Chris McNamara
SuperTopo staff member
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The American Safe Climbing Assn. may have replaced anchor bolts on this climb. To find out visit the ASCA Replacement Page
The ASCA is a non-profit organization dedicated to replacing unsafe anchors. To learn about helping the ASCA click here
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Greg Barnes
climber
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We (finally) replaced the protection bolt yesterday (9/23/02). The 3rd pitch anchor had already been replaced, but we switched out a Leeper hanger for a stainless one. All bolts (3 total) now fine. American Wet Dike has very rusty old bolts.
Greg
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Mike Martyr
climber
SunnySlope, California
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I climbed this on 8/19/03. Fun, challenging climbing with great belay ledges. There is at least one tough move on every pitch so climb with a strong partner or lead them all.
The very last pitch, after the last 10a pitch, is very runout and the holds are "crunchy". Maybe we were off route but I didn't see any other way with out climbing down and to the left. I climbed right up a dike (40'),with some pro, to a horizontal, then up and a little left (30'), with no pro.
A #4 friend would get used but isn't manditory, just nice.
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vlani
Trad climber
mountain view, ca
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.Did the rout on August 30th.
For the parking: the good option is to park at the large lot just past the lake. The best option would be the dirt pullout right under the wall, left side of the road going east. This spot used by people bouldering there.
The 4th 10aR pitch is no so R if you have Lowe Balls. I was able to get bomber placement in solid rock next to that expanding flake, and from there you good to go to the finger crack.
The last 5.7 pitch is a bit slick and runout. I've tried to follow Supertopo way to do it, and from the above it looked like if after going along the crack half way up I would go left to the ledge to get right above the belayer, I would have easier land with large knobs.
Decent is easy but not obvious. We ended up bushwalking far left (facing the slope) gradually loosing height, along ancient junipers, almost to the lake traverse, before we were able to turn back towards the route and get easy slabs
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Sir Run-it-out
Trad climber
mountain view, ca
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I've always done the descent on the slabs off to the east - they're pretty straight forward. You basically just weave your way down to the base of the slabs, and end up either doing a short rap, or a bit of a down scramble in a 4th class chute that puts you 50 ft. east of the start of the route. If bits are wet,
as they were last week, it's possible to go far east along the rim to the obvious bulge, then traverse back west on easy slab/ledges.
Except for the traverse, I didn't find that P4 was run out, and the crack can be adequately protected with nuts. The last pitch doesn't offer huge amounts in the way of pro, but a) that's par for the course in Tuolumne, and b) it's 5.easy. Just go right for a bit off the belay, following the crack system, then straight up to the tree.
Beware if using the '92 edition of the Reid guide: the picture on page 33 incorrectly identifies this climb as #12. In reality it's #8. This mistake cost us about an hour of non-trivial soloing around the base with packs on. Probably the crux of the route!
This climb would be stout for a fledgling 5.10 leader. Each pitch has something to make you think, and none of the first 4 pitches are give aways. After P1, your options to retreat without leaving gear are dubious.
Thanks for replacing the manker on P4 Greg! I remember doing it in August of 2002 when the old one was still there protecting the "crux", and being very dubious of its ability to hold a fall.
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gremlin
Trad climber
CO
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Even with the traverses, it would be pretty easy to bail from anywhere on the route, there's bolts at the top of pitch 3, top of pitch 2 is a monster ledge with blocks to sling, and the top of pitch 1 has fixed slings around a rock. I was able to rap with a single 60m rope from the top of pitch 1 after checking to see if the locking carabiner i left up there a couple weeks ago was still there, and i think a 60 would reach no problem on pitches 2,3 too.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
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To the left of this climb is a series of slab climbs starting off a ledge. A friend and I did "Faux Pas" on Sunday because "Pippin" is still running with a good bit of water.
On Faux Pas, the bolts are old rusty and some spinners 5/16". To avoid hanging at the bolt belays it is easy to place pro just before the first bolted belay and climb thru the second bolted belay and set pro at the very small pine/bush. We had a 60m rope.
