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Velvet Elvis

5.8, Trad, 375 ft (114 m), 4 pitches, Grade II,  Avg: 3 from 81 votes
FA: Trevor Nelligan, Leland Windham May 10th, 2024
Washington > Central-W Casca… > N Bend & Vicinity > Exit 34; Middle… > Golden Hour Wall

Description

A fun, well protected, and varied trad multi-pitch that shares the first pitch of Solar Storm. The rock quality is stellar and the final pitch is for sure contending for top moderate crack pitch in the Snoqualmie Valley. Most of the climbing is quite moderate but joyful with a few crux-y sections, especially on the final pitch.

  • Pitch 1 (5.7) climbs Solar Storm as normal, but aims to join the left line of weakness at the top. It works fine to belay from either of the Solar Storm anchors or to link it directly into the anchors far left on the ledge. 13 bolts, but an be useful to have more in order to traverse left along the ledge in one go.
  • Pitch 2 (5.4) climbs up the crack to a moderate 4 bolt protected sequence that can sometimes be a bit seep-y
  • Pitch 3 (5.7) continue up the crack until coming upon a single bolt protected slab going right. Continue up past some rappel anchors to a ramp that ends in belay anchors.
  • Pitch 4 (5.8) the money pitch. Climb straight up the incredible crack and quartz dike features to a beautiful view of the middle fork valley.

Generally linking pitches 2 and 3 works well, as long as you are comfortable at the grade and extend your pieces.

(Grades listed are relative to typical Exit area grading)

  • To Rappel:

All the rappel anchors have chains on them. From the top, make 4 rappels trending right after the first. Use a 70m rope (could be possible with a 60m, but haven't tried it. You need a 70m for Solar Storm regardless, so its strongly recommended).

Location

Start as for Solar Slab and branch off left.

Protection

A single rack from .1 to 2 and nuts does the trick. Bring a 70m rope

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Leland and I on the FA
[Hide Photo] Leland and I on the FA
Rough outline of the climb from the base. White dots are the belay locations (I linked pitches 2 and 3). There are two other anchors we passed going up the 1st pitch of Solar Storm not shown here
[Hide Photo] Rough outline of the climb from the base. White dots are the belay locations (I linked pitches 2 and 3). There are two other anchors we passed going up the 1st pitch of Solar Storm not shown here
Last bit of climbing before the anchor on the last pitch. (Ignore my gloves they are not necessary for this route!)
[Hide Photo] Last bit of climbing before the anchor on the last pitch. (Ignore my gloves they are not necessary for this route!)
The King himself
[Hide Photo] The King himself
Some of the cool features on pitch 4
[Hide Photo] Some of the cool features on pitch 4
Leland looking out from the top of pitch 4
[Hide Photo] Leland looking out from the top of pitch 4
Looking up at pitches 3 and 4
[Hide Photo] Looking up at pitches 3 and 4
Views from the top
[Hide Photo] Views from the top
Leland arriving at the base of pitch 4
[Hide Photo] Leland arriving at the base of pitch 4
Last part of pitch 2
[Hide Photo] Last part of pitch 2

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Jeffrey P
Seattle, WA
  5.9-
[Hide Comment] Cool 4th pitch! Amazing views. We linked pitch 2 and 3 with a single rack and extensions and the rope drag wasn't bad at all. Pitch 2 and 3 are a little dirty but should clean up Jun 19, 2024
Sage Bedell
Seattle, WA
  5.8+
[Hide Comment] We placed doubles of .3-.5, a single .75 - 2, and a number of nuts. I didn’t see any reason to bring anything smaller than a .3. Jun 20, 2024
Fahad Chowdhury
  5.8+
[Hide Comment] About 1.2 miles on the trail using a gps watch and you’ll get to the log in the pic that crosses the trail and where you turn right. Skip bolts on first pitch 5.5. Yes, the small traverse is the 2nd pitch low fifth. 3rd pitch no pro needed but you can place, slight run out if using bolts but very slabby 5.5. 4th is great fun, crux is 5.8+ one move with bolt to protect, follow white blotch crack. Hard to place gear on that crack because you can’t see into it. Rap is easy on 70. Will get to the end of rope so please tie off. Recommend belaying from pitch 2 to 1 when going down to be fast and avoid setting up rap on small traverse. Thanks for putting up the route. Good for practice and eager new leader because 4th pitch is good. Jun 22, 2024
Caleb Perkins
Boulder, CO
  5.8
[Hide Comment] Super fun, come for the pitch 4 crack then go up the bolted slab romps that are a fun bonus to the money pitch crack. We did all 7 pitches between the 3 routes for a nice fun morning before the sun baked us off. Jul 13, 2024
Jeremy Becker
Seattle, WA
 
[Hide Comment] Really fun and sticky new routes here - thanks for the scrubbing! Jul 15, 2024
Patrick Eschbach
Seattle
  5.7+
[Hide Comment] Fun last pitch. Bolts where you want them throughout. 2nd/3rd pitch cracks seemed to flare some in the back at points. Jul 15, 2024
Andrew Tangsombatvisit
Seattle, WA
 
[Hide Comment] Such a fun climb on a hot day. It gets full sun, so head out early or come when the weather is cooler. Excellent scrub job, thanks to the developer for putting it up. I like quick climbs with good views. I think the bolts were well placed as well. Wished it was a little longer. Jul 22, 2024
Zach Burgess
Seattle, WA
[Hide Comment] Nice climb, reminded me of Squamish.
Brought up a #2 but didn't end up using it. Bring multiple small cams (black Totem, #00 and #0 Metolius Ultralight Mastercam, or similar) for P4. Aug 15, 2024
Steven R
Snoqualmie, WA
  5.8+
[Hide Comment] A great route! Thanks for making it so clean!

Some gear beta:
Need more than 13 draws to protect the traverse, or skip a bolt on P1.
Placed a single orange totem (bd #2) on P4, nothing larger. Mostly used black totems, .3, .4, .5, .75 and a couple 1s, did get a couple dmm offset nuts in as well. Aug 29, 2024