Routes in Sierra Nevada

An exceptionally popular easy route up the central buttress between the two arch features. For such a popular route the climbing isn't actually that great, with lots of rambly 4th class pitches to start, an unavoidable aid move, and some mungy bits as well. The climb is also quite linear, especially up high, so passing slower parties or climbing parallel to them isn't particularly easy.

1. 5.6 100ft Chimney. There are several variant starts, most of which are better than this pitch.

2. 5.4 200ft Walk right along ledge to short crack (5.4).

3. 4th 200ft Continue right along ledge.

4. 5.6 100ft Crack on face.

5. 3rd 200ft Continue right along ledge until it ends.

6. 5.6 or 5.7 100ft Up cracks (5.7), or the exposed corner further right (5.6) to dead pine tree (lots of belay options).

7. 5.6 150ft Up cracks and blocks (optional belay) then up sandy pin-scarred groove.

8. 5.6 100ft Sustained jamming to tree.

9. 5.6 100ft Easy offwidth trench to lovely cracks.

10. 5.4 100ft Blocks to A0 pendulum (goes free at 5.10c - slick water polished slab). Move left along ledge system to base of next corner.

11. 5.7 100ft Flake and tree, then step left around major arete.

12. 5.6 165ft 2 corners to belay at tree.

13. 5.5 100ft Angle up and left with tricky pro.

14. 4th 100ft Continue angling up and left on slab to rappel bolts. The rappel route starts here.

15. 5.4 150ft Exposed horizontal slabbing left to trees. Rim is 300ft above here.

Bolts replaced in 1992.

1. 100' (5.7) Up the finger crack making your way up to the obvious hand crack. Gear belay (pro 1"-1.5"). A large flake takes a nice sling but puts you in a semi hanging belay.

2. 80' (5.8) Follow the awesome hand crack up to the dual crack system, move to the righthand system to finish out.

Pro to 4". 60m rap. This can be done as one long pitch.

One of the best 5.9 routes in the Valley! This stunning route can be identified by the twin crack system of the second pitch just left of the bear bins. Amazing climbing. Most parties rap at the top of the 5th pitch using double ropes. A 70m rope will need to be extended to reach on the first rap (top of 5th pitch).

1. 130ft (5.7) Jam up the right-facing dihedral with insecure footholds on slick, polished rock. Belay at the tree.

2. 50ft (3rd class) Scramble up 3rd class to a large manzanita at the base of a wide crack.

3. 80ft (5.6) Wide crack climbing leads to face climbing. Continue up and right to belay at an alcove on a ledge.

4. 130ft (5.5) Easy slab climbing leads to a large ledge.

5. 80ft (5.6) Easy slab climbing on knobs leads to crux liebacking up a flake. Continue up to another large ledge and belay at the tree.

6. 90ft (5.6) Follow the crack up and right. Belay from cracks atop the buttress. A fun 5.8 alternate finish follows the thin flakes and broken cracks up left before traversing back right across the steepest rock directly below the summit.

Walk off descent with short 3rd and 4th class exposure. Retreat earlier by rappelling with 2 ropes or escaping left atop pitch 4.

Pro to 2".

On the tick list of most aspiring climbers, The Nose is a long, sustained and beautiful climb. An incredible line straight up an intimidating wall with many memorable pitches. The Nose can be done big wall style, or it can be done "Nose In a Day"(NIAD) style.

The climbing has a surprising amount of splitter cracks with many pitches of sustained hands/fists cracks. If you are aiding, it can be done with some mandatory 5.9 climbing and mandatory C2 sections. Much of the C2 on The Nose is actually quite soft for the grade due to the abundance of fixed gear and long pieces of tat which avoids some of the more difficult sections. Don't underestimate the difficulty of a summit however, you need to have many technical skills dialed, such as pendulums, hauling, lowerouts etc. in order to make it. You also need to move fast, most parties bail not because they don't have the ability to do a single pitch, but because they are moving to slow. Practice lots and move quick.