A quality line to be sure, typical 5.9 Tuolumne face climbing with just enough to keep you moving forward without freaking out for the competent 5.9 leader. On the last pitch, there are two black streaks from the ledge. We took the one on the right without having taken the book up with us to show it going left. It wasn't hard, but not much pro. Bring small aliens and maybe some small wires if you need it.
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curt wohlgemuth
Social climber
Bay Area, California
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Did this route on Saturday.
Thanks _much_ to Supertopo for recommending this in the new guidebook; I'd seen it in the past Reid/Falkenstein guides, but it never made my tick list. We did it with a party of 3, partly because of the correctly advertised _awesome_ belay ledges!
A couple of comments on the guidebook description:
1. p4 is not anywhere near as scary/difficult as advertised. We were all worried, given the description, but it was a piece of cake. Fun, maybe 5.9, and nowhere near as runout as we were led to believe. If you can make it up p2 and p3, p4 will be easy.
2. p3 is _stout_. Be ready for physical climbing. The "10b" corner switch was much easier for all 3 of us than the "10a" fist/hand above. That was burly.
Thanks again for the recommendation!
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outdooreric
Trad climber
Mammoth
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The second pitch felt like the hardest, a bit awkward with painful, shallow fingerlocks. A #3 ballnut will protect the fifth pitch 6 feet above the bolt without placing anything behind the flexing flake, and making the pitch not runout. The final pitch IS runout, but trivial if you've gotten that far.
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Crowster
Trad climber
Some say the South
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ST suggests micro nuts. Are they really needed? If so, where? Could you get by with the smallest BD stoppers? They get pretty dang small. THanks guys.
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Sascha
climber
Oakland, CA
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The relative difficulty of the pitches is probably size dependent. With skinny little fingers, the lieback on p2 seemed like no big deal at all! By contrast, the crux move on p3 is reachy, and the most trouble I had on the whole route was the awkward 5.9 into the wide crack on p1. So, if you're small, volunteer to lead the even-numbered pitches!
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pvalchev
Social climber
Truckee, CA
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We didn't use anything smaller than a blue TCU to protect the cruxes, no runouts, just a very nice climb close to the road. The ballnutz probably help for pitch 4 if you have them, otherwise the flake (taking bigger gear) does seem weak and could break, but the bolt is still there 2 feet lower and the move isn't as hard as what's in the previous pitches so don't stress about it too much.
Walkoff traversing down and skier's right was pleasant, keep your rock shoes on - 3rd/4th class and one small downclimb that is perhaps easy 5th as the book says, but it's secure.
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razmonster
climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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I climbed this on 9/29/10 and found it very enjoyable. Huge ledges were a big plus and short cruxes kept the pump to a minimum. The crux on P1 was super short...one move...although it was awkward. You almost have to mantle off of a left-hand jam to bring the feet up.
The second pitch has tight fingers. I could only sink the tips of my pinki and ring finger through the crux. It was the hardest pitch for me...but easily protected and short.
The third pitch wasn't any harder than the second one in terms of technique. It looked a little steeper and was a little longer...and again...well protected.
I found the 4th pitch a breeze...not 'run-out' at all...that comes on the slab (5th).
One thing we did notice is that the route takes gear from small to large the whole way...even on the first pitch. My buddy took up just a couple of big cams and had to run out the top 5.8 section on P1. By the way, it looks like you can start the first pitch on the left or right crack...I recommnend the left side...more direct and better gear placements.
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pvalchev
Social climber
Truckee, CA
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Note: the descent is wet early season, beware! The 5.4 downclimb was running with water as of yesterday making it very sketchy (it's a breeze when dry, I didn't even remember it from last time). More water after that on the ledges as well, but the 5.4 downclimb is the only one that's an issue. Personally I probably won't do this route again early season unless my memory fades... 2 hours on the climb, and felt like as long to do the descent... a bolted rappel anchor on that downclimb would be so awesome but I imagine it won't fly? No cracks nearby to even leave nuts/fixed anchor on...
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The impressive face of Mountaineer's Dome as seen from the base.Photo: Chris McNamara
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