Avg: 3.7 from 186
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Access Issue: SIGNIFICANT ROCK FALL CLOSURES - UPDATED Feb 29th 2024
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Access Issue: Camping
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Access Issue: Falcon nesting closures are usually in effect from March 15 to July 31.
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Beta from: https://squamishrockguides.com/sunset-strip/
A significant new multi pitch line in the Western Dihedrals. With the exception of Crap Crags, this is the easiest free route to breach the West Face of the Chief. That said, it is very sustained at 5.10, harder than Angels Crest but easier than the Grand.
Sunset Strip utilizes sections of other climbs, Sticky Fingers, Millennium Falcon, Crap Crags, and The Gauntlet, with about 70% new terrain to create a very direct and interesting line up the Chief.
The route has 12 pitches, several pitches can be linked and it is likely that many teams will repeat the route in 9 or 10 pitches. That said, the shorter pitches take advantage of good belay stances, decrease rope drag, and will reduce the size of rack required. The route is very well protected with several bolts added to the previously bold upper sections of The Gauntlet. Being located in the Western Dihedrals the route will be subject to annual peregrine falcon closures, although in 2013 there is no such closure in effect.
1. 5.10c. Sticky Fingers. Step off fortuitously lodged boulder onto a desperate slab move past a new bolt. Follow right leaning thin finger cracks until possible to escape left onto large ledge system. 35m.
2. 5.10a. Layback the edge of a wide corner past two bolts. Continue up fun chimney (end of p.1 of Millennium Falcon) to a belay atop a small tower. 18m.
3. 5.10b. Two variations at the start provide the crux, the right hand being slightly easier. Beautiful and continuous finger cracks linking several left facing corners pull out to the right to a stance on the open slabs, (this is p. 2 of Millennium Falcon). 40m.
4. 5.10c. Climb the finger crack straight up into an off fingers flare, cruxy moves around a bulge to small stance at the base of box corner feature. 18m.
5. 5.9. Climb up the box corner, passing blocky roofs on the left. 20m.
6. 5.10b. Step right into short flare feature, exit the flare by laybacking leaning corner, easier climbing leads to a large belay ledge. 20m.
7. 5.10a. Climb past bolt to left facing corners, an aesthetic undercling leads to small belay stance. 20m. The 5.8 chimney pitch of Millennium Falcon is just to the right.
8. 5.8. Left facing corners give way to broken, low 5th class ramps, follow right trending ramp to its end. (The upper part of this pitch is Crap Crags). 30m.
9. 5.10d. Face climb past 5 bolts to an exciting left facing corner. Continue up easier grooves taking care not to miss the belay stance out right on the arete. (This is pitch 8 of the Gauntlet). 25m.
10. 5.10a. Traverse right from the belay to access excellent hand/fist crack on the basalt infused headwall. The belay anchor is hidden from view on a small ledge to the left. 25m.
11. 5.10d. Traverse right in a wild position, face climbing and gravelly underclings lead to a short, steep crux. Fully bolt protected. 15m.
12. 5.9. Steep and exposed chimneying, finishing with a short squeezer. Entirely fixed with 4 bolts and one piton. (this is the last half p.10 of The Gauntlet). 15m.
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Seattle, WA
The only part that feels like 10d is the section with 5 bolts. And I thought the chimney was really hard. After reaching the top I hauled the packs up the chimney. My favorite pitch was the off fingers so called 10d. Jun 19, 2014
Bend, OR
Sustained, well protected, moderate 5.10 climbing with occasional short, harder cruxes. Can't miss the start. It's down and right of Rutabega about 100 yards or so and starts off a rock at a bolt.
Easier than the Grand Wall, and is someways more enjoyable due to the varied climbing and lack of any bolt ladders.
I was happy with nuts, double set of cams from small to #3 camalot. And one #4 camalot.
The 10c crack crux on P4 will get your attention. Well protected, but expect it to be hard. Green camalots in a flare. The first 10d pitch has fun face climbing to a a few moves in a physical corner crack. The 10a hand/fist crack is really cool and has great exposure. I' m a wuss and walked the #4 up between the bolts. The 10d traverse is super well protected for both leader and follower. I loved the chimney pitch. Well protected by 4 bolts and a pin (and optional #3 camalot for the dismount). I left my rack behind and pulled it up with the pack. Making your second follow the pitch with a pack would be cruel and unusual punishment!
1000' of perfect Squamish granite with only about 50' of "throw away" climbing. It ends right at the trail off Bellygood.
Get on it!
Additional info: squamishclimbingsource.com/… Aug 7, 2014
Bothell, wa
Combine the off fingers and 5.9 pitch for long pitch. Works well.
Single rack to 4, set of nuts, with double purple and green Camelot, double yellow aliens too. Jun 1, 2015
- p2 + p3 ... full 60m
- p5 + p6 ... approx. 50m+
- p7 + p8 ... full 60m
It's possible to link p4 + p5 too, but I think p5 + p6 is a better option
p9 has a fixed mangled up metollius cam.
Super, duper route! Get on it during the week in the afternoon to avoid the crowds. Aug 14, 2015
Bend, OR
Bellingham, WA
I am admittedly terrible at chimneying but the last pitch felt real hard for 5.9. Aug 8, 2016
Oakland
Redmond, OR
Geneva, CH
Seattle, WA
Link pitch 11 (only 10b, not 10d) and pitch 12 to avoid a hanging belay. Aug 24, 2017
Bend, OR
My rack suggestion previously of nuts and double cams from small to #3 and one #4 still worked. The only caveat to that is that I walked a #4 on the 10a hand/fist crack between the bolts - but that's me. There was a nice orange master cam out left on the hand/fist crack as well to save some big gear.
It was easy to link the 5.10a and 5.8 pitch.
