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Major Tom
5.10c,
Trad, 75 ft (23 m),
Avg: 2.7 from 6
votes
FA: John Steiger, Allen Sanderson, July 2012
Utah
> Wasatch Range
> Central Wasatch
> Big Cottonwood…
> Strone Crag
Description
Major Tom is the attractive two-part arête to the left of Le Rap et Tap, offering excellent rock and some of the best exposure in BCC. The first part is protected by three bolts up to a ledge. The second part begins by stepping right off the ledge to avoid a severely undercut section of the arête, and then moving back left past the fourth bolt to regain the arête above the undercut. A small cam with a runner protects the move to clip the fourth bolt. Above, one more bolt protects exciting climbing (take a deep breath) to the large belay ledge shared with Rear-View Mirrors, Le Rap, and Wealth of Nations. Really a sport route, but calling it trad to keep off the draws-only crowd.
Location
Approach as for Le Rap et Tap and Wealth of Nations. Major Tom can be led from either the ledge and pine tree at the base of those routes (consider using longish draws on the first three bolts) or, less comfortably, from a small footstance and cams near the base of the arête (which would require some exposed third or fourth classing to reach).
Protection
Five draws for the bolts, and a few finger-size cams and long runner. Lower or rap chains.
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Salt Lake City, UT
-Belaying from the tree/ledge belay for WoN/Le Rap seems like a REALLY bad idea (even though I did it, regretfully). You have 40 feet of actual climbing (5.5 ish) to clip the first bolt; if you fell you would be seriously injured or die. Worse, the arete from bolts 1-3 is RAZOR sharp, and given the placement of the bolts (on the other side of the arete), your rope will likely run over it as some point. If you fell between bolts 2-4, you could be seriously injured or sever the rope/die. The only preventative solution is to runner those first three bolts long, but falling on any of them might produce the same result. You can cut weighted dyneema with a butter knife.
-The fourth bolt (just above the flat ledge) is the hardest clip on the route. You can place a high finger-sized cam from the ledge, but, nevertheless, if you blow that fourth clip you can kiss your ankles goodbye; you'll hit that ledge pretty hard.
-there are 5 bolts (and one gear placement) in a full 30 meters of climbing (my 60m was used up). That's a bolt every 20 feet on average, so some of the falls off the arete would be pretty nasty.
To sum up, this route is a great find with some fun climbing, but the bolting is super unnerving. Aug 30, 2013
Salt Lake City, UT