make a mental note of which has the knot so it pulls freely through when both are safely back on terra firma.) A variation to that is to use the third rope as a belay line for the last guy off the spire.

I'm sure there are several other ways to pull this off, I'm just sharing how we did it.

Amazing exposure at an amazing setting. Good Luck! Feb 3, 2007

[Hide Comment] P1: .10d pin scars and fingers right off the notch (easy for the rating, some fixed gear, short crux) to easier climbing to more fixed gear and a stance below an awkward slightly bulging, grainy, and flaring .10a fist/OW for a few moves to a belay on a huge ledge.

P2: Move left off the ledge using a couple of small pieces to a large flat edge than can be hooked or bust a psuedo-free 5.8ish move to get the next placement. A few placements interspersed with bolts/rivets (both with and without hangers..take some small wires or rivet hangers) leads to a full-on bolt ladder than ends as the angle kicks back about 15' below the top. Step out of the aiders and fight the rope drag on the dead easy slab that will feel harder with the drag.

Or, free it at 5.12b, stopping to belay halfway up this pitch after it stops traversing left to cut down the rope drag.

Terrific position and novelty make this a must do. The climbing itself is largely fogettable. Mar 31, 2007

[Hide Comment] TrevorB: You don't need two 60m ropes for the starting rappel, I've done it with two 50m's. Perhaps you missed the intermediate anchor because you had a 60m rope? Another trick is to lead the first pitch using the end of the rap line, this way you only need two ropes. I've not done this but surely it can be done with two 60m ropes? The first pitch is not very long.

Once exciting moment comes when starting the tyrolean traverse. Here you suddenly realize that the first half is all downhill, and amazingly steeply downhill! Some may enjoy "letting go", or hand braking on the rope, but we used an extra rope end anchored to the summit to rappel, for a nice, slow, controlled start.

The best spot for photographs from the rim of someone on the tyrolean traverse is rather dangerous (as in right on or even slightly over the edge of a slab). I recommend anchoring yourself with a rope so you don't have to worry about falling off. Aug 27, 2007

[Hide Comment] Did this July 2011. There were many jugs of water in the notch, and the rappel took 2 60m ropes, as stated above.

P1 - Pin scars and fixed gear until a nice bolt, then a 5.7 free move that felt like .9 in approach shoes and with full aid rack. Free move leads to another bomber bolt. If you have time, set up a belay on the ledge before the OW crack to reduce rope drag and increase ease of communication.

OW - Shitty and gritty. We only had a couple 3" cams and a "4, which I had to leapfrog for 30 feet. I would suggest bringing 2 or 3 4" cams for peace of mind. step out of aiders and pull over an easy ledge to a belay station. From this station, you can watch people float lazily down the Merced River.

P2 - Left traverse then up on Fixed gear and small cams. Watch rope drag, as it will make the top easy slab moves feel labor intensive. Make sure to brush up on Aid skills and hooking before this climb or you will be sweating bullets.

Like stated, the climbing was certainly forgettable but the feeling on the summit of the pinnacle is not. Beautiful view.
Nov 24, 2011

[Hide Comment] 4-19-14
Completed Lost Arrow Spire Tip over the weekend. Hiked in sat and bivied up top. Better to bivy down near the falls/river in the trees as it would have been warmer, closer access to water, and less wind.

Sun am we dropped into the notch. Used the obvious larger tree a bit back from the edge (about 2 ft diameter). Rigged the tree by wrapping twice and securing it with a figure eight on a bight with two opposite and opposed biners. Used a 200 ft static line and a 60m lead rope. Had to pass the knot on the way down.

PITCH ONE starts off with a spicy flared placement to gain your first bolt. Definitely gets your mind straightened out quick. Offwidth section was super easy. I used 2 BD C4 #3's, 1 BD C4 #4, and 1 BD Camalot #3.5. Definitely wanted the two 4's. The top of the offwidth gets big. A small green big bro would work too. Green big bro would be too big.

PITCH TWO was a little trickier. I brought a BD cliffhanger for the hook move and did not use it. Did not feel comfortable placing it so I was able to sling a knob and aid on the sling to gain the next rivet hanger placement. Used two river hangers until the optional belay. There was one bashie in place and it held my weight of 215 lbs plus gear without issue. All the pins and bolts I used held my weight as well.

