Hero Ridge

Think of this one as a step up from Zeb's Arete. It has good mountaineering and scrambling, mixed with a couple moderate pitches with options.

This is a ridge running up out of the bottomless pit and connecting to the Hero Traverse. At this point, you can bail here to the right or continue up for another few pitches. I imagine someone has done parts of this route before in the past. I first climbed this line with Joe Kalis but hung on the tombstone pitch to clean some dirt and grass out, but I returned with Jay Karst to get the send and added the few pitches at the top for a great topout and fuller day.

P1. Take your pick of splitters, and go up. There's a really nice 5.9 hand and fist crack on the left that is sure to please. You'll reach a good belay ledge after about 30 meters. On the left, you’ll find an enjoyable 5.6 corner system with good quality stone.

P2-3- 5.5ish. I like to break this section up into 30m pitches due to the blocky, ledgy nature.

P4. 5.7 or 5.10a? The Tombstone Pitch. This is the sweet 0.75-2" crack splitting a 25m panel. Belay at a big ledge up top. You can also sneak up the left side for an easier day.

P5. 5.3, 35m. Go to the Hero Traverse.

From here, you can bail to the car or continue up for a few more pitches.

P6-7. Choose your adventure up lower angle cracks and short, cruxy blocks to the top of the Sunshine Wall (the big golden wall to the right of the Corinthian that catches great sun all day).

P8. 5.6, 60m. Sunshine Cracks. Take the low angle splitter to the top. This pitch is a lot of fun and protects way better than it looks. It has great face holds and hidden crack jams. This is a stellar way to finish the day, and it has cool position above the chasm to your left.

If someone has an original name for this feature/route, just let me know. I’m not trying to steal anyone's glory.

This is a ridge running up out of the bottomless pit and connecting to the Hero Traverse. At this point, you can bail here to the right or continue up for another few pitches.

To get there, park at the Mile 18 Sheep sign, and gain the Hero Traverse to the East. Follow that to the Corinthian Column, and hang a left down toward the Bottomless Pit. Hug skier's left, and look for a short buttress at the base of this ridge that has a half dozen splitter options for pitch one. If you get down to the Ivory Curtain or Big Buttress, then you went way too far. This should take about 45 minutes to approach if you know where you're going.

Medium to large stoppers, cams 0.1-4", and doubles in hands are nice.