[Hide Comment] Variation: Climb P1 as described. P2 heads straight up from belay stance and cuts out right under roof onto a lichen covered face with jug hauling for a full 170 feet or so up to a large ledge. P3 head up and left for 40 feet or so to top of buttress- could be linked with P2 possibly. P4 move left on top and climb another 40 feet to top of cliff. Good fun and exposure Oct 24, 2011

[Hide Comment] Lots of hand size pieces on pitch 1 Burly, sustained lots of layback, deserves the +. Start of pitch 2 protect the traverse or set up your belay left on ledge. Sharp edges on some of this route. A great climb first pitch memorable. Apr 23, 2012

[Hide Comment] Fantastic route all the way north on Short Off! It is quite a bushwhack to get out there, but it it totally worth it!! I would say this route was noticeably stiffer then its cousin Maginot Line, but worth the work! Bring as doubles of c4 1',2's and perhaps 3's if you want to stitch up the first pitch, which is deceptively steep! The business is the first pitch but every other one has its fun sections, its mostly a vertical jug haul with splendid views into the gorge!

• *Highly Recommend**

Sep 16, 2012

[Hide Comment] Update - climbed this route a 2nd time and still feel like P1 is 5.9. My crack skills are novice for sure and maybe that contributes to the struggle but P1 seems quite stout for 5.8+. Toxic Shock is a different style crack but overall that pitch seems far more mellow than this.

Agree with M. Holley regarding this route being considerably stiffer than Maginot. P1 wastes no time and fires up straight off the jungle-dense vegetated gorge floor. From there P1 remains relatively sustained right up to the start of the crux which seemed to start in earnest as soon as the dihedral leaned left. Crux seemed pretty sustained for my noodle arms. I do think the crux is 5.8+ but I also don't think anyone would raise an eyebrow if this pitch was listed as 5.9. It seemed unrelenting for about 15-20' with the finishing moves being the hardest (sort of flaring off-width section).... the gorge and your gear are a fair bit below you at that point.

Loads of old slings at P1 belay, however there is solid opportunity for pro just a few feet above those slings.

P2 - posted a photo of the traverse off P1 belay (traverse climber's left under and around roof, and then generally up path of least resistance to P2 belay)

P3 - is short but packs a good punch as you motor-boat the jugs.

P4 - thank goodness you can protect this short pitch well because it's steep and the thought of becoming a temporary chockstone between 200' deep buttress walls seemed as fun as being a dingleberry.

GEAR -- tricams (used red, brown and blue), 1 set of nuts seemed sufficient (4-13), and doubles of BD cams 0.5-2.0 were big handy. Took and used singles of 0.2, 0.3 and 3.0 BD cams.

Aug 18, 2014

[Hide Comment] Agree the 1st pitch is burly, but it's classic. The crack is fairly straightforward until it juts out left at the end, and offers you a critical crux at 100 feet off the ground. So fun!

The rest of the climb is so-so. Not bad by any means, but not as good as the first pitch. It remains steep and positive, but the route finding gets a little tricky, with no obvious path amongst a massive display of broken up cliff/rock, and weird ledges with shrubs. Jul 12, 2016

[Hide Comment] I got off route on P2 lead and went right from p1 belay to the right of the large obvious roof and then slowly trended left back and connected back into the route. Super fun on overhung jugs pretty solid at 5.8 with a sweet mini roof that protected with gold DMM offset nut and green C3. That same pro ended up causing rope drag so sling it long if you go that way so you dont have to stop short of the true P2 belay ledge. ~60ft to intermediate ledge if you don't sling it. Feb 6, 2017

[Hide Comment] This is a great route to do if it's been really wet. Last time I was out there, the descent gully was a complete waterfall and most of the main face was soaked. The detached buttress kept this one pretty dry. A little seepage below the first belay, but it is past the crux and easy to avoid if you're willing to climb 20 feet of lichen. Jul 10, 2017

[Hide Comment] If you want to do P1 only, a 70m rope will get you down from the 1st pitch TAT anchor. Not sure about a 60m (it would be very close). I had to leave a couple of biners on the anchor, as there was no ring. Gear beta: You can do P1 without a #4, depending on your comfort level at the bottom (bouldering up a steep move to gain a stance), and at the crux (a #4 would be nice but reach further in and a #3 will fit). You will perhaps want doubles in #1 and .75 but beyond that nothing special. For some reason I didn't place a #2 although I suppose I could have. Oct 16, 2017

[Hide Comment] Great route, must do!

Approach the same as Dopey Duck and then hug the cliff all the way past Supercrack to find the first pitch. Once down the decent gully it’s shouldnt take more than 10-15min to the base of the route.

Pitch one is awesome!
Recommend going straight up for pitch 2...protects well and the exposure is tip top.
Pitch 3 is so steep and sooo fun on the monster jugs and solid gear.
Pitch 4 to the summit and walk-off...who could ask for anymore! Oct 15, 2018

[Hide Comment] Agree that this is a great route. For whatever reason, I felt like P1 was more in the 5.9 range for those of us that aren't the greatest at jamming and I appreciated having doubles from .3-3. Watch out for a few loose blocks once you get further up in the crack system. The P1 belay (the one with the Tat rap anchor) is kind of weird, so make sure you have a few different sizes left over (small gear up to .3). Stepping over the gap was fun! May 17, 2019

[Hide Comment] Mihaly, I agree with your assessment on p1. It reminds me of p1 on White Lightning (5.8+) but definitely a touch harder. I climbed this and Construction Job (5.9) on the same day last weekend and found them both to be about the same in difficulty (with p1 of PA being more sustained, but easier to protect and p2 of CJ having two or three moves at the grade, but with finnicky gear). Nov 13, 2020

[Hide Comment] Definitely a hard 5.8+. It felt every bit of 5.10- to me. Jun 18, 2021

[Hide Comment] I really enjoyed this route.
I've been on some trad 5.10s in the NRG that are easier than the first pitch of this, and I'm pretty decent at jamming. So take that for whatever its worth.
Stepping left after the 1st pitch tat anchor, you're kinda walking the plank along the top of a huge death block, could probably be crowbared off before it kills someone, or just step very delicately. Oct 16, 2021