Avg: 3.2 from 507
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Selaginella (5.8) offers liebacks, face climbing, off-width chimney climbing, and good ol' crack climbing. The route is sustained and committing and a real challenge for a 5.8 leader.
P1 - Start in the right facing flakes which form nice hand cracks and eventually merge with the main right facing corner to the left. Continue up the main corner, which appears wide and intimidating but can be adequately protected by smaller gear in the back of the crack. There is a small ledge halfway up this pitch, but you should continue up to the large, comfortable ledge at the end of the pitch. 165'. This pitch is very physical but very fun.
P2 - Continue up the obvious right facing corner. This will become a shallow bombay chimney with some exposed stemming. Right after the chimney, and right before a piton, traverse left on an easy 5th class ramp and up to belay at a tree or thereabouts.
P3 - Continue up and slightly right on some cool flakes to a chimney/flare. The chimney looks hard from afar; but fear not, there are good hands in the back. Continue above on some easy face climbing to another short exposed bombay chimney formed by a big jutting flake, much like that of P2. Above this, at a bolt and a piton, make a wild, exposed traverse left to a great belay ledge with cool crystals on it. This traverse is not well protected for the leader nor the follower, but it is fairly secure with good holds, just very exposed. Make sure to extend pieces properly before the traverse to minimize rope drag around the corner.
P4 - Straight off the ledge you can take the wide corner on the left, or some juggy face climbing to the right. The face climbing seemed easier to me and was very fun with some steep moves on great holds, but unprotected (beware expanding flakes). Continue up and left on obvious corners with hero jugs to a nice ledge, which you traverse left to a massive dinner place flake. Squirm inside the flake, or even better, layback it on glory jugs to the top as your victory lap (unprotected but easy and secure).
The route starts on the upper ledge above Munginella. Climb any of the lower climbs (Munginella 5.6, Commitment 5.9, The Surprise 5.10a, The Caverns 5.8, Try Again Ledge 5.8, or the Hanging Teeth 5.8). An alternate approach involves skipping the approach climbs by hiking the streambed west of the base using 3rd & 4th Class slabs. For the descent of Selaginella, jump into the stream of tourists working their way down the Yosemite Falls trail.
1 or 2 sets of nuts and cams up to 5". Bring lots of long slings.
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Oakland, CA
The exposed traverse is fantastic. Supertopo mislabeled the right-facing flake (as left-facing) at the top of the third pitch after the traverse so don't get confused or concerned that you're in the wrong place.
We used the whole rack from 4" down to 00 metolius. May 21, 2009
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Oakland, CA
Fort Collins, CO
Boulder, CO
Pitch 1 is the most strenuous, though every wide section is soon met with rests. We brought a #5 camelot, placed it once but IMHO it wasn't really needed. One #4 should do the trick. Pitch 2 has a short bit of off fists, but it's over after 20 feet. The pitch 3 chimney protects well and has hands in the back.
I also made the pitch 3 traverse way harder than it needs to be by climbing way to high. Stay low, using the crystals and hand holds. There's a new bolt, which set back farther back. Use long runners to avoid drag.
Overall, it wasn't the most epic climb I've done, but I'm glad I did it as it opens the skillset to those mandatory OW pitches that come with most valley classics. Apr 18, 2012
Sunny Slopes + Berkeley, CA
p1 (right var.): felt burly this time around. i'd say it's sustained, physical 5.8 - must be old, fat, and out of shape. awesome fat hands, with some OW, and a bit of awkwardness thrown in. nice break a little over half way up. #2 camalots rock, no need for a #4.
p2: straight up for about 60 feet or so, then step out to the left (nice big step) and angle up the ramp toward the trees. i've previously done the corner variation (under the trees and ear shaped flake), but opted to go straight up past the large triangular flake and then traverse back to the corner at the base of the chimney (sm. stance for belay). this pitch is definitely easier than the first, but less straightforward and has some potential route finding issues for the uninitiated.