Speed Records

• 1975 : Jim Bridwell, John Long, Billy Westbay : 17:45
• 1984 : Duncan Critchley, Romain Vogler : 09:30 (approximate)↪
• 1986 : John Bachar, Peter Croft : 10:05 ↪
• 1990 : Hans Florine, Steve Schneider : 8:06
• 1990 : Peter Croft, Dave Schultz : 6:40
• 1991 : Hans Florine, Andres Puhvel : 6:01
• 1991 : Peter Croft, Dave Schultz : 4:48
• 1992 : Hans Florine, Peter Croft : 4:22
• 2001-10 : Dean Potter †, Timmy O'Neill : 3:59:35
• 2001-10 : Hans Florine, Jim Herson : 3:57:27
• 2001-11 : Dean Potter †, Timmy O'Neill : 3:24:20
• 2002-9-29 : Hans Florine, Yuji Hirayama : 2:48:55 ↪
• 2007-10-4 : Alexander Huber and Thomas Huber : 2:48:30 ↪
• 2007-10-8 : Alexander Huber and Thomas Huber : 2:45:45
• 2008-7-2 : Hans Florine, Yuji Hirayama : 2:43:33 ↪
• 2008-10-12 : Hans Florine, Yuji Hirayama : 2:37:05 ↪
• 2010-11-6 : Dean Potter †, Sean Leary : 2:36:45 ↪
• 2012-6-17 : Hans Florine, Alex Honnold : 2:23:46 ↪
• 2017-10-21 : Jim Reynolds, Brad Gobright : 2:19:44 ↪
• 2018-06-06 : Alex Honnold, Tommy Caldwell : 1:58:07 ↪

Located in the leftmost dihedral of the five open books area, this route begins with a 4th class scramble up to a bush. Then it's two or three pitches of varied climbing with corners, cracks, friction slab, and a bulge. Be careful of loose rock at the top, and consider belaying from the trees to the right instead of the left. Walk off left to descend with an optional single rope rappel.

Seemingly intimidating from afar, the Southeast Buttress of Cathedral Peak is a beautiful 5 pitch route filled with lovely moderate climbing.

A must do when in Tuolumne, Cathedral Peak can become quite crowded, fortunately the climbing offers many ways to navigate around other parties, at least down low (up high the face narrows, and parties tend to get bottlenecked).

About 12 single rope Rapels

Description is for climber facing the cliff

Locate the rap anchor a few meters to the left

Rap diagonally to the left towards a distinct triangular block, NOT steight down

The next anchor is to the left hand side

Rap towards the groove with the tree Do not pass the tree stop 3-4meters before.

Look left it's not super obvious but that's where the next Rap anchor is

Take care with the rope on this rap that it doesn't get caught on the trees 20m or so below. Flake it on yourself /harness.

From this point on the raps are straight forward down the face. Easy to locate, even with a headtorch if you are rappeling in the dark.

Apart from maybe rap 8 or 9 where the face becomes less slabby. The Rap is a little bit more to the left

Very good Route!

Heaps of chossy rock to look out for though

Made me feal a bit that I was climbing in the mountains...

We linked 3-4 easy

And 7-8 in a mega 70m long pitch

I would suggest not linking 1 with 2

The start of 2 can be a bit commiting, Nicer to have the belayer next to you, to stop you for decking

We aided the bolted pitch

Could have been fun to try climb it, but not fun if we wasted that time and got caught out in the dark for the last couple of pitches

Especially when you need to do 12Raps to get out Rumor has it to better Rap than do the walk off..

Starts from a tree up the same 3rd class ramp as Munginella, but after having traversed further across the ledge the ramp reaches. Or can be reached from right as well by descending, then re-ascending around the foot of the cliff.

4th class approach. Descend via 100' rappel. Pro to 1".

5.7 hand crack with V at top to ledge; move left a few feet then 5.9 fingers crack to second anchor.

For the descent take care, it might not be easy to locate it especially in the dark.

