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Hesitation

5.8 R, Trad, 300 ft (91 m), 4 pitches,  Avg: 3.2 from 66 votes
FA: John Turner
New York > Adirondacks > B: Chapel Pond… > Upper Washbowl Cliff

Description

1 Climb 4" crack to overhang, up to crack and to belay stepping right consisting of pitons. 5.8

2 Climb up to roof and clip 3 pitons while traversing under the roof with mild runout. At the third piton turn the roof, and climb up the ramp with basically no gear for 25' to a single piton and gear belay. 5.7 PG 5.5 R Note the first piton is at the apex corner the second in the middle, and the third is below a ramp where you go straight up!!

3 Climb up broken crack system to a ledge below a sick looking left facing corner. 5.5

4 Climb the corner to the top! This pitch is nice!! ( :

I give this climb 4 stars for the nice first pitch, and the exciting traverse, and quality 4th pitch. Its a nice climb with magnificant views of chapel pond, and slab, and ADK in general.

Location

When you arrive at upper washbowl take a left until you get to a corner with a small cliff below. The Base is a scramble up the small cliff to a nice area with a 4" crack and a overhang.

Protection

I used a 4.5" cam and a standard rack.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Cleaned this old piton on our 1971 ascent of Hesitation ... probably a first ascent piton.
[Hide Photo] Cleaned this old piton on our 1971 ascent of Hesitation ... probably a first ascent piton.
Simon on p1
[Hide Photo] Simon on p1
Pitch One
[Hide Photo] Pitch One
Hesitation.  Such a good route!
[Hide Photo] Hesitation. Such a good route!
Pitch 4 (5.6)
[Hide Photo] Pitch 4 (5.6)
Ryan contemplating the "Hesitation" move.  Awesome lead!!
[Hide Photo] Ryan contemplating the "Hesitation" move. Awesome lead!!
Arielle in the 5.5R section. Spooky!!
[Hide Photo] Arielle in the 5.5R section. Spooky!!
Tom J leads on Hesitation, May 1974, this time with hexentrics, stoppers & a few pitons. Healy's Guide rated it 5.7.
[Hide Photo] Tom J leads on Hesitation, May 1974, this time with hexentrics, stoppers & a few pitons. Healy's Guide rated it 5.7.
the p2 5.7 PG traverse to the overhanging lip then onto the ramp 5.5R
[Hide Photo] the p2 5.7 PG traverse to the overhanging lip then onto the ramp 5.5R
Coming up Pitch One
[Hide Photo] Coming up Pitch One

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Greg Kuchyt
Richmond, VT
  5.8
[Hide Comment] 5.8 G, 5.5 R
Second should probably be solid, big swing potential on P2.

Also, on P2 you can (and probably should) back up the third piton with a micro cam. Anyone can fall, and do you really want to run it out on to an old pin? Aug 7, 2010
Jaysen Henderson
Brooklyn NY
  5.8 PG13
[Hide Comment] A great climb despite the lacking rock quality, the first pitch is an okay off with up to the scary belay station (suggest re slinging the chock stone and clocking in some community service)the crux on p2 is very insecure and well protected around the corner but long runners are a must, once you pull up on the slab on p2 its a cake walk (dont bother looking for pro its not there). Then p3 is simply an approach pitch to the wonderful surprisingly pleasant off with into finger inside corner on p4. Topping out on this climb feels like a real accomplishment and was a great day goal. Id suggest the rap tree climbers left about 100 yards maby, then you rap over mastercharge. Jul 10, 2011
Greg Kuchyt
Richmond, VT
  5.8
[Hide Comment] Jaysen,
From my memory, you can equalize some good gear in a horizontal down and left of the fixed gear at the top of the first pitch. I remember it being a little creative, but confidence inspiring.

Also, see the comments on the Upper Washbowl Cliff page regarding descent information. The issues with the Partition/Mastercharge rappel are really not necessary given the ability to walk off or the climber's right rappel, especially in light of recent events. Jul 11, 2011
[Hide Comment] My partner made a gear anchor at the top of P1, to the left of the fixed anchor. My memory is that he placed most of the gear in obvious vertical crack. Seemed like setting the anchor left of the fixed anchor was better positioned for belaying the climbing both for P1 and for P2. Jul 19, 2012
JeanGClimbs
Reading, VT
 
[Hide Comment] It is true there is a decent horizontal just down and left of the ratty slings in the vertical crack under the roof. I got a tricam and #1 camalot in there to supplement the less inspiring gear above. Also, in addition to the microcam you can get at the end of the traverse on pitch 2, you can get a .75 in a horizontal just a foot or so further right.

I note in the old Mellor guidebook Pitch 1 is described as ending much lower and to the right (piton belay). I watched a pair of climbers with binoculras on this and thought they were off route until I read Mellor's pitch description. Seems this would indeed make Pitch 2 more interesting and different. I've always used the belay under the roofs so I can't say if it is better, worse or neither. Jul 29, 2013
Robert Hall
North Conway, NH
  5.8+ R
[Hide Comment] Re' the above comment: Yes, the original line stepped out right onto a 1 1/2 - 2ft wide flat ledge BELOW where the P1 crack gets more difficult. (YES, that John Turner chose to step out of the crack instead of following it tells you something about the difficulty of the crack, eh?! )

From this ledge - which is still there - one used to climb a flake on the (10-15 ft?) wall above this ledge, up to a ramp (belay) and then back left to the corner above the now-most-difficult (5.8 - 5.8+?) part of the corner-crack.

