Help

West Face

  • Grade context: US
  • Ascents: 20

Seasonality

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D

Routes

Add route(s) Add topo Reorder Bulk edit Convert grades
Grade Route

A thin finger crack along an arête leads up to the first bolt. Continue up the arête for a couple of moves before climbing the face to the bolted top anchor. Pro: a couple of small pieces for the crack at the start.

FFA: Aidan McGuire & Jerry Klatt, 2001

  1. 5.10b (50 ft) Sustained liebacking and underclinging up a fragile flake.

  2. 5.7 R (150 ft) Runout knobby face climbing. Seldom climbed.

Pro to 1.5".

FFA: Richard Harrison & Jay Smith, 1977

Variation of 'Hyperspace'.

Start to the right of 'Hyperspace'. Climb up the left-facing ramp to the top of the pedestal, and clip the first bolt. Steep face moves to the second bolt are followed by a right-facing corner to the top. Pro to 2", including micro-nuts.

FFA: Joel Moore & T. Phillips, 1977

Start up the 5.6 chimney along the left side of the Lobe to meet the top of the 'Podium' chimney. From here, a line of four bolts leads up and left. Powerful protected moves past the bolts are followed with a 40 ft of easy (5.6), runout climbing to the top anchor. Walk off, or descend with a 60m rope by rappelling to the anchors for 'Hyperspace'.

FFA: Jay Smith & Karl McConachie, 1986

Start up the crack shared with the start of 'Only the Young Die Brave', then traverse up and left along bolts. Difficult face climbing past large knobs takes you to the 2-bolt top anchor shared with 'Only the Young Die Brave'. Pro: a 1" cam for the crack at the start.

FFA: Paul Crawford & Dan Osman

Climb up the bolted arête with a crux above the 2nd bolt. 2-bolt top anchor shared with 'The Man Who Fell to Earth'. Pro to 4".

FFA: Dave Kennedy, Will Chen & Mark Robinson, 1989

Fingers-to-fists crack leads to a wide chimney that leads up the right side of the Lobe, to the left of 'Pony Express'. Descend by rappelling from the tree.

Start just left of 'Pony Express'. Tenuous moves on thinner and thinner holds lead up the bolted face to a thin crack. Traverse right and finish with the last 30 ft of 'Pony Express' to the shared chain anchor. Often top-roped after climbing 'Pony Express'. Pro to 3".

FFA: Will Chen & Mark Robinson, 1989

  1. 90 ft (5.8) Perfect jamming and liebacking up the flake and left-facing dihedral to a 2-bolt anchor.

  2. 110 ft (5.9) Easy climbing to an offwidth crack over a bulge, followed by 3rd class slabs to the summit.

Many parties just do the excellent first pitch. Pro to 3.5".

FFA: Dick Long

FFA: Gene Drake & Jim Hicks, 1970

Thin edges on the bolted face lead up to a left-leaning 5.10d crack that is difficult to protect. Avoid fragile flakes. 2-bolt top anchor. Top-rope this route by climbing P1 of 'Pony Express' first. Pro to 1", including micro-nuts.

FA: Bill Todd, 1977

FFA: Tom Herbert & Paul Crawford, 1987

From the top of P1 of 'Pony Express', continue left up the line of bolts. Rappel back to the top of 'Pony Express' to descend.

FFA: Joel Moore

Ascends the face right of 'West Chimney'.

  1. 70 ft? (5.11a) Exit the 'West Chimney' to the right after 40 ft of climbing, looking for the first bolt overhead. Continue up, crossing 'Pan Dulce' and pulling over a bulge and headwall to the bolted anchor. 5 bolts.

  2. 50 ft? (5.11b) Continue up the slab to the knobby headwall. Follow the arête to the bolted top anchor. Can be led a in a single pitch or top-roped with a 70m rope. Pro: 1 or 2 cams.

FFA: Aidan McGuire, 2011

  1. (5.5) Climb up the obvious chimney. At the top of the pitch, traverse left to avoid the roof.

  2. (5.8) Dirty face climbing to the summit.

FFA: Warren Harding & John Ohrenschall, 1953

  1. (5.8) Start up 'West Chimney' for the first 80 ft, then exit the chimney and traverse to the right to the base of a left-facing corner. Belay in the alcove.

