Super Slide

If you traverse to the left end of the ledge at the end of the 2nd pitch and belay from there, you can run the 3rd and 4th pitches together with a 60-meter rope. This lets you skip the hanging belay, which you will discover on the rappel down is a very uncomfortable place to hang out. Better to skip it if you can. May 2, 2007

A good, fun romp that has some very loose rock, particularly on the last pitch before you gain the clean splitter. Careful what you pull on, I almost dropped a basketball sized chunk onto my belayer before gingerly putting it back in place.

Agree that linking the first two off of the ledge (also covered in loose rocks) is the way to go.

Great route in spite of the patches of loose stuff, and perfect if you're pushing into the grade. Stays in the shade behind the Ahwahnee Buttress until late morning. May 31, 2007

make for an incredible 180' pitch! Jul 20, 2007

Correction to the Supertopo: the bolt anchor indicated atop P1 (p. 123) is gone. Instead, build an anchor in the 5.7 thin crack to the left. Sep 9, 2007

• combining pitches 1&2 (60m rope) gets you to the goods faster. Saw no sign of the p1 anchor so just kept going. A 60m rope barely makes it to the first tree on this ledge. Bring some runners if combining these two pitches.
• agreed that the hanging belay at top of p3 is uncomfortable. Wish we had linked with p4.
• DO THIS ROUTE! It's so money.

Jul 22, 2008

We were able to link Pitches 1&2 with a 70 meter rope. We also shifted the belay over on top of pitch 2 and Linked pitches 3&4. From the top of pitch 5 we rapped w/ 2 70M ropes to pitch 3 anchors, then 1 more rap to the gully you started the climb in.(requires some down climbing 20ft')
I lost my wedding ring at the base of Supe Slide or Trial by Fire. Its a silver ring, let me know if you find it. Thanks Dec 2, 2008

Great climb! P3,4 and 5 have some great crack. I would not recommend the alternate 5.8 start (Trial by Fire). I don't think the couple of parties in front of us would recommend it either... Jun 20, 2009

I did this for the second time & led every pitch. Linking p3 & p4 really makes it one of the funnest pitches I've done in a good while. Quality climbing. The 5.9 at the top reminds me of a shorter, lower angle version of the splitter absolutely free. Wish it was longer. Jul 27, 2009

Objective hazards: The red biting ants that caused us much misery on the East Butt of Middle Cathedral Rock are all over the two lowest rappel stations. Try to avoid squishing them at any costs since, we hypothesize, the noxious smell causes the rest to swarm.

Gear: We saw three mangled metolius cams (orange and yellow) on the top pitches. We did it on camalots and had no issues (bring doubles on the .5s and .75s and plan to bump), but if you climb on metolius, just be wary. Jul 28, 2009

Note that in late Sept 2009, there was a lot of rock fall in the area. We planned to top rope the face climb after our rappel, but got to the bottom and discovered that some 150 pounds of grapefruit sized granite chunks had hit both our packs and cut up our open rope bag. The route seems safe after the first, ground belay, be be careful at the beginning. Oct 13, 2009

Great linkup with Trial by Fire to avoid the boring approach pitch. Lower section is a bit dirty & forgettable but the final 5.9 section is SWEET!

P4 & the belay above was pouring with water when I did the route this May. P5 was dry at the crux though. Sunshine did manage to burn off the water on the route.

On Trial by Fire my second noticed a grapefruit-sized rock fall near him and it was NOT from a climber above. Jun 7, 2011

Anyone have any beta on rapping the route with a single 70M rope, stopping at the anchors on pitch 4 on the way? Jan 10, 2012

Climbed on 1/15/11. Beautiful, and totally worth the two boring first pitches. 1st anchor bolts are gone. Pitches 3-4 linkup beautifully. Crux on P5 is spicy wide fingers for a short while at the very end. Otherwise very manageable, and rather soft for valley 5.9. Jan 17, 2012

Did this route twice over the summer of 2012 and it was great!

