Ascents in The Chief

The crux is low, but the climbing is a pleasure right to the top. Nice and long.

Got stuck behind a slow party teaching themselves to multipitch and place gear... painfully slow.

Great solo... 22 minutes to the top past 2 parties.

Upper pitches were wet that day. We topped out in the dark, and I nearly almost decided to hang it up after the full splits on mercy me.

2nd go. Inspired by Anna. She also taught me to place offset RPs. Miss climbing with you

P1. (5.7) Scramble and pull a few trees - and the occasional crack - till you reach lower baseline ledge, belay off a tree.

P2. St Vitus Direct (10a) layback, gets some seepage even after a few days of dry weather. Requires some smaller cams or nuts.

P3. (5.9) Will feel like the crux if you aren't used to wider jamming. A long crack leads to a good ledge for belay. Saving a #3 for the anchor is essential. 3 x #3 was useful. Two to create the anchor at the top of pitch three and one during the next lead. Some pictures suggest there's a bolt at pitch 3 anchor, there isn't, all anchors are gear.

P4. (5.9) Climb an obvious traverse, across the crack systems. Awkward bulge into a nice ramp and gear belay.

P5. (5.9) This is considered the crux pitch. It's exposed but easily passed in a few short moves into slabbier ground.

With a 70m you can link Pitch 5 & 6 with a with just enough rope to reach the tree-line. Anything less, sling the tree above P5. and split the pitches.

Absolutely ran up this with Fraser! Super fun climbing!

Fun climbing but the super run out slabs aren't my fav

Started raining half way up and holy heck this 8 pitch unprotected friction slab was completely fucked

Did the last four pitches to get to the top after the grand wall!

Had to aid through the fist roof move, super fun climb!

Really cool way to get to the top of the cheif, we finished up high plains drifter for the last two pitches.

Onsight simul with Sam into the Grand Wall. He led and I raced behind him.

Successful onsight simul (for me, Sam had done it before) with Sam. We left the carpark at 5pm and were back down just after 9. Probably about 3 hours on the route including Apron Strings. Sam led the whole way and I haphazardly followed trying to remember how to climb on granite. We simuled through Apron Strings to the top of the split pillar in one pitch , pitched out the 5.11s, and then simuled to the top. Not a bad afternoon after trying Tainted Love in the morning. Shenanigans.