All Locations > California > Yosemite NP > Yosemite Valley > Valley N Side > E Yosemite Fall… > Five Open Books > First Tier

The Surprise

Name: The Surprise
Rating: 3.1

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

Routes in First Tier

L › R R › L A › Z

	Antique T 5.7 5a 15 V+ 13 MVS 4b R
	Caverns, The T 5.8 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c
	Commitment T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a
	Fire Fly S 5.8 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c
	Hanging Teeth T 5.8 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c
	Jughead T 5.8 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c R
	Munginella T 5.6 4c 14 V 12 S 4b
	Surprise, The T 5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a
	Try Again Ledge T 5.8 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c
	Werner's Ant Trees T 5.10c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b
	Work Around the Skirt S 5.10c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b

Order Wrong? Sort Routes

Type:	Trad, 400 ft (121 m), 5 pitches
FA:	Pete Spoecker & Steve Herrero, 1965
Page Views:	10,668 total · 49/month
Shared By:	Mike Morley on Jul 10, 2007 · Updates
Admins:	Mike Morley, Adam Stackhouse, Salamanizer Ski, Justin Johnsen, Vicki Schwantes Page Updates (admin only)

You & This Route

248 Opinions

Your To-Do List: ·

Your Star Rating:
Rating

Your Difficulty Rating:
-none- Change

Your Ticks:Add New Tick

-none-

Explore this route in 3D

Use onX Backcountry to explore the terrain in 3D, view recent satellite imagery, and more. Now available in onX Backcountry Mobile apps! For more information see this post.

Access Issue: Latest updates on closures, permits, and regulations. Details

Please visit climbingyosemite.com/ and nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/… for the latest information on visiting Yosemite, including permits, regulations, and closure information.

Yosemite National Park has yearly closures for Peregrine Falcon Protection March 1- July 15. Always check the NPS website at nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/… for the most current details and park alerts, and to learn more about the peregrine falcon, and how closures help it survive. This page also shares closures and warnings due to current fires, smoke, etc.

Description

The Surprise provides 2 excellent pitches of climbing. Here it is broken into 5 pitches but can be done in 3 pitches.

P1: Climb a 5.6 corner up to tree anchor.

P2: Traverse 5.5 right and down to a flake/stem below the splitter. Can link P1 and P2 but committing for the follower.

P3: Climb 5.8 face/stem and hand crack to a single bolt. Can link P2 and P3 since this is a better spot to belay and less committing for the follower on the traverse.

P4: Excellent 5.10a tight hands/fingers splitter to a bouldery face move to a ledge and tree anchor. Can link P3 and P4.

P5: Left of the tree, climb 5.7 stem to 4th class.

You can also link pitches 4 and 5. After the crux, move up and left to a fun corner after some easy climbing. Keeps from away from the tree and having to crouch and belay in the branches.