Avg: 4 from 3
votes
Access Issue: Always check SEKI road conditions and peregrine closures
Details
The route climbs the southeast buttress of Tehipite Dome. The lower half of the route features stellar crack climbing, while the upper half features mixed crack and face climbing. The route was established in honor of our friends Gil Weiss and Ben Horne, who died in July 2012 after establishing a new route on Paclaraju Oeste, Peru. !Vamos El Cumbre!
P1: fingers and hands (40m, 5.10)
P2: "Gil Weiss Memorial Offwidth". Hands to squeeze to stacks, ends on a stance (62m, 5.10+)
P3: Step right and climb the left facing corner to a stance belay(30m, 5.10+)
P4: Continue up the corner. Where it gets thin, step left to a horizontal and then back right. (30m, 5.11)
P5: Lower angle hands leads to the "Ledge of Repair" (60m, 5.8).
P6: Follow cracks up the prow, then traverse left past 2 bolts (50m, 5.11) and then continue up to the belay right of a large block
P7: Tunnel behind the block, clip a bolt, then face climb until a face crux (bolt) near the anchor (50m, 5.10+)
P8: Honey Badger Traverse. Climb flakes to a 3 bolt leftwards rising traverse , then move left and up to the belay (50m, 5.10+).
P9: Continue up the right facing corner and over a small roof (40m, 5.7)
P10: Face climb past 2 bolts to a belay (30m, 5.8)
P11: Climb the arch and exit at it's apex (50m, 5.9) then up a slab to the top.
Start by approaching Tehipite Dome (~14 miles). We found a nice campsite right next to the backside of the dome, with water about 10 minutes away.
From the summit of the dome, scramble a short ways south down a gully and then walk across a short ramp to rap anchors. 11 double rope rappels take you to the base of the route.
Standard rack, extra wide (#4-#5) for the Gil Weiss Memorial Offwidth pitch if desired.
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Colorado
Louisville, CO
For the other pitches I'd recommend 3x TCus and 2x camalots #.5-#3. Sep 13, 2013
Wasnt able to do it this fall and wont have anytime before the snow flys, I need a partner for next spring or early summer, if interested get ahold of me. Im up for splitting the cost on a mule too.
Tom Sep 13, 2013
reno
approach - took us like 6 hours at a moderate pace. to the top of the dome, it's almost entirely flat. make sure to stop by the cow ranch, nice people and a great spot to get some water. See approach topo in main page
camp - definitely camp on the backside of the dome, amazing spot. just make sure to bring big/lots of water containers. water source is 10 minutes straight downhill... annoying if you have to run down there a bunch. solid amount of water even in september
raps - easy to find. from summit, just keep heading toward gorge of despair til you see cairns. nice to be able to stash food/water on the way down in spots.
rack - don't need triples of anything. doubles to #3 seemed like it would be good. 2 #4 is probably a good idea. 2 #5 is for sure. it does just depend how comfortable you are walking them. 1 #6 is good.
route - lived up to the hype inspired by the pics. Yeah, it's only the upper dome, but it's the biggest part of it and don't worry, it's a worthy adventure. ratings are definitely not soft, but seem right. lots of good belay ledges and the route is perfectly equipped except for one spot.. getting to the first bolt on P6 seemed pretty dangerous. was made ok when I found a hidden sidepull to get to the clipping stance but damn.. Breaking this pitch up into 2 would have made it more reasonable (for drag and a tighter belay). Other than that, thanks for doing it right, as Tom said. Oh, the offwidth is burly
setting - well you just can't beat it. Sep 6, 2016
Santa Paula, California
This is an amazing climb. If it was somewhere else we would be lucky to have gotten the 300th ascent. The rock is clean, the climbing fantastic, and the scenery unreal. We spent a week in the area and didn't see another hiker or climber. Definitely take the time to explore the valley. Solitude, unbeatable fishing, and even some native American pictographs.
So some tips -
- The raps aren't the most straightforward and took us a bit over 3 hours. Plan accordingly.
- thanks to deadfall and fires, the trail to the top of the dome all but disappears soon after Johnson cow camp. It's non existant after crown creek. Bring a compass or a gps and have fun off trailing.
- weather was great in late June. Even the valley floor, known for its heat, was really nice.
- Brian Prince's rack is pretty spot on. Though it was nice having a couple extra finger sized pieces for the 4th pitch.
- the offwidth is full on. Happy I got to the top rope it (thanks Matt). Nice that you can check it out on the way down.
- as mentioned, pitch 6 should be broken up into two. This was the only spicy pitch.
- the first 4 pitches took us almost as long as the last 8. Consider that when stashing water and food
Thanks to the first ascentionists for doing a quality job. Couldn't have been easy. Get out there and climb on Tehipite! Jul 2, 2018
San Diego, CA
Must admit I was in over my head on this one and had to channel spirit of pull harder just to follow my friend up the climb. It was a warm day (late May) and we got baked on the rappels. Rope got stuck on the horn above the tunnel-thru pitch (P7) so be careful there. Bring some belay gloves and your stiffest tag line for pulling lots of rope 11 times to start the day! That is a lot of work!
I took a huge screamer trying to clip the last bolt on the off width pitch. Not sure what to say other than 60 meters of rope stretches a lot. I ended up bumping two #5 cams all the way up this pitch.
Thankfully things started to turn around on the ledge of repair. Route went into shade (THANK GOD) in the afternoon which was perfect for the elegant face climbing cruxes above. They cannot be aided through, you gotta do the moves. On a route you rappel into, that is, in a way very committing. Consider bringing a length of cord to string across P6 and P8 cruxes just in case (may be I’m a weenie for saying that). Feels like the roaring Middle Fork Kings River is down there ready to carry you away should you fail to climb the dome.
At least I was able to offer assistance in the way of remembering my head lamp, which I gave to my partner to lead us to the top (we took about 3 hours rappelling and another 12 climbing). I brailled up the fantastic final pitches, so full of holds that even the soft glow of a waxing crescent moon provided safe passage. Tehipite is a land of extremes, from the bombed out forest guarding the summit, to the Gorge of Despair, which may mirror your own constitution in the more trying times of the climb, and on to the screeching raptors holding court over their lofty domain, in which you are but a transient visitor briefly transported to a higher plane. Jun 2, 2025