Space Cowboy

This climb is a bronco ride of adventure on very high-quality rock. It shares part of the first pitch of Astroglide, then requires a down climb and up climb to reach the P1 belay. From there wrangle your own adventure upward following cracks, slab or chimney to meet your desired level of spiciness. The finish can either be a low 5th class romp or a steep crack. 

Pitch 0  Starting at the beginning of Astroglide, gain the vegetated ledge. This mini-pitch can be soloed, but a fall would be bad. Build an anchor at the end of the ledge where you would angle upward for Astroglide. This is where the P1 belayed down climb begins. 

Pitch 1 (25 meters; 5.7)  Traverse and down climb the flake until reaching a point where you can climb up an easy crack to the top of a column. Build the belay here. This pitch requires creative protection and rope management to assure that the follower is protected on the down climb while also making rope drag manageable. 

Pitch 1 Direct Start (55 meters, 5.10b/c)  The direct start goes straight up the waterfall on slick, but pocketed rock. A few hard bouldery moves get you through the roof. Continue up the obvious crack system straight up to the top of the column where you can belay.

Pitch 2 (50 meters; 5.8)  Choose your fun. Head up through a variety of hand cracks or wider cracks. If you have enough gear and if rope drag is not too bad, continue all the way to the base of the chimney and build the anchor there. 

Pitch 3 (50 meters; 5.6)  Avoid the chimney by going left around a roof. Once around the corner, the grade lessens but the fun continues. Go up as far as you want and build an anchor. Note: as you first start left to avoid the chimney, there is a huge block which does not appear to be attached to the mountain. Avoid stepping on it!

Pitch 3 “Worm hole” alternative (40 m, 5.8+)   Grunt and thrash your way up the mostly unprotectable chimney. Near the bottom of the chimney, there is a placement of a 0.2 cam which might hold a fall. After that there is no protection except for the loose chock stone at the top. Exit the chimney to the right and gain the nice crack. Follow the crack up and slightly left to easier terrain and belay at tree.

Pitch 3 slab alternative (40 m, 5.8+)  From below the chimney, step right onto slab. A few hard moves get you past a small headwall, then go past one bolt and continue up a good crack. Stay left and belay at tree. 

Pitch 4 (50 meters, easy 5th)   Continue straight up on easy ground, finally climbing up a last boulder section to the summit. If you don't want to go all the way to the top, stop at a dead tree. You can see the Astroglide anchors and scramble down to them from here. 

Pitch 4 alternate (5.9)   About halfway up the easy last pitch, see the steep crack angling sharply to the left. Climb this crack, protecting with gear up to #4. A #5 wouldn’t hurt, but it is not necessary. Turn the corner and go to the top on easier terrain. Top out by the giant Ponderosa.

Descent: Find the Astroglide rappel which is down to the climber’s right (skier’s left). Use caution when descending to the rappel anchor. The rock is slick, and a slip would have serious consequences. There are opportunities to plug cams in to assist with the down climb. Three double 60m rappels to the ground. Rappel stations are obvious. Put knots in the end of the ropes for the first rappel. 

ALTERNATIVELY, there is another set of rappel anchors to the southwest. From the summit, scramble down some boulders to the west and eventually find a place where you can safely scramble down to a two bolt anchor southwest of summit. Two double rope (60 m) rappels reach the ground. Both rappels are long, so tie knots in the ends of the rope. If you rappel this way, you will have to do a little bushwhacking to get back to your packs.

A few notes:

Ian Harris, Erik Lehnhoff and Forrest Wilcox climbed the direct start and the rest of the route on October 30, 2021. Forrest Wilcox and Erik Lehnhoff added the easier traverse start, the chimney pitch, and the harder crack finish on November 7, 2021. Erik Lehnhoff, Forrest Wilcox and Drew Chojnowski climbed the slab right of the chimney on April 24, 2022.

Same start as Astroglide, but eventually climbs the crack system to Astroglide’s left.