Since we only had two 60m ropes (static and dynamic) we used the optional belay. It was not an enjoyable stance and was a pain for our group of three. The third was following each pitch on a separate 30m dynamic line I would fix to each belay.

PITCH THREE was a super easy bolt ladder with two rivet hanger placements. If you combine the last two pitches as one make sure to bring 4 rivet hangers or nuts. My gf lead the bolt ladder. She is 5'11'' and had some trouble reaching some placements. If you are not tall and so not top step well then an extend draw (duck taped stiff cheater draw) would be recommended.

OUR RACK:
18 draws including three double length 120cm slings.
Full set of BD C3's (did not use these)
Full set of BD X4's (used the purple larger one, aka red alien size)
Full set of BD C4's up to #4
Full set of metolius offset master cams (did not use the smallest two sizes)
Extra BD C4 #3, #4 and BD Camalot 3.5.
6 rivet hangers (only needed 4)
1 BD Cliffhanger hook (unused)

I was very close to running out of slings on both pitches. If I had to do it again I'd go with a few more regular slings or quickdraws.

When rigging the tyrolean traverse make sure not to tighten it too much. We pulled it fairly taught (not super tight) and it made the traverse difficult towards the other side. My climbing mentor said to rig it to look like a check mark. If we would have followed those instructions the ascending up the other side would have been easier.

For the last person on the spire: Make sure you have a game plan as to how to lower out. I thought it would be a good idea to lower myself out with my rappel device. This caused a major issue as I then had to remove the device when I hit the bottom of the traverse. I wasted tons of energy and about 10 mins dealing with it while hanging. Definitely a noob move that could have been avoided.

All in all a successful and fun weekend. The exposure on the second pitch is wonderful and worth the effort. Apr 22, 2014

[Hide Comment] purple blue offset works very nicely to get around the corner of the second pitch. May 22, 2014

[Hide Comment] We approached from Tioga Rd and camped at the rim. Good camping abounds. It took six hours to climb and return to the rim. This was not a rushed pace and we had no epics. The setting is spectacular. No let down there. We chose spring so the falls would be cranking. The spire looks cool at every angle. We did the climb it in 2 pitches. Pitch 1 gets major air right off the bat. The first crack is C1, you have to step out of your aiders for a little 5.7 move and on to a ledge. The next stretch was the crux for me. I had the big cams and did leap frog them, but this was tough. The traverse on P2 went better. the "hook move area" is The crux of the route. There is the smallest rivet head still sticking out a seam, I slung it with a very small wire to get through the crux. I did not hook. After this a few small cams to a sling move and a few rivets and you are to a bolt. You are basically at the base of the final bolt ladder to the top. Take in the views and enjoy the big payday. This stretch of easy C1 climbing is Unbelievable fun with major exposure. I took my time and really enjoyed this part. Front row seat to Yosemite Falls, the refraction and rainbows and the surreal summit. Returning to the Rim we used the recommendation of attaching the Jugs to the static ropes and rapping until the jugs take. Then proceed to jug back to the rim. If camping there, you can simply enjoy yourselves at Yosemite point and kick back for a little celebration. Jun 5, 2016

[Hide Comment] I did this climb with my dad two weekends ago, as a bucketlist item for him! He did it 30 years ago, and was psyched to return. (He's 58). We approached from Camp 4, which is pretty easy to find - the Upper Falls Trail. Head to Yosemite point, and then head down to the right to find trees and bolts for an anchor. This hike is strenuous with a rack and rope, prepare for 2.5 - 3.5 hours. Start early!!!
We brought 2 ropes, a dynamic 60 and 70. Tied the 70 to the closest juniper tree (it's obvious) and we were prepared to pass the knot, but

A 70 METER DYNAMIC ROPE GETS YOU TO THE NOTCH FROM THE CLOSEST TREE.(NO KNOT PASSED)

However, it was right at the end of the rope, so tie your knot!!! or tie your ropes together anyway. The flake eats knots on rappel, saddlebag/backpack extra rope. you have to walk over to the anchor for the first pitch which is pretty exposed, so you may want a hip belay or sling a boulder to get over there on rappel.
We did it in 3 pitches, with the intention of freeclimbing and aiding when necessary. I led all three pitches. First pitch starts with slippery pinscars and slick feet, some bolts and then a nice overhung to offwidth crack. I used a couple finger sized cams and leapfrogged #4s for the offwidth. Definitely helped to have two big pieces for this, #3.5-4 works.