Standout pitches...
P3 - long and requires a fair bit of gear and slings
P4 - grays, purples, and greens... oh my!
P9 - Slab felt 10cish.... and the corner required some giddy-up laybacking and then a thank god foot way out left. I'm not sure I would have seen that foot but the guy in front of us threw his leg out there and spoiled the surprise!
P10 - Hand/fist crack requires some effort. I slid a #4 up between the bolts
P11 - Pumpy
P12 - Clipping the first bolt is reasonable if you go deep where the holds are good and then slide out to the bolt. The rest of the chimnet is just good clean fun with bolts/pin. Leave all your gear at the belay and pull it up after you are done for the delux experience! Aug 6, 2018
Cambridge, MA
P1: The "desperate" slab move is really not that hard, and you do it right next to a shiny bolt.
P2: Clipping the first bolt is really annoying. I suggest placing a number 4 cam in the chimney and removing it after.
P4: The crux of the route. I found this to be strenuous ring-locking that was substantially harder than Exasperator. Bring triple or quadruple 0.5s for this pitch. As noted by others here, the end of the pitch is quite weird and is protected by a bolt.
P5: Very cool pitch. Follow the right hand crack on the inside slab (don't go outside--this is confusing).
P9: Easier than P4, in my opinion. This is bolt-protected slab climbing. The holds are very sharp. Look carefully for the high footholds!
P10: Very physical. Others have suggested sliding up a #4 between bolts, but I found that the #4 did not fit particularly well. However, there is some good gear to the left of the wide crack.
P11: Not even close to 10d. Entirely bolted, the crux is a relatively easy undercling move near the end.
P12: Perhaps the most exhausting pitch. Oddly it is also entirely bolted and you do not need any gear. As others have posted, the bolts always seem to be out of the reach. However, you will find a thank-god jug near the top inside the chimney.
It is possible to skip P11 and P12 by escaping into a gully on the left. This might be good if you are in a hurry, but the last two pitches are quite good and worth doing. (Other posters have mentioned that the rock is worse on the upper pitches, and that's correct, but the climb is still very good up there.)
I found Mr. Laakmann's recommended rack of doubles to #3 and a single 4 to work well. I supplemented this with a 0.5 and medium-sized Metolius offset cams (yellow/blue, orange/yellow, red/orange) and used them on every pitch. However, this route is at my limit and I like to place a lot of gear. This climb is very well-protected and will take as much gear as you want. Aug 22, 2018
Mount Vernon, WA
Vancouver, BC
p1: 5.9, V0. Sticky Fingers, stright forward with a V0 move off the boulder.
p2: 5.10. Some strenuous laybacking and jamming into an easier corner. You'll want at least one #4 for this. Belay on a very exposed top of a pillar with air surrounding your feet in all directions.
p3: 5.10+. This pitch is given 10b by the FA, but on the MP page for Millenium Falcon the same pitch is given 10d. I think this is one of the hardest pitches on the route - sustained, steep laybacking on thin fingers.
p4: 5.10+. Money splitter. Looks straight-forward, but the jamming in the flare gave me quite a surprising pump! Exit moves are an interesting surprise but they go at the grade.
p5: 5.9. Stemming though blocky roofs, good jams and the most exposed pitch on the route.
p6: 5.10-. Some vertical underclinging and jamming to easier ground.
p7: 5.10-. Slightly insecure move past a bolt in a LFC, then secure jamming leads to a very fun set of underclings to an anchor.
p8: 5.8. Rambling up and left into an easy gully. Stay in the gully until you reach bolts on a face below a cool-looking 5.10 bolted section, don't be tempted to traverse left to some anchor bolts in the forest.
p9: 5.10+. Very fun and well-protected face-climbing with a distinct crux at the last bolt. You're rewarded for your efforts with a hand-jam, then some cool laybacking followed by a 5.9 section of solid jams. Exciting face traverse right to an exposed anchor on the arete. Excellent climbing.
p10: 5.10-. Holy shit, this pitch came out of nowhere. What a pitch! We forgot our #4 which made this pitch exciting. Hands to fists to wider (layback) in a beautiful broken splitter with some bolts to protect the wider sections. Aesthetic and wild.
p11: 5.10. The undercling traverse. Very fun, mostly straight-forward. Climbing gets harder and the building pump gives the crux move it's grade. Well-bolted.
p12: 5.10+. The chimney. This felt like the hardest pitch on the entire route, though admittedly my chimney technique could use work. Reminiscent of the final Angel's Crest chimney but much more strenuous and insecure. Jul 21, 2019
Woodinville, WA
P4 is definitely the crux, individual moves are manageable but it's more sustained @ 5.10 than any other pitch. That said, P9 and P11 had harder individual moves and both felt 5.10+ to me. P12 (the chimney) is certainly not the hardest pitch by any stretch of the imagination. It's an old-school 5.9 well-protected with modern bolts :) Maybe a 5.10- by Squamish standards but no harder. Physical, sure, but pretty straight forward as far as chimneys go. Sep 2, 2022
La Chucha, Matanzas, CU
Pitch 1&2 - Link
Pitch 3
Pitch 4,5, & 6 Triple Link!
7,8 - Link
9,10 - Link
11, 12 Link Sep 30, 2022
Bellingham, WA
Side note: i think the 5.9 chimney is the hardest pitch on the route Aug 9, 2023
Oakland, CA
As a small/shortish person with small fingers, I thought 10d is a fair grade for the rattly fingers (p3) as well as the face crux and traverse pitches high up. That traverse packs a punch at the the of the day! The whole route is in the shade well into mid-afternoon in August.
Fun route with great climbing and minimal dirt interludes! Get on it! Aug 13, 2023
San Francisco, CA