PRINT: Rock Climb Northeast Face East, Tahquitz & Suicide Rocks

Northeast Face East

5.7, Trad, 800 ft (242 m), 5 pitches,

Avg: 2.3 from 26 votes
FA: Chuck and Ellen Wilts, ca. 1954
California > Tahquitz & Suic… > Tahquitz Rock > (b) N Face

Description

P1: Climb flakes left of a right-facing dihedral until you're in a left-facing dihedral.

P2: climb up into a right-facing dihedral with a wide crack (a #4 is helpful). Belay at a ledge with a small tree.

P3: leave the ledge and follow a thin crack in a very nice right facing dihedral past two fixed pitons. When under a small roof, make an exciting traverse straight right 15' (5.6) to gain a crack system and then up to a belay spot.

P4: climb up into a right-facing dihedral.(There is a fixed pin ~3' left of the line, just before a smooth crux.) Continue up over a couple of bushes. Belay at a fixed pin in the corner.

P5: continue up steep chunky blocks and trend rightward as desired to gain a rock-filled chute with a tree at its base.

P6: follow the 4th class chute to the topp.

FA Chuck and Ellen Wilts, ca. 1954 (not Wilson/Robbins as stated in the Vogel-Gaines guidebook).

Location

Next crack system right of the large roof, right of El Grandote.

Protection

Pro to 3", #4 C4 helpful.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Start of NE Face - East Variation<br>
The route starts on flakes to the left of the dihedral. Then up into the left-facing corner.

Start of NE Face - East Variation The route starts on flakes to the left of the dihedral. Then up into the left-facing corner.

Climbing topo of Northeast Face East at Tahquitz. The most recent version of this topo is always at https://bitbucket.org/ben-crowell/tahquitz

Coming up P2.

P4 which is shared with NE Face West Variation

Topping out on P6

Pitch 3 at the traverse looking down at thin crack

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

hjaved Javed
Foothill Ranch, CA

Did the route in May 2014. Sustained route. 5.6-5.7. The guidebook wasn't helpful so we went off track. Fun route! Jul 17, 2014

Donno

I climbed this two days ago and found P3 to be stellar. Try to ignore the "Partners in Crime" bolts placed too close to this line and imagine how it was for Robbins in '54, first time up.
I was able to follow the topo from Vogel's '85 guide :-).
See route description under "updates". Jul 6, 2015

Billy Shin
Inglewood, ca

There are some orphan pitons on p3 or p4. Just use your best judgement and don't follow the pitons to a blind corner thinking it's the route.

You will end up on a 40ft runout on slab, definitely above 5.7 grade.

I think I pooped my pants. Jul 30, 2015

Jo Nathan
San Diego, CA

5.8-

Challenging route-finding here, especially in the dark. A few notes: P2 climbs a wide crack as listed, not a broken up flakey crack thing - a wide one. Don't go left to a R-facing dihedral. P2 ends on a no-shit, car-size ledge with a small 4in diameter tree AND a two bolt anchor. P1/2 cannot be linked together with a 70m. Should you desire to link P3/4, one MUST extend/direct one's traverse gear away from a couple perfectly rope-width-sized flake that will grab your rope and never let go. Head these lessons and you won't return to your car at 1:29am. Aug 8, 2016

Ben Crowell
Fullerton

5.6

I've posted a topo. Please let me know if you see anything that looks inaccurate. Vogel shows a right-hand variation of P5, detouring around the overhangs, which I haven't tried, but I've heard it's harder. For pitch 6 there is a 5.3 variation leading up and to the left, which gets you into the north gully a little more directly than the 4th class line to the right. A fun route in a less popular area where you don't have to climb in a conga line on a Saturday. A possible negative is that there's a certain sameness to a lot of the climbing on pitches 2, 3, and 4. Jul 4, 2017

Anni A
Joshua Tree

I didn’t feel this to be sustained. Pitches 1 & 2 are easy, 5.4-5.5. Then- boom, you have a tough 5.7 thin crack & traverse for P3 & a couple 5.7 moves on P4. Seemed choose your own adventure to the top. An ok climb. Aug 15, 2020

Ben Crowell
Fullerton

5.6

There seems to be a mistake in the Vogel-Gaines guidebook as to the FA. The 1974 edition of the Chuck Wilts guidebook says that the FA of the west variation was September 1954, D. Wilson and R. Robbins, while the FA of the east variation is by Chuck and Ellen Wilts (no date given). The Vogel-Gaines book seems to have gotten these swapped around. I assume Wilts knew what he himself did as an FA. I submitted an edit to the description on this MP page. Aug 26, 2023