PRINT: Rock Climb Prune Face, Yosemite National Park

Prune Face

5.10a, Trad, 110 ft (33 m),

Avg: 2 from 5 votes
FA: Mike Caldwell and Eric Craig, April 19, 1973
California > Yosemite NP > Yosemite Valley > Valley N Side > E Yosemite Fall… > Sunnyside Bench

Access Issue: Latest updates on closures, permits, and regulations. Details

Please visit nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/… for the latest information on visiting Yosemite, including permits, regulations, and closure information.

Yosemite National Park has yearly closures for Peregrine Falcon Protection March 1- July 15. Always check the NPS website at nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/… for the most current details and park alerts, and to learn more about the peregrine falcon, and how closures help it survive. This page also shares closures and warnings due to current fires, smoke, etc.

Description

Face to crack climb, located just a short ways downhill and to the left of the popular Jamcrack area. Better protected than Raisin, but not nearly as high quality. Sort of dirty and would improve a bit with more traffic, so if it's a clusterfuck on the routes to the right, consider hopping on this one.

The climb begins on the highly featured face to the left of a small (and very dirty) corner. The first bolt was added after the first ascent and is still a 1/4"er (the ASCA doesn't replace retro bolts). The rest of the bolts are bomber.

The climbing is only 5.8 or so getting to the second bolt. Then trend to the left past a couple more bolts and then back right after the 4th bolt to gain a crack system. The start of the crack is steeper and this is the crux. Your pro here unfortunately takes up what would be a useful jam. Then after a few feet the angle lessens and it's easy climbing to the anchor.

Can set up a toprope with a 70m, not sure if a 60m makes it.

Protection

3 or 4 bolts (depending on if the retrobolt gets chopped), light rack to 2" (I only used a #1 and #2 Camalots), 2 bolt anchor/rap.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Thomas Kofron
San Luis Obispo, CA

There is a quick link on the 4th bolt. Past the 4th bolt the climb traverses right on some good feet with poor hands to a solid jug. Figuring out how to get your feet on the jug to stand up to hopefully place gear seemed much harder than 10a to me, keep in mind you are 10-12ft away from that last bolt. Would be awesome if it had 1 more bolt at the jug before trying the unprotectable crux. Enjoy :) Jun 26, 2023

Eric Craig
Santa Cruz

5.7+

I am standing here right now looking at the route, trying to reconcile the differences between the description here and the climb led by Mike Caldwell on April 19, 1973. I was his belayer, and followed the pitch. We both climbed it wearing Robbins Boots. There's a short 2nd pitch too. I gotta admit it looks like the climbing could be challenging, but Mike rated it 5.7. And I was a relative beginner, very unlikely to have been successful if it was 5.10.
On all of my ascents the route was started by climbing the "dirty" right facing corner mentioned in the description. It used to be fairly clean!

I repeated the route as a leader several times in the later 70's and 80's and remember feeling it was similar in difficulty, type of moves, and "spice" to Jump For Joy, in it's original form, not as currently described here on MP.

I actually only see one protection bolt on it, pretty certain it is in the location of the only bolt Mike placed (on the lead). I see a 2 bolt belay station which is well short of where the first pitch ended on the FA. Oct 21, 2024