SW Face (aka The 51st)

P1 (5.11, 100’) Launch Pad

About 20’ right of the juniper that sits at the base, leave the Launch Pad via a fingers and tight hands fissure that leads to a ledge and the main corner. There is one bolt 2/3 of the way up this pitch. Great stance.

P2 (5.11, 100’) Corner De Dijon

Fire up the grill and get your dogs ready as you ascend the vertical to overhanging Corner De Dijon. The mustard is good! Great stance.

P3 (5.11-, 115’) Steppin’ Out

Take a breath as you are steppin’ into the air to reach the crack in the shallow corner up and left of the belay. Follow this corner until it widens to OW and look for a bolt and jugs out right on the arete. Trend up the airy arete that is protected by horizontal cracks and bolts until you find yourself steppin’ out again at a triangular roof. Continue up and belay at a comfortable stance. 5 bolts. Great stance.

P4 (5.11+, 160’) Captain Hook

Steep and techy face climbing leads to steep and techy corner climbing. This mind-blowing pitch is hard off the belay. Place a finger-sized offset cam (0.3/0.4) to keep you off the anchor before reaching the first bolt. Follow the corner to the large roof above, traverse right under the roof to gain the final crack systems that lead to a large ledge on the right. 7 bolts. Great stance.

P5 (5.10+, 150’) Hang Ten+

Move the belay about 30’ to the right and build a ground anchor with 0.4/0.5 BD sizes. Pass 2 lead bolts as you follow the shallow left-leaning corner for ~50’ before traversing right at the 3rd lead bolt that leads to the dark patinaed face splitter above. Hang ten as you surf out into the splitter and belay on the ledge above! 3 bolts. Great stance.

Note: the midway anchor about 30’ up and right is needed to rap this pitch with a single 70m rope.

P6 (5.9, 100’) Phive Phun

No need to phish for gear on this pitch of phive phun! Follow the left angling, groovy corner to a ledge below Alligator Alley. Look to your right to locate the belay station atop this pillar-like feature. Great stance.

P7 (5.9+, 130’) Alligator Alley

Move down and left to the base of a right facing corner with thin gear that leads to a roof. Climb out the roof and ignore the rap anchor on your left above the roof. Move back right on bullet-proof allegator patina to the chocolate corner. Continue sneakin’ Sally through the alley as you’re tryin’ to get away clean. Belay atop a large ledge at the white band of rock above. Great stance.

P8 (5.6, 40’) Home Sweet Home

Step n’ stem left across a chasm with chockstones. A bolted belay awaits on the far-right side of the Bachelor Pad Bivy ledge. Relax and enjoy being home sweet home with a cup of your preferred wall wine.

P9 (5.11-, 130’) Pilar De Fumar

Creative, three-dimensional climbing passes 3 bolts and a mid-way rap anchor. Continue to the top of the pillar. Breathe in some freshness on the Pilar De Fumar before diving in to the Alcoveid. Great stance.

P10 (5.9, 60’) Alcovid

Blocky climbing leads into an alcoveid. Nice stance.

P11 (5.11+, 110’) Protein Drink

Ingest some protein as you get ready burn up a lucky streak on this salty highway. Follow the OW directly above the belay until you reach the stem-box roof. Wildly airy movement leads to a bolt and the anchor out left just past the arete. Full spectrum. 1 bolt. What are the chances…a nice stance!

P12 (5.11+, 110’) Blown Away

Lean into the wind as the exposure blows you away on this pitch’s journey through several roofs and bulges. Belay at a sloping stance below the Bombay chimney.

P13 (5.11-, 110’) Bombay Cumbre!

Tasty fingers lead to the Bombay Potatoes and girthy overhang above. The otherworldly summitscape awaits! To keep your rope from getting sucked into the main crack, place gear in the thin crack to the right of the Bombay. The Bombay leads to an overhang and the cumbre on great sandstone! To date, there is a fixed handline that leads from the top of this pitch to the summit. Use the handline with caution. Belay the 20’ scramble to the top and belay it back down.

Descent:

Rap the route with a single 70m rope. Rap beta is given from top to bottom for a single 70.

Pitches 13-10: rap at all belay stations.

Pitch 9 (Pilar De Fumar): Rap from the belay station atop the pillar until you reach a mid-way rap anchor 2/3 of the way down. Rap from this mid-way anchor back to the Bachelor Pad.

From the far-right side of the Bachelor Pad, skip the belay station atop Pitch 7 (Alligator Alley). Stop at the mid-way anchor on a sloping ledge below the Pitch 8 chasm. Rap and scramble over to the top of the Phive Phun pillar-like feature.

Pitch 6 (Phive Phun): rap the pitch

Pitch 5 (Hang Ten+): Rap to the midway anchor directly below then make a short rap down and left across the ledge that leads to the top of Pitch 4 (Captain Hook).

Pitch 4 (Captain Hook): CAUTION!! This rap is a full 35m and leads to a station that is directly below and off of the main route. Knot the ends of your rope and rap straight down looking for bolts above a small ledge on the left side of the corner system you are rapping down. The original route took this line. From this off-route rap station, angle down and steeply left to the top of Pitch 3.

Pitch 3 to the base: Rap each belay station atop Pitch 3, 2, and 1.

This route begins about 200 yards climber’s left of Tatooine. If you are stashing kit or bivying near the base of Tatooine, please hang your food from the bolt at this bivy. The ringtail that lives nearby is not afraid of people and will get into your pack. To find the start, look for a large right-facing corner system. There is a small juniper below and slightly left of where the corner system reaches the ground. About 20ft right of the juniper is a finger and thin hand crack that leads to a large ledge. Above this ledge, you will see a bolt to the right of a flake that sits in the corner ~70ft above the ground. You can see the Pitch 1 anchor ~100ft up. The first 4 pitches follow this airy corner and arete system before traversing right under a large roof that hovers ~450ft above the route’s base. All belays are bolted and offer great stances. Atop Pitch 8, the Bachelor Pad Bivy awaits with room to sleep 3-4 people. The 51st is painted with quality rock from bottom to top, untamed exposure, diverse styles of climbing, great belay stances, and a top notch bivy. Like the rest of the desert, DON’T CLIMB IT IF IT RAINED RECENTLY!

BD sizes:

2x 0.1, 0.2, red C3, #2 to #4

3x 0.3 to #1, #5

A few small to finger size OS cams are helpful (see P4 description)

Nuts: single set of small to medium offsets