After topping out you follow a trail and a bunch of cairns down. Then you continue walking down on some slabs The rap station is as you walk down facing the valley to the right hand side (Skier's-right) A chain on a ledge with usually some fixed ropes, We did 6 raps (the last 2 were short)

Do NOT go left! Do NOT rap from the tat and old rings that are on a very dead looking tree.

After the raps follow a long but obvious trail through the trees and back on the road

Difficult fingers at the start leading to a sustained wide section. Beautiful climbing.

Pro to 4.5", 2 ea. 4".

An excellent alternate start to After Six with committing crack climbing and much less polish.

1. 120ft (5.8) Hand and finger crack climbing leads to face climbing at the crux. Belay near the large manzanita.

2. 140ft (5.7) A hand crack leads to low angle scrambling to gain the ledge.

Rappel with 2 ropes (a single 70m rope may or may not suffice), or join up with pitch 3 of After Six.

Pro to 2".

1. 60' (5.10b) Climb the pin-scarred right-leaning crack. Great clean aid practice.

2. Seldom climbed. Rivet and bolt ladder leads to tree with rap rings.

Belay from natural anchors.

Pro to 2".

When looking at the East Wall, this is the obvious, nearly straight up and down, bottom-to-top crack line. When you see it, you know it. Climb the crack. Keep climbing it.

Three pitches of scrambly crack climbing up a slightly positive (20 to 30 degree) slab. Just before reaching the top-out at the end of the third pitch, the crack seam disappears and the climber must make two or three intimidating traverse moves to better holds.

The route finishes on a very large ledge with bolts. There are now 5 rappel anchors (including the final belay station) that let you rap in a direct line to the bottom.

1. 5.6, 110+ft. Climb a left-facing 3rd then 4th-class corner up towards a downward-pointing dagger of rock. Pass this on the right side, pulling a small roof (5.6) then up and right to a small stance for the belay.

2. 5.6, 100ft. Climb the right-curving hand-crack up the slab until there is a stance for belay at a widening in the crack.

3. 5.6, 150ft. Continue up the right-leaning crack until it tapers out, then a few thin (for 5.6) slab moves up to a large ledge to finish.

1. 105 ft (5.10c)

2. 50 ft (5.11a)

A great first pitch, and easier, but still very pleasant pitches above.

1. 50m (5.7) Up the obvious crack (which is mostly easier than it looks) to belay on the obvious big ledge (keep some mid-size cams). Can be split into two (or even three) pitches.

2. 50m (5.6) Hardish move to gain face, clip bolt out right, then up as you will to a natural belay wherever you like.

3. 30m (4th class) Up as you will to the top.

In the center of East Wall is an obvious arch, rising up from the base of the cliff and curving rightwards. East Crack goes up the 2nd crack line right of the right-end of the arch.

1. 5.7, 160ft. Climb the crack, past a bulge and then upwards until a ledge/stance appears up and left of the crack. Belay. (small gear)

2. 5.8, 120ft. Step back right from the belay to the crack, and follow the left crack line upwards at the large flakes. Pull over two or three bulges (5.8 cruxes), then up the crack a bit further, then move right to the ledge system where this route, "Bear's Reach" and "East Wall" converge. Belay high and left on the shared ledge, if there's crowding (common).

3. 5.7 (crux only), 120ft. Step right from the belay and head up the obviously highly-trafficed and a bit polished crack. Pull the 5.7 crux roof, and then reach the 3rd class ledge. Place a piece (to protect the 2nd) then traverse right until you find a comfortable belay. Generally better to belay on the ledge, rather than over the top. to ease communication and rope drag.

left-most obvious low-angle crack line.

Stellar climbing up a disappearing crack, then scary slabs above.

1. 50m 4th Class. Scramble up the apron from the road until you get to a large ledge below the steepening dome. The climbing starts here.

2. 50m 5.7 Easily up the left crack until it makes sense to move into the right hand crack system.

3. 40m 5.8 Follow the now single crack system. An exceptional finger crack pitch.

4. 35m 5.8 Continue up the single crack system until it disappears into the dome.

5. 30m 5.6 Runout slab up and left to an overlap (only gear in the pitch is here), then belay on a ledge just above it.

