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Byran
climber
Merced, CA
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Jul 11, 2012 - 09:26pm PT
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Good news about the bolt replacement. Now I can go back up there (in the fall) to do the Center Route.
Slab Happy Left is stellar, just as good as Moratorium. Silent Freeway is also a must-do, though probably one of the more sandbagged 5.10's in the Valley. The Dihardral is a bit more dirty and the climbing is less enjoyable, but it's still worth doing.
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Jul 12, 2012 - 11:18am PT
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Ho man, what a great TR, one that makes me want some of that. Thanks for the mojo Alexey!
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Byran
climber
Yosemite Valley, CA
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Nov 25, 2012 - 10:39pm PT
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Bumping this excellent TR to add that I made it back up there this weekend to climb the Center Route. I think the Left Side is still my favorite just because I prefer steep burly cracks over techy face climbing, but really the Center Route is probably just as good. The first pitch is maybe the best 5.10 face climbing pitch that I've done in the Valley. It's an unlikely line up a relatively steep and glassy face. There's several cruxes and the climbing is always interesting with lots of sidepulls, pinches, slopers, and mantles, not just smear..smear..smear like you get at the GPA or something.
I was also impressed with how masterfully bolted it is. I wouldn't add any and I would take any away, and each bolt is drilled right where it ought to be. The result is that any time you're pulling a 5.10 crux you've got a bolt right next to you, but the 5.8/5.9 stuff is sufficiently runout that the whole thing feels "sustained". Getting to the first one is especially thought-provoking and I spent a good 10 minutes floundering about, trying to figure out how to get up there without killing myself. Then I unlocked the correct sequence with the correct hand and foot holds and it turned out to be way easier and more secure than I could have imagined.
The second pitch is pretty cool too. An easy traverse leads to a bolt and then the feet run out but you still have good edges for your fingers. The 5.9 offwidth after that isn't quite the push-over I thought it would be, especially since my biggest piece was a #4. It was also pretty damn hot on the route since this week has been unusually warm for late November. I had a week off before Thanksgiving and we went climbing in Red Rocks, so this was a great "welcome back to Yosemite" sort of route to remind us that nothing's ever easy in the Valley.
We also collected a fair bit of trash around the base. I'm not sure if this all floats down from the East Ledges descent or what, but here's just some the crap we picked up. The only "booty" we found was a DMM Wallnut.
Thanks again to the ASCA for reviving this gem from "death route" status. I definitely wouldn't have ever gone up there while it was sporting those 1/4"ers.
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