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Conn's West
5.4,
Trad, 200 ft (61 m), 2 pitches,
Avg: 2.9 from 185
votes
FA: FA N.C. Hartz, Henry Schulter, Earl Richardson, 1944; FFA Herb and Jan Conn, late 1940s
W Virginia
> Seneca Rocks
> S Peak - W Face
> S Peak W Face (Main A…
Description
P1. Climb the obvious left-facing flake/dihedral from the top of the first pitch of Old Man's Route. P1 ends at a ledge with a sizable tree and rappel anchors. This first pitch involves a few chimney moves and it's possible to sling some chockstones for pro.
P2. Climb the right-facing corner up and over a few ledge systems to the rappel ledge for the west face. Belay here to reduce rope drag or continue up through the notch to the summit ledges.
Location
Start by climbing the first pitch of Old Man's Route.
[Hide Photo] View looking down the third pitch direct finish. From here it's a short scramble through a notch and onto the summit ledge.
[Hide Photo] Pitch 2 belay ledge. You can also use the tree for an anchor. There are rap anchors just left of where I am standing, but try to avoid using these as this rap area is heavily used.
[Hide Photo] Tara climbing through the chimney on the second pitch (first pitch being first pitch of old mans)
[Hide Comment] The direct finish goes up a nice inside corner to the left off the second belay ledge. Very nice 5.5 climbing with several fun stemming moves.
Oct 7, 2007
[Hide Comment] My first time at Seneca: after doing Simple J Malarky and not having much fun on it, getting lost on the way to do Green Wall, and saying "screw it, let's just get to the top before sun-down", I happened to be standing under this one which a very enjoyable cruise to the top. Usually I hate this low-level climbing because the falls almost always have ledge-fall potential. This is no different, except for the fact that falling is difficult to do! Even when I was 30 feet above my piece, I felt fine. I highly recommend this route! You could easily protect the whole thing with just nuts and hexes.
Sep 14, 2010
[Hide Comment] I think this used to be 5.3 and the direct finish went at 5.4... those grades seemed more consistent by Seneca standards.
I highly recommend the direct finish.
P1 and P2 can easily be linked with 60m ropes. Try this with a 50 and your belayer will be simul-climbing the initial (very easy) moves.
There's also a direct variation down low that is worth doing. You climb a short, steep corner ("Stupid's Corner") immediately below the start of the chimney. It's probably 5.4 and you really only need to protect the exit move.
I recently did the 5.7 variation listed in the Barnes guide, which is about 10 feet to the right of the chimney pitch. it climbs the corner/chimney with 2 trees growing out of it near the base. Getting past the trees is a bit awkward but there's some good climbing above that makes it worthwhile.
Apr 5, 2012
[Hide Comment] We did the 5.7 variation (the corner with the two trees). It is where the comment says, just to the right of the chimney pitch. I can't say I recommend it. It is rather awkward, with considerable loose rock in the cracks. My second took a swing when a handhold broke off.
Jun 16, 2013
[Hide Comment] Did the 5.7 variation (the one with the two trees), and really enjoyed it. Fun movement. Technical and spicy at times for a 5.7.
Jun 15, 2014
[Hide Comment] Linked the route in one 70m pitch from the bottom of Old Man's on 7/16. You have to move the belay up to the base of the initial 5.0 moves to make it, and take the corner start and direct finish, but it's a stellar pitch of climbing.
Jul 17, 2017
[Hide Comment] From the second edition of Seneca by Tony Barnes there's an alternative 5.5 start to pitch one. There's a short, steep corner directly below the big flake (left of the old man chimney).
Dec 29, 2018
[Hide Comment] This was my first day of lead climbing circa 1976. A guy with a VW bug which we started by pushing backwards led me up green wall. Then he said, it is a real pain in the neck to rappell, and Old Man's is always crowded so lets just down climb this one.....
Jan 7, 2022
Bethesda, MD
Catonsville, MD
Forchheim, DE
Pittsburgh, Pa
Seattle, WA
I highly recommend the direct finish.
P1 and P2 can easily be linked with 60m ropes. Try this with a 50 and your belayer will be simul-climbing the initial (very easy) moves.
There's also a direct variation down low that is worth doing. You climb a short, steep corner ("Stupid's Corner") immediately below the start of the chimney. It's probably 5.4 and you really only need to protect the exit move.
I recently did the 5.7 variation listed in the Barnes guide, which is about 10 feet to the right of the chimney pitch. it climbs the corner/chimney with 2 trees growing out of it near the base. Getting past the trees is a bit awkward but there's some good climbing above that makes it worthwhile. Apr 5, 2012
Cleveland, OH
Arvada, CO
Washington D.C.