  2. (5.10a) Climb the hand crack in the corner to a squeeze chimney and a liebacking finger crack followed by easy slabs to the top.

FFA: TM Herbert & Bruce Cooke, 1968

Pro to 2".

A thin crack leads up to two bolts before traversing left past a row of pitons to a 2-bolt top anchor above a ledge. Pro to 1".

Before it was freed, this was an aid route known as Scapegoat (5.8 A2). Top-rope this route by climbing 'Pan Dulce' first.

FFA: Chris Clifford

  1. (5.10b X) Stuff yourself deep into the chimney and slither up 50 ft to the scary unprotected offwidth crux. Look for the manky hidden piton, and follow the narrowing, protectable crack up to the belay ledge.

  2. (5.7 R) Follow the corner to easy runout face climbing to the South Notch. Finish with the last pitch of 'Harding's Chimney' and a walk-off descent.

Huge pro 5" to 12".

FFA: TM Herbert & Royal robbins, 1967

Start at the belay anchor atop P1 of 'Fat Merchant Crack'. Follow the left-leaning corner up to the roof, then traverse right to finish with P3 of 'Bolee Gold'.

A dangerously sharp edge at the beginning of the traverse out of the roof has resulted in a fatal accident. The sharp edge may or may not still be there, but the risk can be mitigated by placing additional protection for the follower directly after the crux.

FFA: Jim Orey, John Bowlin & Charley Jones, 1973

  1. (5.11) Follow a left-leaning crack to face climbing past bolts. Traverse right to the 2-bolt anchor. 4 bolts.

  2. (5.11a) Well-protected face climbing past the low crux eases with slab climbing to the 2-bolt anchor. 7 bolts.

  3. (5.10c R) Follows the cracks up, pull the bulge, and wander up the runout 5.10a face to the 2-bolt anchor. 2 bolts.

  4. (5.12a) Difficult climbing past bolts to a long left traverse to the 2-bolt top anchor. Double ropes recommend. 7 bolts.

Descend with 60m rope in 3 rappels past top anchors for 'Pan Dulce' and 'Grand Delusion'.

Pro to 3", including micro nuts and slings for knobs.

FFA: Ed Drummond & Mark Robinson, 1984

This horizontal line starts from the top of the first pitch of 'Bolee Gold' and traverses directly left past 2 pitons. Small pro to 1".

FFA: Aidan McGuire & John Robinson, 2001

Did you know?

Did you know that you can create an account to record, track and share your climbing ascents? Thousands of climbers are already doing this.

Selected Guidebooks more Hide

Author(s): Chris McNamara

Date: 2004

ISBN: 9780967239170

SuperTopo:
Focusing on top-rope, crags and multi-pitches in the 5.7 to 5.11 range, South Lake Tahoe Climbing is your guide to more than 250 of the best routes in the region.

Author(s): Kimbrough Moore, Shannon Joslin, Leo Popovic

Date: 2022

ISBN: 9798218007959

Edgewalker Entertainment:
A comprehensive guide to the greater Bay Area of California, Golden State Bouldering provides readers with info on the outdoor bouldering around San Francisco, Sacramento, Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz.
  • Describes 1,600 boulder problems with hundreds of color photos, maps, GPS coordinates and hand-drawn illustrations

Author(s): Toby Evans

Date: 2021

ISBN: 9781493045464

FalconGuides:
Hiking the State's 15 Peaks Over 14,000 Feet. Developed for every skill level, the FalconGuides Climbing California's Fourteeners lays out plans and logistics for making your climb a positive experience—no matter how many summits you've reached.
  • California's 15 peaks over 14,000 ft. are becoming more popular, and this book provides essential information for taking them on
  • Each mountain is broken down based on the technical skills needed so you know what to expect
  • Details for each climb include a list of recommended equipment, how to prepare for rapidly changing weather and trail conditions, and a general timeframe needed to summit

Accommodations nearby more Hide

Share this

Mon 1 May
Check out what is happening in West Face.

Get a detailed insight with a timeline showing

  • Ticks by climbers like you
  • Discussions of the community
  • Updates to the index by our users
  • and many more things.

Login to see the timeline!

Deutsch English Español Français Italiano 한국어 Português 中文