PRINT: Rock Climb Duet, *Cannon Cliff

Duet

5.7, Trad, Alpine, 260 ft (79 m), 3 pitches, Grade II,

Avg: 2.7 from 38 votes
FA: unknown
New Hampshire > Cannon Cliff > 2. Duet Area etc

Access Issue: You may come across small, silver sensors that are part of a research project on weathering on Cannon. Please do not disturb them. Thanks ! More details can be found at mountainproject.com/forum/t… Details

Description

Pitch 1: Start at the base of the left facing crack system on the left side of the Duet Buttress. Climb moderate handcracks until the wall steepens then smear and layback up the blocky crack system (crux). Belay at the base of the enormous left facing corner of Duet Direct on fixed nuts/hexes. 100 feet 5.7

NOTE COMMENTs from two recent climbers who report:" P2 has a lot of loose rock, some of which is in the crack and hard to avoid. Rockfall from p2 would land fairly near the base of Slow and Easy. " RHall NH Admin.
Pitch 2: Begin as for Duet Direct but bail out around the corner to the right before the crack steepens. Protect the move (crux) in a horizontal and move right into a huge right leaning crack. Traverse up and right with awkward technique and plenty of hidden holds in the crack. Enjoy the exposure and belay at a pin on an obvious ledge with small gear. Watch for loose rocks and be careful to protect your second in the last 30 feet; a fall would put them a ways down on the blank face below. 130 feet 5.6

Pitch 3: Depart the ledge up the obvious ramp to the left. Continue up easy ground for about 30 feet. Place a #3 cam about 12 feet above a ledge and downclimb to the anchor for Duet Direct. 45 feet 5.2

This climb can reach the top of the cliff but I have not completed it as the upper pitches are "loose and unmemorable." This is a great way to set up a toprope on Duet Direct. 2 60 meter ropes are needed to barely reach the ground from the anchor.

Location

Approach as for WGR but when the talus field is reached head straight up towards the cliff past cairns. The climb starts near the left side of the Duet Buttress at an obvious left-facing crack system.

Protection

Standard rack to 3 inches. The second pitch could eat cams up to 6 inches but smaller options are available. A #3 is helpful for the final pitch above the downclimb.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Torie headed up pitch 1

Mark Whiton climbing the 2nd pitch in less than ideal conditions on a winter attempt in 1977.

Mark Whiton and the bag on a winter attempt in 1977. Given the conditions, we bailed but left this green rope fixed. Came back a week or two later to find it chopped about 30-40 feet above the deck…

Torie leading pitch 2

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

MattWallace
Center Harbor, NH

To rappel do you need to do a two rope rappel? Jul 12, 2011

E thatcher
Plymouth/ North Conway (NH)

Yep, just barely, but ya do, or else its a sketchy free solo down climb 100+ ft up to the second rap station. Jul 12, 2011

losbill

5.7

You can come off the rap setup at the end of P2 with one 60 meter rope to within 35 feet or so of the P1 belay (Knot your ends!!!). Build a quick anchor there and have your second rap down. Lower the second to the P1 belay and have them place 3 or 4 pieces as they get lowered to protect your downclimb to the P1 belay. Good gear, good holds, goes quickly. Sep 13, 2011

Peter W
Salt Lake City

Partner and I climbed Duet yesterday. After the normal P1 belay my partner headed up and linked P2-P3 together. He stopped at a fixed anchor that was different from Duet Direct's. In total he used about 50m-55m of rope from P1 belay. It was a horn slung with many slings and a couple rap rings. It wasn't the Duet Direct anchor as described above. We double rope rapped from there to the P1 belay, then did a single rope to the ground.

It's possible to rap Duet Direct with a 70m, though the rap down to P1 belay you should make sure you have an extra double length sling handy to put yourself into the anchor since it is very close. Also the last person on rappel should have a single knot in the rope so it doesn't spring up and out of reach after they are off. Or use two ropes if you prefer. Oct 24, 2011

Derek Doucet

I prefer to rap from the Duet Direct anchor all the way to the ground in 1 rap with 2 60s. This is better than stopping at the fixed anchor atop P1 for a 2nd rap because the P1 cracks are rope eaters. If you must do it in two raps, be thoughtful about how and from where you pull the ropes after the final rap, or risk stuck ropes. There always seems to be odds and ends of rope stuck in that pitch... Jul 6, 2012

Russ Keane
Salt Lake

First pitch is better than anything on Whitney G. Old school 5.7 for sure, quite tricky. Loved it! Good belay station with rap rings, about 95 feet up, so a single 60 will suffice if you want to skip the rest and just make it a one-pitch climb. Jul 30, 2017

Sean M
Victor, MT

Would not recommend anything other than the first pitch. We did the second because a party was on the Direct version last weekend. The first ~100 feet is awkward, unmemorable climbing. The last 30 has extremely poor rock, and even if you are careful with your hands, my rope knocked off several fist size rocks to send them crashing below. I would NOT recommend the regular variation at all. Jun 24, 2018

Mike Lero
NH

I agree with Sean M. P2 has a lot of loose rock, some of which is in the crack and hard to avoid. Rockfall from p2 would land fairly near the base of Slow and Easy. If you are hoping to TR Duet Direct, aiding Duet Direct or climbing Raven Cracks to the bolted anchor on top of the buttress would be better options. From there, you barely make it to the ground with one full 60m rappel (two 60m ropes needed). Jun 21, 2020

WF WF51

Went to the top. Nothing particularly loose, nothing harder than the 1st pitch. Sep 12, 2021

Dylan Fridman
Hanover, NH

A friend and I tried to take the direct variation to the top a couple of months ago and got shut down close to the top. If anybody has a more detailed description of the upper pitches or some photos that'd be awesome. Jul 24, 2023