Type: Sport, 600 ft (182 m), 7 pitches
FA: John Knight, Kelly Farris, Dan Erat
Page Views: 12,737 total · 179/month
Shared By: John Knight on Jan 31, 2019
Admins: Greg Opland, Brian Boyd, JJ Schlick, Kemper Brightman, Luke Bertelsen

You & This Route


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Motorboating Route Info. - updated 3/24 Suggest change

Pitch 1 - The Agave Pitch. 5.9- or 5.7A0. 7 (?) bolts. About 140' long. Start on the right side of the drainage (look for bolt 1), then work your way left across the Agave covered shelf. Be careful not to get spiked! Better yet, take one home with you and make some tequila out of it. This pitch has a 5.9-ish crux that can be overcome by clipping a bolt and pulling through it. Think of it as good mixed free/aid practice.  The top out move requires a high reach and high step up and left to smear with your left foot. It's well protected so just try the move and you'll be fine if you fall. This pitch formerly had a TR anchor for the Beached Whale pitch in the middle. That anchor is now a single bolt (so just cruise right past it). 

Beached Whale (Shamu) Direct Variation. 5.10b. 5 (?) bolts. 140'. Follow the obvious direct line left of the Agave Pitch. First bolt is a bit high but it’s fairly easy terrain to get to it. Work your way up steepening rock to a nice crack/pocket and then a big ledge. Do a mantle move or just do the “beached whale” and flop onto the ledge. Cruise up easy terrain to the anchors.

Pitch 2 - The Money Pitch. 5.6/5.7. 6 bolts. About 70'. This pitch is my favorite. Start on the right and work your way up and left. You can bring your 2nd up to the P2 anchor or cruise straight up to the base of P3. There are bolted anchors (but no chains) at the base of P3. 
Pitch 3 - Walk the Ledge. 5.9/5.9-  More bolts! This pitch goes straight up via blocky steps to a big ledge (Ledge 1). Traverse left, step up to a 2nd smaller ledge, then look up for the bolt that will protect you as you go over the roof to the anchors. Go straight up and over when you see the roof bolt. Do a high step or mantle up to the anchors. Bring a long slings to improve the rope drag through the lower ledge traverse. I thought the crux was at the 2nd clip. 
The Bypass Pitch Variation. 5.8. 6 bolts. Walk way around the right to a separate line that will skip the difficulties on the 5.9 variation. About 70'. There is some really loose stuff a few feet to the right and left of the bolt line. Avoid the urge to veer off route into the "rough" (but easy looking) rock and you should be fine. Stay under the bolt line and pull through the 5.8-ish move at the top if it gets too hairy for you. At the top, head left back to the main route.

Pitch 4 - Getting Close Pitch. 5.5/5.6. 4 bolts. From the top of P3, just cruise past the intermediate rap anchors and head up to the anchor on top of the big ledge. From here, you can easily walk back down (or rap) or continue all the way up.

Pitch 5 - Getting Real Close Pitch! Maybe 5.5/5.6. 4 bolts. To get to the first bolt, you'll have to pick up your rope, head south (climbers left) and then work you way up the 3rd Class slabs to find bolt 1. After you bring up your partner, pick the rope up again and head up to the base of the next steep section. The start is quite a ways to the left so keep searching.

Pitch 6 -  The "Summit" Pitch 5.7/5.8. 6 boltsNot really the summit of the Submarine, but gets you up to the base of the "fin" feature at the top (often called the "Conning Tower"). About 20’ above easy ground. There are a couple variations that can be top roped.

Top Out - if you want to finish at the top of the Submarine, you'll need a 5.10 trad leader. There are actually three 5.10ish routes on the fin. Unfortunately, if you want to do any of these top out pitches you'll need to drag a full trad rack up the entire route.  
Descent - To get down, rap the route to the top of P1, then walk off. Or you can downclimb from the last pitch on the north side (5.1-ish) and then scramble your way back to the north side of the entire formation. If you are at the top of P6, you might want to rap that pitch then walk down. If you decide to rap the entire route, be conscious of other parties coming up. There are lots of loose rocks that can be knocked off by the rope or an errant foot.

Nearby Options - Be sure to check out the routes in Octopus's Garden. There are routes from 5.easy, like Sea Monkey (5.6), to 5.10, like Water Dog. These can be accessed by heading south (climbers left) from top of Pitch 1 until you get into the "cirque".
 thanks!

john

Location Suggest change

To access base of route, find the "Steamboat Tank" (shown on most maps) and take the small trail to the right of the so called Tank. The Tank is really just a small pond (that may or may not have water in it). Get to the base of the first pitch by working your way up the drainage. Or stay right to follow the small trail that leads to the top of Pitch 3. To get to the top of Pitch 5, 6, or 7; head up the Submarine access trail on the far right side of the rock. A couple of 3rd class moves will get you to the top of Pitches 5 or 6. To get to the top of Pitch 7 you'll need to make a 4th/Low 5th Class move to get to the base of the "fin" portion of the Submarine.

Protection Suggest change

Bolts. Bring 6 or 7 quick draws and a couple longer slings to supplement your quick draws.

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