6. 55m 5.4 Several variants from here to the top, all of which are runout (in some cases exceptionally). Although there's a tempting groove to the left of the belay, going this way will incur a mandatory 40m runout with zero gear - not recommended! It's better to move up and diagonally right from the belay, which offers some (spaced) gear. Belay on low angled slab at a set of double bolts, shared with 'Great White Book' (this belay can get crowded).

7. 30m 5.2 Pleasant and better protected climbing straight up and over the overlaps above, or easier terrain (4th class) to the right of them.

Head over the back of the dome to an obvious left-trending gully - descend this.

The splitter right trending crack to the right of 'Nutcracker'. Solo 30' up to the top of the shield, then dubious gear to get started in the incipient crack (take great care here - this is the crux and it's poorly protected). The crack widens as it goes right, offering bomber gear, but the slab underneath is very polished, making this a long and sustained pitch at the grade.

Pro to 2".

Pro to 3". Descend with 80' rappel.

Fabulous steep jam crack from narrow hand to offwidth. Pro to 6" with doubles to 3". Two rope rappel.

Two pitches up the center of the Monday Morning Slab pinnacle.

Climb 3rd/4th class scrambles to a ledge in the middle of the slab, where there is an obvious pin-scarred crack going up the center of a slab.

1. 5.7, 110ft. Climb the pin-scarred crack until it fades, and a foot-traverse heads left and up, continue until a tree and a short hand crack to a ledge. Belay at the tree on left, or bolts farther right.

2. 5.8, 120ft Climb the obvious crack up, through a small roof, then up cracks and slab to a 2 bolt anchor.

3. 5.2, 70ft, not often climbed - continue up and right past a tree to the top of the formation.

Pro to 3".

Descend carefully via 100' rappel followed by 4th class downclimbing.

Yosemite's best 5.10 crack apparently!!! It is outstanding, but very challenging, it will test all of your crack climbing skills and is a very difficult onsight. There is finger locks, ring locks, double finger locks, hands, fists, o/w, laybacks. An awesome climb.

Harder now due to breaks on the topout holds.

Pro to 3".

The crux of the climb is the 5.11b start, but don't let that grade discourage you. French free or aid the first 15 feet, and the grade falls to 5.10a C0. Save some strength for the finger locks through the last 15 feet of the route.

Pro to 4.5".

At 1,500 ft. Tenaya Peak is long. It offers low grade friction climbing with only a few sections in the 5.5 range.

A 5.6 or so crack variation on the top pitch is available for those wanting something a bit spicier.

Pro to 3.5". To descend, walk right and rap 90' from bolts.

The full traverse from north tip to south tip, inclusive of north and south summits clocks in at 1300M. Most people rap down after the south summit and most of the difficulties come after this point.

The obvious arch dihedral. Three pitches of lay backs, smears and traversing under rooves. Third pitch is the crux and longest pitch. Crux is placing gear. Move just past apex of arch and head upwards to belay. Scramble to top.

Pro to 4".

Approach: gear-up at the car park and walk under Lembert Dome. To access the first pitch, follow the first ramp you come to, leading up & right above where you've hiked. Set-up a natural belay next to a tree.

1. Up some mantles with the hardest protected by a bolt. Up to the roof and follow the corner out up and left. Well protected corner with cams/wires in crack. Belay at ledge where crack steepens to vertical.

2. Straight up the crack.corner is 5.9, instead, climb out to the right on easy terrain and back above the crack. Continue up wide off-width crack to top. Belay under the final ledge (no gear).

Descent: walk-off right down 3rd and 4th class slabs.

Start right of the blocks at the base of Grant's Crack and continue up the thin crack to the top anchor at the tree.

Runout knob climbing. Links with a 60m rope. Climb this to set up topropes for the routes to the right, but be careful on the 5th class traverse to those anchors. Pro to 2". A tricam or purple linkcam works especially well in a pocket before the last runout on P2.

(SuperTopo description is incorrect.) Rap with 2 ropes or walk off 4th class left. Pro to 2".