We built the anchor for P2 using a bolt and the inverted flake, so we could chat while I was climbing. Fun moves out to the left lead to the hook move, where I hung a tiny nut on the rivet and tightened it up, and then stepped in a sling to reach the next bolt. Easier climbing to the little tiny ledge, built anchor for P3 right before bolt ladder. Mostly aidable, but try the moves for fun!

Fixed tat anchor with 2 biner masterpoint AND fixed rope means you can rappel on fixed rope until you're ready to jug on your tyrol. Fixed our tyrol back to the rim, Dad put the rope through the biners, jugged, and voila. Lotta rope drag pulling through those biners. 7 hours rim to rim! Jun 1, 2018

[Hide Comment] For what it’s worth, an 80m rap gets you from the rim to the anchor at the start of pitch 1.
We used the 80m for the Tyrolean, no second rope or knot needed on the Tyrolean with the 80m rope Oct 31, 2018

[Hide Comment] Gear I would take if I did it again:
-full set of offset cams
-1 Black metolius
-1 #2
-2 #3
-2 #4
(#5 can be be used, but really not necessary -- I dont think its worth humping it up there)
-small offset nuts (mostly for rivets, but also just in case some fixed stuff is gone)
-cam hook and hook (just in case, didnt use)
-LOTS of draws (especially if you shortfix)

Basically you dont really need too much gear because you use cams between the huge amount of pitons/bolts/fixed gear you use as pro. Aug 6, 2019

[Hide Comment] Climbed with my SAR team. Brought 6 people to the top. Bolts are shiny. Bolts on top are awesome new glueins, thanks Ryan!

Rack used
20 quickdraws
Blue, Yellow, Purple, Green Totems
2/3, 3/4, 4/5 Metolius Mastercam offsets
1 #2 BD C4
2 #3 BD C4
2 #4 BD C4
1 #5 BD C4
3 Rivet hangers
1 BD Grappling Hook Jun 8, 2021

[Hide Comment] Here is another Trip report and rack used info.
Did it in a day. Hiked in from the Tioga road side. Hike in is 2hrs and out was 2:20. Easy shaded trail, slight downhill in.
We brought a 70m to rap in from the anchor on the cliff side, made it easily without having to pass a knot. We climbed on a 58m rope.
Broke the climb up into 4 pitches instead of 2 for more of a teaching opportunity.
Gear:
Pitch 1: 4 quick draws to good ledge
Pitch 2: Orange totem, 2x #4, 1x #4.5(metolius) to good ledge
Pitch 3: Green/purple totem, hook, 1 nut(rivet hangar), 4 draws. many fixed pieces to somewhat hanging belay, small block.
Pitch 4: 4 draws. no cams needed, bolts are close together to summit

How not to Tyrolean ;) Probably best to not learn how to do this from some random guy posting in the comments but here is the general idea. There is many ways to do it. Feed end of 70m through both chains, pull tight and anchor into one of the bolts. Tie both your ropes together. Put leader on belay with second rope. Leader is now ready to go across. I use microtrax and ascender/aider combo. Once leader is across, belayer unties the anchor, leaving it looped through the chains. Leader now anchors their end to their anchor. Second can now traverse across and pull rope once done, leaving nothing on the spire.

Enjoy. Oct 9, 2021

[Hide Comment] Climbed the fantastic Lost Arrow Tip on March 26th, 2022 with my great friend Uriah. It was a grand day out, and the falls were absolutely raging. Very memorable experience out there in the vertical world.

Here's the breakdown beta spray session:

I had done this route before and I remember that getting to the 2 bolt slab anchors is sketchy and I'm getting wiser at the old age of 28. So I rigged a bowline on a bight with our lead line around the big tree there at the staging area and rapped in single strand to set up an anchor at the 2 bolt station.

I set up a nice quad that we could clip into later when we were tired so there wouldn't be safety issues. Then I fixed our red 70m rap/tyrolean line with a bunny ears figure-eight then neatly coiled the rope on the ledge below the anchor, and Gri-Gri'd my way back up the slab to Uriah at the nice tree's.

Meanwhile, Uriah was sorting gear and getting our backpacks ready. When I got up to him we re-rrigged the blue lead rope to facilitate a double strand rappell around the tree so we could both rap into the slab anchors safely. Once we were both clipped to the premade quad, we pulled the blue lead line and coiled it.

