HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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On Saturday I got back to this fine route which I had last climbed sometime in the 70's
We were three with two ropes and of course it took us a while. If you were the team of two behind us sorry to hold you up and thanks for waiting.
P1: not much to say here. Straightforward crack climbing. You can make up your own mind how far you want to scramble before you set the first belay. At least with a 60m rope.
P2: My lead.
This was curious. It's rated 5.7R. Runout is relative. It's not particularly runout by Tuolumne standards. However the 5.7 seemed harder. I remember leading it Way Back in PA's (think rubber tired roller skates and before cams) and not getting particularly tweaked. This time I really paused midway up where the face gets very smooth for 5.7.
Beta trick: when you can't get your fingers in the crack any more, stop trying!
Just walk up, very carefully! Talking afterwards with two climbers who are both better and more experienced than I am, we come to a 5.8 consensus for P2. They both said it feels much slicker now than Back In The Day.
Take several thin stoppers.
P3: Yes, the bolts are far apart but the climbing is easy. Even the last steep bit before the belay needn't tweak you. Just look carefully, think a bit out of the box and you'll find good holds.
P4: An airy, easy to climb and protect right facing crack. Enjoy!
Take midsize cams for the top anchor.
2 good newish bolts at top of P1, P2 and P3.
You can avoid the scary "normal" descent down the west side slabs by hiking up above the giant corner and then walking down to the west to easy wooded terraces, then turn south around the west base of Stately Pleasure.
Also a good way to go if caught out in rain.
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russellg
Sport climber
Malibu, CA
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Great route. Aesthetic as it gets and the route offers a great journey in the sense that you get to experience several different types of climbing. A competent party could get by with a basic rack. Very well protected crux. Heady third pitch with first bolt about 30 feet from anchors.
Protect last diagonal pitch to protect a swinging fall from the follower.
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RIP Canon
Sport climber
Westfield, Ma.
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I was up West Country on Thursday Aug. 21 and dropped a camera. The camera is a lost cause, however I did see the data card pop out and land safely on a rock.
If anyone came across it I'd love to get it back (the pictures that were on it). It's a very small card (blue) and not of much value, and you're welcome to keep it if you found it. Please just email me the pictures. cliff413@yahoo.com
If you were up WC on Friday the 22nd, I have a load of images I took with the other (big) camera. There was a team of 3 that I shot (2 gents and a gal).
Thanks
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NotIt
Trad climber
SF, CA
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Has anyone climbed a 'direct' variation of the 4th pitch?
Instead of trending up and right to the crack as in the topo, I headed straight up the slab, staying directly above the 3rd pitch anchor. One meets a bolt (old buttonhead) about 35 feet off the belay. After the bolt you meet up with the 5.7 coming up from climber's left indicated in the Falcon guide where things ease up.
I'd put the 35 foot stretch to the bolt at 5.9(R) but wonder if there is an established consensus on grade.
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Duke-
Trad climber
SF, aka: Dirkastan
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Did this route aug 20ish, Fantastico!! Denis took pitch one, and then I lead the hermaphrodite flake to the left, so awesome! We both loved it, flake takes one number 4 to lead. Denis lead pitch 3, traversing over to the standard line. What a great slab climb. I then lead the 5.5 pitch to summit. You won't be able to whip the smile from your face. Down climb down a fun slab and enjoy the day. (Denis later jumped on Death crack, an overhanging offwidth 11d crack, crazy!)
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spyork
Trad climber
Tunneling out of prison
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I really enjoyed this climb. I took the 1st and third pitches, and my partner got the other two. The 4th pitch was just a beautiful lieback, I want to go back and lead that one.
The hangers on the anchor bolts for the first belay are gone, dont know why.
The 3rd pitch was runout, but it dont really bother me. My partner said he got wierded out when seconding, looking back down. The 3rd hanger on the third pitch disappears into the lichen. I couldn't see it until I was level with it, then I had to traverse 6 feet over. The cam placements near the end of the pitch felt bomber to me.
Near the end of our climbing, we watched a storm building. I started to get very nervous, and tried to hustle us down the slabs. By the time we got down and were at my car, a huge downpour erupted, with some lightning *AND* hail. There were probably 4-6 climbers on the dome. Rivers formed in a manner of a minute and torrents were gushing down.
I was very scared for the people stuck up there, but I think they all got down OK.
Steve
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dmalloy
Trad climber
eastside
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I've climbed this thing a few times, so I'll add some specific beta I have found....more than anyone really needs to know, skip it if you like.
The crux of pitch one protects very well - you can get in a .6" cam and a smallish nut in places that are about waist-high while making the crux move. Didn't feel like 5.7 to me - really good feet and hands. Fun move to an awesome splitter
Pitch 2 protects very well with med-small nuts - I have found cams to be more trouble to place in the semi-flary crack. I tried mightily to place a 3 and 3.5 camalot in the spot where indicated after the crux (from stance that feels pretty tenuous for the grade) and have had no luck; however, there is a small crack that has a perfect spot for a small nut (#3 Wallnut). Leading this pitch gets the blood pumping for sure, but it is a great one.
On pitch three, the .3" cam indicated near the top seemed like a pretty lousy placement - perhaps with a different brand of cam it would seem stronger. The crack above takes cams from about .5" to 1", with a nice bomber one to protect the funny traverse move.
Carrying large pro up to protect Pitch 4 for a novice felt like a total waste to me. Maybe a 3" and a 2" piece, but nothing larger and no doubles; I thought there was ample smaller pro, maybe not every 2 feet but frequent enough to protect my friend on his first multi-pitch climb (and still working on his comfort with exposure).
Just my .02....super enjoyable one way or the other.
