Against the Grain

New best route on Charlotte Dome for anyone who can climb 5.11 or harder. There is not a single piece of choss to be seen. The highlight of this route is a vertical headwall with four pitches of vicious crimping, similar in character to routes found at Shuteye Ridge, not the High Sierra.

You can rap the route with two 60M ropes (see topo) if you don't want to carry your shoes/extra gear up.

P1 - presents the first crux - a huge roof. Getting to the lip is a little tricky but getting over is trickier. One can knee bar to get established in a hand jam. Save BD#2 for the lip of the roof. Once over the roof, climb about 25 feet before traversing left, to a bolted belay, in the proximity of an obvious dike. 45M 5.11B

P2 - climb straight towards the first bolt. After this bolt, go hard left and climb up into a roof which is easy to protect, and to pull over once you find a hidden jug. Take the crack left of the roof and continue towards the second and the third bolt. The gear on this pitch can seem problematic, but there is always enough gear to place to keep this pitch safe. Small to medium cams and nuts. 55M 5.10C

P3 - climb up, changing cracks, usually trending left when the crack you are following closes off, or becomes too flared. Easy, but fun. Close to 60M 5.8

P4 - Climb past three bolts, to a little overhang, pull over it, trend slightly up and left in order to keep the pitch from becoming very runout. 55M 5.10a

P5-7: This is what you are here for. Epic crimping on a vertical headwall. Depending on how you read moves, you may end up finding some of these individual pitches harder, or easier, but all of them are somewhere between 5.11a and c. All these are completely bolt protected, so pack your cams away. Brind 13 draws for all these. 

P8: Short, cruxy and very well protected. Hard move off the belay and then the crux comes in when you have to move left on some little features before hitting jugs. Move back right to another bolted belay. One can move right directly at the level of the last bolt (a bit harder) or stand up into a slabby traverse above the bolt (more exciting). 10M 5.11c 

P9: Move over the obvious overhang (crux) and continue up and left up easy terrain for about 30 ft, till you see a bolt on the wall above. Above the bolt, try to find some chicken heads to sling, or run it out for about 45 feet on easier climbing. 45M 5.10a

P10: Up the left facing corner, to two bolts, to some gear if you go straight after the last bolt. The bolted belay is further to the left and belongs to Beast and Beauty route. 45M 5.9

If anyone feels like adding a bolt or two to P 9 or 10, feel free, I don't mind. 

The route starts up a low-angle, right-leaning hand crack (4th class), which leads towards the largest roof on the SE face. Make a gear belay near Neutron Dance (bolted dike), or wherever you may feel like roping up, and get ready to romp up one of the more fun and technically sustained climbs in high mountains.