Mindy

Welcome to the most impressive splitter OW in the High Sierra! This lightening bolt offwidth splitter will challenge your hardest OW skillz and make you pull out tricks deep in the suffering bag. Your reward: gorgeous pitches of 5.10 hand cracks in corners and classic Sierra ridge traversing in a beautiful setting. You can bag Lamarck too, easily, once you are finished with the route! NICE. All natural gear, no anchors, just clean and beautiful alpine trad climbing here. 

P1. Start in the crack system in the very center of the wall named "Lamorck" underneath the splitter lightening bolt face. The climb starts great with hand cracks through roof buldges. Not easy ones either to start the day. Climb through the buldges to slightly easier terrain. Belay at the base of the face where a splitter begins to form to your left (hands, fingers up high). This pitch can and was linked to the next on the FA for a mega pitch, but I would break it up if you want to ease some suffering. 35 meters. Build an anchor. 5.10c

P2. OW Sierra testpiece, Vedawoo rated. (hint: HARD, but you got this). Begin on the face on the left through awesome splitter fingers and tight hands up to the lightening bolt OW crack. Shove any and all body parts into this unbelievable fissure. Heal toe, knee bar, arm bar, stacks, whatever you can do. Super clean fall if you whip, but you won't. You can do it. I have climbed lots of crazy splitters in the Creek, in Vedawoo, the Valley... but this truly is an exceptional pitch that any OW officianado must do. Climb left out of the splitter crack through a pumpy bulge and unto a platform under a small roof. make an anchor, belay. 30 meters. 5.11 (fingers, hands, #4, #5, #6 at least one each.)

P3. The approach pitch to yet more amazing cracks. This can easily be linked with pitch 4. Climb through techy roofs and slightly uninteresting, yet pumpy terrain to a small, flat belay ledge under a SLAMMER tight hands corner. fingers, hands, build an anchor. 25 meters. 5.10

P4. The CORNER PITCH. A great corner pitch if you like corners, and pitches, and pitches in corners. Tight hands, start to exit right after the corner (for this variation, we went right before the OW chimney roof that makes you exit the corner left. For left and subsequent splitter cracks at the top of the formation, see aid variation).Build an anchor right, 25 meters 5.10. (tight hands)

P5. Climb straight right over some blocks to a corner system that takes you to the top. Very alpine feeling. Belay at the top ridgeline. 25 meters, 5.9. 

Put on your approach shoes and follow the fun, beginner series ridge traverse to Lamorck summit. From here, descend toward Lamarck Col and meet the Lamarck Col trail in the basin. Take this Past Lamurk summit, (who's summit block looks like a lurking frog) to the Col. Now you are in Kings Canyon NP. Go right up some awesome, not so beginners ridge traversing to the summit of Lamarck. Walk off the easy way toward the Col and home. A great Sierra day. total of 10 hours car to car if you are taking your time. 

TO GET TO THE WALL: 

Lamorck is a subpeak of Lamarck just above Upper Lamarck Lake. Take the trail towards Lamarck Col. Once you get to Upper Lamarck Lake, abandon the Col trail and go to the foot of the lake. Cross the river and walk up a hill that becomes the shoulder high above Upper Lamarck Lake. Stay high on the shoulder because the lake cliffs out, aiming for the talus field below Lamorck wall. The wall is beautiful and crowns the lake, you can't miss it. You can see this previously unclimbed wall from highway 395. Walk towards the most obvious zigzag slitter crack you've ever seen on a right facing face. You have arrived! (About 2.5-3 hours hike, roughly 6 miles) Round trip mileage is roughly 13 if you include Lamarck summit. Lamurk summit block is still unclimbed, go get it! To get home, walk off Lamork or Lamarck to the Lamarck Col trail that follows a slightly different basin that the approach trail. Thus, don't leave stuff at the base. Climb with your gear and hike out a different way. You can reach your stuff at the base if you need to, but it can be a very scary snow descent in early season. So just hike with your day climbing stuff and do a loop. 

SPECIAL NOTES: There are NO BOLTED anchors on the route. Each belay is cozy and easy to build an anchor. Thus, there are no bailing or rap routes on this wall. 

In the very center of the wall on Lamorck subpeak. Look for handcracks in a small bulge-roof in a corner system leading to a crack. The very clean granite wall above Upper Lamark Lake on the shoulder of Lamarck that joins the Col. 

Standard alpine rack, #4, #5, #6 at least one each (bump them or bring more), 60 meter rope or 70 if combining pitches.