Type: Trad, 450 ft (136 m), 5 pitches
FA: unknown
Page Views: 2,208 total · 20/month
Shared By: Marta Reece on Apr 20, 2015
Admins: Jason Halladay, Mike Hoskins, Anna Brown

You & This Route


13 Opinions
Your To-Do List: Add To-Do ·
Your Star Rating:
Rating Rating Rating Rating Rating      Clear Rating
Your Difficulty Rating:
-none- Change
Your Ticks:Add New Tick
-none-
Use onX Backcountry to explore the terrain in 3D, view recent satellite imagery, and more. Now available in onX Backcountry Mobile apps! For more information see this post.

Description Suggest change

Queen's Gambit is located between King Me and Green Thumb. It follows line C on the old Checkerboard topo. The top pitch is said to be the original Circus Finish, but this name has since been applied to another route. It is basically a slab climb with a featured chimney for a topout.

Pitch 1 is shared with King Me. To get to it, scramble up the gully above the end of trail (left of Cross-trainer). Rocky gully is followed by slab on the left and then short section of vegetated gully to a ledge/groove on the left. Pitch 1 goes up past a horizontal crack and up the slab with three bolts to a two bolt anchor. (Protection for this pitch is basically two quick draws.)

Pitch 2: Start up the shallow, heavily featured corner (same as King Me for the first 10 feet), but continue up and left part a bolt, up on the featured right side of a roof. Climbing continues past another bolt, then mostly along the right side of the column for most of the pitch. Three more bolts protect this section, which ends at an easy traverse to the left close to the the level of the trees on the left. You can build a gear anchor or use the rap anchor at top of Green Thumb to belay from.

Pitch 3: (and Pitch 4) stay on the same section of rock delineated by two deep chimneys/gullies. Pitch 3 heads right to a more featured terrain but gradually shifts left again and ends at a two-bolt anchor.

Pitch 4: go directly up from the bolts along thin crack. Terrain will soon become much easier. Head for the alcove left of the large green bush/tree.

Pitch 5: The crux. Top out by climbing the chimney, past some chocks. Exit left below the roof onto a narrow but comfortable ledge. Take this left to a nice layback flake. Follow that up to easy ground hanging generally somewhat left and up the slab to a belay among the boulders.

Chimney-free alternative for Pitch 5: start up the wide zig-zag crack on the left to an arete. Step onto the boulders left of the chimney and follow the tops of them to where they reach the chimney about half way up to the roof (above any squeezy parts). Continue up to the roof and left as before.

Location Suggest change

Where the trail to the Checkerboard reaches a slab go up and continue left up the groove/gully leading to King me.

Use Cross-trainer as a rap line. To reach it, go down to the right along the ridge line of Checkerboard looking of a good size bush close to the edge.

Protection Suggest change

Trad climb with two bolted anchors - top of Pitch 1 (shared with King Me) and Pitch 3. Additional bolts on Pitch 2 make the climbing less dangerous but still fairly heady.

Photos

loading