I think the best beta for the rap into the notch is rap single strand on a fixed 70m saddled on a sling with another 70m backpacked. The 70m fixed makes it, but its nice to have the option to tie it in and gain a couple more feet. You need the other 70, and you're gonna need to tie it in anyway. Also, it's often windy and you don't want the ropes blowing around.

The Key to this climb is master rope management. Once at the notch, tie the two 70m ropes together and belay off the one that isn't hooked to the cliff. Obvious, but I digress. Use the American Freedom Knot (EDK) with a healthy 12-inch tail.

The first pitch is mild, if you are a competent 5.11 Yosemite climber, it's not a difficult free climb. Hardest moves are off the deck, but I found it protects decently with finger-sized offset aliens or totems and you have some pins and a bolt or two. I aided it, and wished I had just free'd it. She spicy dicey off the deck but ya know, you have actual ladders attached to you that you can step onto if you feel a little like f*** this, Aid climbing, baby!. Upper pitch protects with a #75 #2, #3, double on #4's and I found a #5 works well. That is super COMFY!! beta. You could probably get away with a #2, a #3, and bump two #4's.

For this first pitch, rope management is crucial. Have your second tie in your initial rap line to the lead line and make sure they coil and saddle it to the pitch 1 anchors. It gets stuck on a flake. Happened to me both times I climbed this thing. Do you wanna rap down and get it? Didnt think so. bring em both up with you. The 70m rap line is long enough to tie to the P.1 anchors.

Crux of the route is the first 6 moves of P.2. I used offset aliens, 2 rivet hangers, and a skyhook. Don't see how people skip the hook move unless you just step out of aiders and make a free move to a rivet hanger placement. To clarify, this is NOT a camhook situation. Bring a skyhook. Fixed gear is in poor condition, I wanted to rip it out and just use a rivet hanger. Never overly difficult or dangerous. Ya got bolts under ya for every spicy move. Get it! the rest is glory pin and bolt clipping, a little reachy. A long, stiff draw would help.

I'll let you figure out the tyrolean beta, hope you understand the jist by now! There are nice glue-ins and chains up there. Looks clean and purposeful

All in all a comfy feel-good rack would be:

Full set finger-sized Alien Offsets
Blue, Black, Yellow Totem
1 BD #.75
1 BD #2
2 BD#3
2 BD #4
1 BD #5
Metolius Black .75
3 Rivet Hangers
1 Skyhook.
a large amount of quickdraws. Like I wanna say 20? maybe a couple more.

Cheers and have fun up there! Apr 6, 2022

[Hide Comment] Having climbed this recently, I'll add a few comments on things I wished that I'd known: First, if you're new to aid, know that the aid on this route is not trivial--several less than bomber placements, some long reaches/top stepping required, and at least one old pin with ancient bit of tat through it (bring some 5-6mm cord to replace it if it blows; you could aid past it, but it'd probably be easier just to thread some new stuff in there). Second, pull your Tyrolean traverse taut--jugging a rope on an angle is a lot harder than one near horizontal (and much much harder than a vertical one). One of the comments suggests that you should leave a lot of slack in the system; don't do that. Finally, you can review the logistics of setting up and retrieving a Tyrolean traverse between a couple trees in the park. It'll speed things up enormously over figuring things out (or not) on the fly. In any case, do it. It's a fantastic, relatively easy way to get to an incredible position! Oh yeah, one last thing: If you're relying on using small wires for rivet hangers, make sure you've got a few that you have NOT epoxied the cables to the nut. Trust me on that one if nothing else. Jun 15, 2022

[Hide Comment] Using a combination of topstepping, pseudo-free moves (stand on an alpine draw clipped to last piece and bust one free move to the next aid placement), and being tall, hooking can be avoided on p2. ymmv. Back-cleaned a fair bit after the initial p2 traverse, and this kept the rope drag at least somewhat manageable. the bolts are bomber.

we had the follower tagg the fixed line up with them. We did a rap swing onto our fixed line which was super sweet and quick to rig.