Just a word of advice, while pulling the rope from the first double rope rappel, out line snagged on a sort of knob directly plumb from the top anchors. I'm not sure if this is dumb luck but this happened on both occasions, being especially obnoxious since my we had to climb to unstick the rope each time. In the future I will probably rap to the top of 4 first to avoid this. Apr 19, 2012

climbing with a 70m, totally recommend linking P1+P2, P3+P4 and P5 as a single and climb as 3 long pitches! mellow climbing with sweet sections of clean splitters (albeit too short like a tease). i'd say no single move of 5.9 on the entire climb - it sure feels a full number grade easier than Dream Easy just to put it out there.

rappelled with a single 70m (5 raps) with no problem: on your 3rd rappel, you rap back to the tree at the base of P3, then walk across the ledge to the tree on top of P2 to set up the next rappel. your 4th rap takes you down to the huge ledge where you scramble down to skier right for a set of (rather new shiny) anchor with quick links. from there a single 70m takes you down to the ground (go climber left to reach the uphill ground. if you rap straight down, you would be 2 meters short and end up on some 11c slab. tie knots for safety!) happy single rope climbing :) Mar 22, 2014

The new shiny anchors that Climbing Ivy mentioned are the anchors for a new direct start to Super Slide. Start about a hundred feet down hill to the right of the normal start of Super Slide. There are two starts, left is 5.8 and the right is 5.10a with two bolts. For the left start take pro: thin cams .4" to 3" . Same for the right, but add a 3 1/2" and 4"" piece. Climbs mostly nice cracks to the big main ledge on top of the first pitch of Super Slide. This start avoids the 4th class regular start and is more consistent with the climbing above. Between the two starts is a short bolted slab that is probably 5.11? and goes to its own anchor 70' up. When rappelling, this anchor makes it easy to get off of Super Slide with a single 70m rope with out having to swing to the side as Climbing Ivy mentioned.

- Eric Gabel Mar 26, 2014

Super fun alternative to its very popular neighbors! Rope solo'd it with a 70 meter rope and a single rack (double BD 1's) and was completely dandy. Decided to do the "Trail by Fire" off width variation which added a great start to an already awesome climb. The two 5.6 pitches after "TBF" were a little meandering and "so-so" climbing but fun nonetheless. It adds three more pitches making for a fun full day in the sun! The last ten feet of Super Slide are worth all the work! SUPERRRR!!!!! Sep 12, 2014

This is a really strong way to break into "real' Valley cracks. Good exposure, great gear, and a slow grade climb 7-9. AND you get to watch and listen to people pulling their first 10.d on Serenity, which just makes you want to do it! Jan 20, 2015

Linked 3 & 4 made for a fun long pitch. Thin hands up top were perfect for my girlfriend, not so much for me. We rapped the route with 1 70m. May 1, 2015

As folks have pointed out, it's entirely possible to rap with a single 70. On the last rap though you will find the anchors of the 11c slab single pitch sport route below you to use for the last rapple. This allows you to descend all the way to the ground avoiding the 4th class downclimb Oct 26, 2015

Climbed this last week. Likely the most fun I've ever had on a moderate 5 pitch route. Combining pitch 3 and 4 is definitely the only way to go. Made it car to car in just under 3 hours. (We simul rapped). The 5th pitch finger crack might be a little hard for some if you're not accustomed to valley 5.9 fingers. I would suggest leading Grants Crack 5.9 on the swan slab for a good comparison. Jun 18, 2016

honestly, an awful climb with only one redeeming pitch. One can blame supertopo for making this route popular. Jul 7, 2016

The link-up of pitch 3 and 4 made for one of the most enjoyable rope stretching pitches I've climbed. Soooo good. May 14, 2017

Just did this on June 15 2017. Found no anchor at pitch 1. We looked all over for it. Could someone double check for me if i am correct! We wanted to use only one 70m rope, ended up having to have one person lowered off to the trees right below the ledge at Pitch 1. Tree anchor seems to be in good shape as of now.

When link with 5.8 off width, make sure you go left if you want the 5.6. Right side would work, though it is a bit harder. Jun 15, 2017

Leo, see my comment below from Sep 9, 2007. Jun 16, 2017

We did not place anything larger than a BD 1 the entire climb. Leave the big stuff in the car. 3+4 linked with a 60m with a few feet of simuling.

The rap was a pain in the ass. There is some loose rock above the lower tree that could conceivably get knocked onto the start of the route. Be careful. Sep 28, 2017

IMPORTANT UPDATE FOR THOSE TRYING TO RAP WITH A SINGLE 70

Yesterday my partner and I were setting up the last 70m rappel (as per Climbing Ivy's instructions) when one of the anchor bolts ripped out. We used the nearby bush tree to set up a backup with a cordelette and a biner, but with the coming rainy season, someone who has the know-how and tools should definitely go up there and replace the anchor bolt. My partner and I were really shocked it came out, and thankful neither of us were fully relying on it! Nov 13, 2017

As a followup to Natalie’s comment about the rappel bolt pulling, note that the remaining bolt hanger is starting to spin. I don’t know that I would put too much faith in that remaining bolt... Thank you, Natalie, for the webbing and biner backup! Feb 10, 2018