[Hide Comment] Nice crack, mostly thin hands with an occasional hand jam and a long crux move off a fingerlock to a jug. Plenty of rests and good footholds allow you to remain fresh for the crux that shows up just before the top. May 8, 2007

[Hide Comment] Heads-up! The hold in the crux which your right hand latches after the reach is way loose...The move will probably be easier when it pulls out! Jul 10, 2007

[Hide Comment] Bring doubles of the 1.5 - 2.5 friends. Save a small piece for the crux move at the top. Jan 6, 2010

[Hide Comment] got spit off the crux which is tricky, even at 6'4". Keep your feet below you, don't be tempted to leverage your foot off the ledge off to the left side, it will screw up your balance. Use the pods and the sloping ledge for your feet. Mar 12, 2010

[Hide Comment] In the Sierra Club Mountaineering Journal, Ascent, 1973, Jim Bridwell proposed subdividing the Yosemite Decimal System with letter grades. In his examples for 5.10d thin cracks he listed Catchy, Vanishing Point, Serenity Crack, Olga's Trick, Five & Dime, Leaning Meany, and Independence Pinnacle, Center route, p3. Jan 31, 2011

[Hide Comment] I know this climb gets done a dozen times a weekend but the final "jug" that you make the big move to is flexing (I climbed it two weeks ago). It seems to be a flake and moves almost an inch. FYI! Mar 3, 2011

[Hide Comment] I've done this route only once... but I'm not sure where this flexing jug is at the top. I made the big move, reached up, and just dropped a handjam in the slot at the top. Seemed the obvious way to do it, and I didn't notice any looseness or flexing that way. Mar 4, 2011

[Hide Comment] FA: Believed to be Kim Schmitz, Jim Madsen, 1967
FFA: Jim Pettigrew, Jim Bridwell, Mark Klemens, 10/1971 Jan 7, 2012

[Hide Comment] Nope, it's still there and may be there for a long time to come. Or it might get pulled off by the next party, who knows? I think an inch is a bit of an exageration though.

Another awesome pitch! Feb 2, 2012

[Hide Comment] Heard that jug/flake is gone now. But supposedly did not make the climbing harder. Nov 8, 2012

[Hide Comment] Bring 3 camalots of sizes .5 and .75 if you want to protect well and have enough gear. I watched a girl back clean 3 times on one go. Save 2 of each for after the big ledge at ~40 feet. Oct 18, 2014

[Hide Comment] I spent a couple weeks in The Valley in the fall of '79 after a summer of rowing boats down the Middle Fork. I'd hitchhiked, so lacked wheels to get down to the Cookie. My rack was stoppers, hexes and one Friend. Poking around Camp IV, I found a partner who was gung-ho for some harder cracks, so ,car-less, we hitched together; and our ride was with a couple of guys sharing our destination. When they heard we were going to do Catchy, immediately they asked, "Got any Friends?" And my response in the affirmative with a single #2 was met with, "Cool, save it for the crux." We did Beverly's Tower to Wheat Thin, rapped feeling strong and headed over to Catchy. That pro advice rang true for our onr camming unit, and that climb kicked my ass: landing the perfect, cupper hand jam at the top was like getting a big breath of air after getting window shaded in a keeper hole. I did not fall, so I guess my brand new EBs were doing their magic. We'd planned on carrying on with Catchy Corner above, but that ass whippin' sent us both back to camp. The climb proved much easier, and less strenuous, when I returned a couple of years later with 4 SLCDs. Apr 3, 2015

[Hide Comment] WARNING: Ledge at top is dangerously loose as of 4/27/2015. Did this for the second time this year. Didn't notice anything either time I climbed it, but the second time, after rapping from Catchy Corner to the top of Catchy, I waited at the top of the Catchy anchors while my partner rapped....and the ledge you stand on MOVES. It was literally shaking back and forth about an inch as my partner rappelled, caused by the force of the weighted rope leveraging over the lip. The block is about triangular, 4-ft by 4-ft and you can see a hairline crack that separates it from the rest of the rock.

The dangerous part is most folks won't notice it unless you're a big guy who yards really hard on it after the crux. It probably shakes unnoticed by all top-roppers and rappers. It will come off someday. Possibly soon. IT IS NOT GONE as some others have said. Apr 27, 2015

[Hide Comment] This may or may not be the same "loose block" referred to by people above, but while climbing this past weekend (Sunday May 14 2017), the entire ledge you stand on at the anchors of the pitch was occasionally shaking. It felt like when you're standing next to a bulldozer and it slams its bucket to the ground. Super unnerving. I noticed this once while belaying my partner up Catchy, and twice while waiting for him to rap down after doing Catchy Corner. It didn't seem to be caused by any other movement in general, I could just feel it under my feel. I'm not sure where the "shaking block" ends and the "entire wall" begins, but if/when it comes off it will be massive. Would be interested if any Yosemite local could check it out and verify if this is business as usual or new exfoliation/movement. May 15, 2017

[Hide Comment] Yes the block at the anchor up top is moving. I was there with a Yosemite climbing ranger who was a little spooked too but said that previous attempts to drop the block revealed it is actually well wedged in place. May 24, 2017

[Hide Comment] This thing was saaaweet! the start is kinda broken but pretty cool side pulling and jamming. then it opens to a tick hands splitter then a sick pinky lock big move to the top. Save a #0 mastercam or smaller nut for the last good rest spot and then pull the crux and gun it for the chains.

Didn't feel the block moving at the top and it felt fine to me. But what do i know I am a gumby Oct 23, 2018

[Hide Comment] Regarding the huge block at the top, it does rock a bit. It is the huge block underneath the chains that seems to be part of the wall but it is actually cracked and detached at the top from the rest of the rock beneath it.

However, the way the block is fractured, it would move a little in towards the wall, but not out. I gently nudged it with my knee while kneeling on top of it and it moves in towards the wall but not really away from the wall. I wish I had my phone to take a picture, but when viewed from the side the block is fractured diagonally so it wiggles a little in towards the rock but seems more solid for an outward pull. It is huge and it would seemingly take a lot of weight to pull it over the way it is fractured.

That being said, I would still be mindful of it when you're climbing. It is easy to avoid yarding on it if you pay attention. I could see it being unnerving to stand on if belaying someone up for Catchy Corner. Nov 13, 2018

[Hide Comment] If Serenity is reference 10d then Five and Dime is 11a and this is 10c. Dec 31, 2020

[Hide Comment] hey now, you're talkin to ol' hickory, so just watch it... Dec 31, 2020

[Hide Comment] if belaying from the ledge, probably a good idea to build a belay anchor. First few moves are a little awkward and there's some ugly "worst case scenario" possibilities should the climber come unglued and gain momentum. Feb 13, 2024

[Hide Comment] Don't stay away because you think this route is reach-dependent. I have average reach and did not find any big or reachy move at the top. Just some tenuous normal sized moves. Like my beta could've been done by someone with 6" less reach than me probably. Similar difficulty to serenity sons Oct 31, 2025