Next time, I'd go a bit lighter on the cams and bring two ropes instead of 3. Rivet hanger(s) very helpful. Start early and avoid the sun/crowds on the hike up. Jun 20, 2023

[Hide Comment] Did this route last week. It is more like a c1 with just a few c2 moves. All the mandatory free moves are solid 5.7. It was recently bolted in excess (effectively ruining the fun aid) and pretty much all the c2 moves can now be bypassed. :(
It exposed, but otherwise quite easy climbing.
there is a LOT of fixed gear. don't clip it blindly!! most of it can be bypassed.
For rack:
- Single rack of totems up to .75/green. BD #1-#4.
- 12 alpine draws
- 2-4 quick draws
- cam hooks
You can back clean a lot, hence the single rack
we did this with a 70m and a 60m. Jun 29, 2023

[Hide Comment] With an 80m and a 60m this weekend

Rack for no freeclimbing (except for the final top out section: mandatory friction slab freeclimbing is five to six moves of 5.5 in approach shoes, but be very aware of how you sling the gear below you on this pitch otherwise rope drag is going to up that grade)
- Single set of Totems,
- 1 ea Bdel #3,
- 2 ea Bdel #4 (bring a 3rd #4 or a #5 if you want to leave any protection behind for the OW section (otherwise you're looking at a ledge fall, though the last placements with a #4 are fine, but concerningly tipped out)
- Finger-sized offset cams
- Set of nuts (and the nut tool will be helpful to thread a dyneema sling through the fixed Z-ton before the "5.7 freeclimbing" that you can avoid by placing gear along the top of the large flake the freeclimbing goes to the left around)
- 1 Grappling hook (did not find a need for a camhook)
- 3 rivet hangers (no need for thin) (assuming you only leave two rivet hangers behind to clip to, you'll need one towards the top of the bolt ladder)
- Slings and Alpine draws
- Thinnish cord and knife to replace the core shot (and about to break) cord on the first fixed piton on the 2nd pitch

Tyrolean with a single 80m (for people that don't want to slide or hand over hand to start the tyrloean)
- Fix 80m to the bolts and rap to the notch (there's a single bolt in the middle of the large flake directly across from the tip that you can clip the rope into as you rap if you want a horizontal tyrolean instead of the more checkmarked tyrolean due to the difference in height between the rim anchors and the tip (see photo showing location of this bolt) imo more effort than it's worth)
- Keep the end of the 80m rope with the second. (Will need to pull up some of the slack before the second heads up the 1st pitch otherwise the slack will get caught on stuff.) No need to connect the 80m to the lead line, it will easily come around the climb with your second.
- At the top of the Lost Arrow Tip, take the end of the 80m and run it through the anchor's rap link and and pull all the slack through (doesn't need to be tight)
- Fix the line after the rap link to the available bolts
- Pack up the 60m, you won't be needing it for the traverse. (Belaying the leader or the follower is possible but if something catastrophic were to happen, a belayed climber would likely critically smash against the wall anyways so it's up to you)
Leader:
- Attach self to fixed 80m line before the rap link with microtrax
- Attach the end of the 80m rope to yourself to bring it across with you (rope bag or clipped loops to your harness will be helpful rather than letting it all fall down as you traverse)
- Attach self to anchor via daisies or PAS and go over edge until supported by daisies/PAS
- Attach both ascenders/ladders between rap link and the microtrax and stand in them to support yourself while you unclip from the anchors
- Down jug until microtrax takes your weight
- Move ascenders to other side of microtrax and continue over to the rim
- Once at the anchors, have the second unclip the knot from the anchors that fixed the line for the initial traverse
- Pull the end of the 80m rope until the two sides are relatively even and slack-ish and fix the other end of the rope to the anchor on the rim
- Your 80m rope is now fixed twice to the anchor on the rim and running freely through the rap link on the side of the lost arrow tip
Second:
- Attach self to one side of the doubled line before the rap link with microtrax (it doesn't matter which side is chosen)
- Attach to anchor via daisies or PAS and go over edge until supported by your daisies/PAS
- Attach both ascenders/ladders between rap link and the microtrax on the line that the microtrax is connected to and weight the ascenders/ladders as they pull the slack from one one side of the rap ring to the other, keep jugging in place like this until the side of the rope the microtrax is not connected to is tight and the side of the rope the microtrax is connected to is slack.
- At this point you will be able to stand in the ladders and unweight your daisy/PAS to unclip from the anchors
- Down jug on the ascenders until microtrax takes your weight
- Move ascenders to other side of microtrax and continue over to the rim Oct 28, 2024