Sometime in the mid-1980's - early 1990's - the flake above the ledge fell off. I believe I was one of the first, if not THE first, climber to arrive at the ledge "sans-flake". Thinking it was no more than 5.7, it took me a LONG time to work out the moves, which were thin-face moves on the left side. Protection was a pin driven at the base of the ledge. Subsequent ascents rated these moves 5.9 R (due to the sure-to-break-ankles-fall-onto-the-ledge-then-pitch-off-backwards-off-the-ledge) and "re-routed" the climb up the corner at 5.8.
May 12, 2015
Nick W
Orford, NH
[Hide Comment] Finally climbed this a few weeks ago after years of passing it over. Stout, adventurous route. We did the whole climb in two pitches which worked well. This is a serious route. There is potential for a dangerous pelvis or femur-breaking pendulum if the second blows the unprotected moves before the top of the traditional second pitch belay. The moves are not super hard, but an inexperienced climber could get into trouble here.

The last pitch was one of the harder 5.6's I've ever done. Maybe I wasn't using the face holds. Jun 12, 2015
NESteve
Westport, NY
[Hide Comment] Great rout!!! REAL Dax adventure climbing!!! Oct 22, 2015
Luc-514
Montreal, QC
  5.8 PG13
[Hide Comment] Just climbed this today, the leader linked pitch 1 & 2 with 60m doubles, it doesn't eliminate the sketchy part on the second pitch but avoids having to setup an anchor under the choss roof.
As a note, there's no maintained rap at the end of the first pitch, just very old tat around a chockstone and a knotted(!) dynema sling holding from a couple nuts, no quicklinks, no redundancy, just keep climbing, the 4th pitch is worth the visit. Oct 28, 2017
Gregory Medak
Schoharie, NY
  5.8 R
[Hide Comment] This climb is awesome! Goes up the highest part of the most impressive cliff in chapel pond pass. Previous people commented there is a suspect gear anchor at top of pitch 1. Great red camalot down and to left, also decent orange metolius to the right. There is a fixed nut halfway up the first pitch somebody bailed on. Pitch two is committing and looks unlikely, back up the piton with a microcam or a purple BD to the right. Pitch 4 is a great corner crack and excellent finish to the climb. Crag at Creature wall or do regular route on chapel slab for a good day Sep 1, 2018
Tim Trezise
Speculator, NY
[Hide Comment] Good rock for most of the climb. The permanent anchor at the top of pitch 1 is 15' left on a rounded ledge, set a piece in the crack to protect the traverse to it. Pitch 2 hand traverse can be protected the whole way out. Put in as much as you can to protect from a dangerous swing. 2nd pitch is highly exposed airy 5.5-5.6 except for the transition turn move onto the unprotected slab (5.7) That move can be protected in a few places but once heading up the blocky slabs keep it cool until you can cross over left and set up an anchor on safer rock. Pitch 4 is all fun. Belay stances are ok not great - definately not good for more than 2 people. Jul 15, 2019
june m
elmore, vt
[Hide Comment] Appears to be a new bolted anchor up and way left on pitch one. Tat is gone from the old pins. This anchor is definitely out of the impact zone if a climber were to kick off any thing loose, and the ropes pull well from it. But it changes the route. Sep 10, 2019
Shane Kenyon
  5.9+ R
[Hide Comment] P1 is a hard and awkward 5.8, I guess better crack technique would make it go smoother, but feels sandbagged to me. My second time climbing this it really didn't feel better. Partition and Slim Pickin's (both 5.9) feel easier than this pitch. Feels harder than Rockaholic or Clutch & Cruise to me. The R rating maybe for P2, on the slab section, definitely don't want to fall on P2 either on lead or follow. Aug 9, 2020
Libby Southgate
Ithaca, NY
[Hide Comment] Climbed on July 4th 2022. Fun route! Some (hopefully useful) notes for future climbers:
(1) I couldn’t find two of the pitons on the traverse despite looking quite carefully. I assume they’ve fallen out because I could see plausible/scarred places where they might have been placed. The piton before “the move” is still there. There is plenty of other gear.
(2) There is a large biting ants nest at the fourth pitch (top out) belay. Beware.
(3) We couldn’t find the right end rappel. We DID manage to scramble down the tree ramp on the right side of the cliff with little difficulty or danger all the way to the base. From hesitation top out, follow the thin trail through the woods climbers right until you can turn downhill (when the path runs out). Scramble down an easy 2-3m slabby step. This will deposit you on the tree ramp. You should see a cliff band skiers right of you. Head skiers right, following the path of least resistance and staying close to the cliff band (which will be on your right hand side). After descending most of the height of the cliff (walking), crawl under a fallen tree to emerge at the bottom of overture. This descent is almost entirely in the trees, at no point should you be anywhere near the cliff edge. Little to no thwacking. Jul 5, 2022
Cal Seeley
New Hampshire
  5.8+ R
[Hide Comment] Piton at the end of the P2 traverse is loose. Didn’t have anything to knock it back in with. Plenty of gear in that area, though. Aug 29, 2022