p3: up the chimney (5.7-5.8), then up easy ground, underneath a big block/flake to the bolt and pin. the traverse out left is actually technically quite easy, there are big holds for your hands (don't go to high). rope drag can be a huge problem here, especially if you didn't put some long runners on gear placed the last 20'to 30' before the bolt. the traverse puts you on a cheese grater ledge with a couple of options. i've always gone straight up the middle at the rail and sm. flakes, rather than the burly/fat crack to the left. however, beware, falling here means decking. there's a good belay at the sm. tree about 20' up.
p4: go up the crack/shallow corner past a jutting flake (bottom broken off). i thought this was the crux and could easily be called 5.9 in many places. after this section trend up and left, passing a couple short corners (also 5.8). finally, a big traverse to the left and the base of a huge free standing flake. it's possible to wiggle inside or lieback the flake. having done both, i'd have to say the lieback is more pleasing, but also less forgiving if things go wrong. in either case i found this part rather easy (in comparison to the rest of the route).
overall: this is a pretty stout climb for 5.8; i carried a full rack with doubles up to a #3 camalot, one #3.5 and one #4. i placed the #4 once and the # 3.5 a couple of times. did not place any nuts... Feb 17, 2013
California
California
Denver
Flagstaff, AZ
P2, felt easier than the 5.7 rating that was in the topo.
P3 felt right on (5.8) for the crux move, but again it was really just one awkward move, then the rest was cruiser. We made the mistake of continuing up the 5.7 crack to a different belay ledge. Did an easy traverse to get back on the route at the tree about 15 ft above the regular belay ledge. The alternate belay ledge was comfortable and took gear nicely.
P4 was stellar!!! The route was worth doing, just for P4. Final flake moves didn't seem to warrant the 5.8 grade. Two of our party avoided the last flake all together by climbing the direct finishing face. Jun 13, 2016
Denver, CO
That being said it is a pretty burly flaring offwidth (I will not comment on the grade but it was very hard for me) with good protection in the back. We left a 3 nut anchor right at 105'. You can get down with a 60M rope just knot the ends. Oct 25, 2016
Seattle, WA
Forestville, CA
Redmond, OR
Single #4 and no #5 is great beta. Doubles .3-3" and single C3's yellow to green. I brought nuts, but probably could've lived without them, or have left the C3's behind.
Pitch 3: I set my belay on top of the little pillar with a bolt and a piton (made belay with bolt and nuts).
Pitch 4: I went directly up on super exposed easy big moves, and then traversed left and down a hand crack to meet up with regular route. You can place one piece in the high point of the traverse and then securely climb up into the dihedral/lieback a bit before placing your next piece. Rope drag was minimal on the final moves. Next time out, I'll try the regular route, but this variation was very airy and exciting. May 19, 2018
Minneapolis, MN
Bishop
Berkeley
Alternatively the second pitch traverse to get back into the corner of the traditional line is really interesting and initially protected by two bolts. Really cool climb although a bit dirty and some crummy rock throughout. Just needs more traffic. If you’re looking for something a little stiffer than usual variation i would highly recommend!
11/18/2018 Nov 29, 2018
Grand Junction
Los Angeles, CA
Fun climbing would recommend! I found the crux to be the first 10' of pitch 4, some solid moves there. The two traverse moves at the end of pitch 3 were also exciting. Look left as you come out of the shallow chimney to find the traverse, should see a piton to your left. Dec 6, 2019
Albuquerque, NM
Beaverton, OR
Vancouver, BC
Moral of the story is that this climb has a lot of loose rock at the belay ledges. Be careful, yell loudly and keep your helmets on. Jun 13, 2022
Hell
Bishop, CA
SLC
San Francisco, CA
My follower found the low traverse since the high traverse would be extra dangerous for the follower unless you place a piece in the juggy start of P4 which I didn't think to do. Placing a piece up high would add a lot of security for the follower though for either traverse. Oct 17, 2024
In my van!