Gear
My recommended gear…
- Doubles #0.4-4, single #5
- Crack gloves
- 60m rope (just enough to reach new rappels)
People’s opinions…
- SuperTopo: Doubles 0.4-4, single #5
- MP: Standard to #4 or #5, long runners
- Dasherton: Used a #4 and #5
- dydayley: I had two 4’s and a five and was glad to have all of them. although the 5 is not required to climb the route I was glad to have it on the corner pitch and was able to place it easily on 2 other pitches to unload it. Needless to say it was not dead weight and I was glad to have it with me.
- Nick Drake: I brought two 4s and one 5, never placed the second 4.
- Jeremy: Next time bring perhaps another #4
- Bob J: Two 4s and two 3s useful
- Lauren L: Brought 2x #3, 2x #4, #5.
Season
- Start times: Typically mid-June, sometimes mid-May, sometimes can be snow on ledges making route wet.
Route
Pitch 1
Climb the crack/corner to the ledge. Runout start. Part of it is a chimney that doesn’t have much in terms of protection, but this section is short and fairly easy. Can link with P2.
Start of P1 
Start of P1 
Pitch 2
From the left edge of the ledge, continue up and left through some more trees and up a corner to another belay ledge.
End of P2
Pitch 3 – 5.8
Continue up a left-leading flake/wide crack (remember the big gear!!!) to another belay ledge with many slings wrapped around the tip of a small pillar. You don’t want to skip this belay because you will want to have all your big gear for the next pitch.
(Gear tips: #4 and #5)
Start of P3 
More zig-zagging flakes 
End of P3
Pitch 4 – 5.9+
Continue up the “surprisingly secure offwidth” pitch. It seems like the best way to do this pitch is to smear up the face and stick your right arm in the crack for balance. Continue up to another sloping ledge below a roof.
“5.9 almost the whole way. Lots of hand jams if you are patient with it. Some fists required with very minimal offwidth climbing. The crack is burly, sustained, and a bit awkward.”
(Gear tips: Bump up a #4, protects well with 2-4 sized cams, and if you have a 5 you’ll be able to place that as well. build a pretty bomber belay with .75-1 and .2-.4 sized pieces in the shallow groove up and right of the wide corner.)
Start of P4 
Pitch 5
Traverse leftwards around the roof on slab (watch rope drag!) and continue up the crack system as the angle eases and you reach the summit.
Start of P5 
Looking back 
Near the top
Descent
West Face Rappel (Recommended more recently)
If you scramble up to the top of low angle terrain of the west face you’ll find the upper anchor (and be able to summit for a nicer view), or…
There is a very nice rappel route adjacent to the West Face route. From the top, locate the hand crack that marks the last pitch of West Face. The rappel station is about 15-20 feet skier’s left of this crack. It is a little bit exposed getting to the anchor, but it’s not bad. From there, four very clean rappels down the face brings you to a gravelly ledge. There is a cairn skier’s left on this ledge with a little dirt path that leads around a corner. There is a final rappel station around this corner that avoids a very sketchy, sandy downclimb.
Supertopo: From the summit descend west, passing one notch on your left until you see Section Notch on your left with a tree at the top. There are rappel bolts on the wall that are nearly hidden until you’re directly in front of them. Make three single rope rappels (one 60m required) off of bolts until you reach a loose, sandy gully. The second rappel barely makes it with one 60m rope, so use caution. After completing the third rappel into a sandy gully (snow in early season), descend the gully 150 feet until it cliffs out. Make a spectacular rappel off two bolts over the house-sized chockstone that you likely didn’t even realize you were standing on. Scramble down another short, loose sandy section and either make one last short rappel to the ground or down climb a 30-foot section of 5.0.