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smitty
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Ca
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This route was a blast. The first pitch up 4th class terrain has one fun 5.7 move up into a hand crack. I suggest just stuffing your feet in the crack and walking up it. You'll see. The second pitch was sai to be a "rude awakening" it was indeed for me coming off the couch. Just be ready for sloping shallow lieback moves with very small feet to the right. Small cams and nuts. The rest is cake. The third pitch feels like snake dike with clean open faces and fairly large runouts. Have fun!
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Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
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Great route! Climbed 23 August 04.
Couple of comments on the super topo:
Two bolt anchor at the end of pitch 2 seems a bit closer to the end of the right facing crack than the topo would indicate.
Pitch 3, where the topo says "no pro": after the third bolt then the 5.7 face, there's a shallow stance with a right facing flaring short corner crack that takes a #3 camalot (and narrows to accept smaller cams). This peters out, couple of face moves, and a small right facing pod takes a .5 or .75 camalot right between the traverse to the bolted anchor and/or the final arching 5.6 crack. Have pictures of my second following this pitch if someone wants to dial the topo, but, the topo works as the options are limited to climbing up to the anchor anyhow.
P4: Near the end of the pitch, opted out of the crack and clipped the only bolt I could see above the crack (near the end of the crack). Climbed up and noticed the empty side-by-side holes where the bolted anchor used to be (complete with rawl/powerbolt sleeves still in the holes). Weather was poor (overcast and threatening) and we gave thought to rappelling by taking an extra rope with us. But, no fixed anchor, oh well. Walkoff/downclimb wasn't that bad (nice description in the Supertopo book!). Could have easily rapp'ed from gear in the crack too, to the bolted anchor in the middle of the face.
Also, the final pitch didn't seem that traversy to me (such that an extra set or two of crack pro was needed to protect my second). YMMV.
Fun!
Brian in SLC
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FTB
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Nor Cal and Ed,
The bolts have been on this route for some time. Nor Cal is not losing his mind. However, nobody understood why someone would slam in four bolts to add such a short variation. Little birdies have told me that they were chopped at the end of last week. The crack continues up right and there is a nice natural belay.
Like Eric told Ed's friends, stay the line and climb the crack. If there is a mess up there, I'm sure someone will clean it up.
Later
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Nor Cal
Trad climber
San Mateo
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Ed, perhaps the bolts are from a seperate line.
As one finishes off the 4th pitch, as it gets a bit steeper and the feet get poorer (sill easy though) there was two bolts that go straight up to a two bolt anchor. The holes are still there with the metal casings still in them and one of the bolts was smashed and bent back up. I've always finished the route this way (not knowing better) and I've done the route at least 6 times.
Thanks for the input.
-Rob
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Hi NorCal, I did this a couple of weeks ago with Gary, found the route exactly as I expected. However, I didn't notice the two bolts that you were talking about either... they were on another route which sort of comes up from Hermaphrodite Flake (which I used to confuse with Eunch). There has been some "reengineering" going on on that line so I'm not sure of the status of any of those bolts. The fourth pitch of West Country has no bolts, traditionally you run the crack out diagonaling right until you're belayer is screaming at you that there is no rope left, then plunk in some gear on a bomber stance and bring them that scream up...
A couple years ago Eric and I were waiting on the top for Steve and Gary, it was a beautiful opening day with the ice melting of Lake Tenya, bright sun and crisp spring air. Well, Eric snuck down to take a peak at where the boys were and happened to spot Steve, who was leading the fourth pitch, eyeing the bolt as he crossed that mystery line. Eric scared the crap out of Steve surprising him with the warning: "Don't you even think about clipping that bolt, it's not on your line!"...
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Nor Cal
Trad climber
San Mateo
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I climbed this route on Saturday 5/22/04. I've climbed it several time before, but not for the last two years. At the top of the 4th pitch there used to be two bolts leading to a bolted anchor. I found that one of the lead bolts was missing and the other looks like it was smashed (but useable). The two bolt belay that I was expecting was no longer there, I found the empty bolt holes.
I have not seen the Supertopo for this route and dont know if those bolts are included. The Reid guide does not show the bolts.
I did this climb from memory and had expected the bolts.
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Laddie
Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV
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If rapping down the route, watch your ropes above Hermaphrodite Flake so they don't get stuck. We had to climb back up to get them out of the flake.
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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
DONATE NOW
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Roscoe
Trad climber
San Diego
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Inez and I did this on 8/15. We were going to do Hermaphrodite Flake to the Boltway, but there were two parties ahead of us. Inez was able to get pro in the lieback wherevever she needed it, mostly small cams, and there were two fixed nuts near the end. The bolts on the next pitch are all bomber. I traversed right to the belay at the end of the face pitch above Hermaphrodite, and brought Inez up. We finished on the Boltway, a well protected face pitch with a touch of 5.10 where you have to step in some polish. Nice combination.
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WC
Trad climber
Flagstaff, AZ
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The layback on pitch two isn't that bad if you are well armed with some small cams and a little courage. I didn't have much of either, tried to crack climb it, and made it into one of the more difficult 5.7 pitches of my climbing career.
Overall a very fun route with pretty amazing views the entire way.
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alramadan
Trad climber
Mill Valley, CA
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We did this climb last week and its a great route.
The second pitch is the crux and as the guide says, the 5.7 rating is probably right but you need to be comfortable with a lay back up a corner. I ran out of smaller cams
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Vladimir
Advanced climber
Mill Valley, CA
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pitch 3, the sloppy ledge marked "no pro", actually has a shallow pocket that takes .00 alien, the pro not everyone brings on 5.6 climb.
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A great combination of crack and face climbing.Photo: Greg Barnes
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*What is "Route Beta"?
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