Vie in Stati Uniti d' America

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.

This classic route is short but sweet. It offers great hand crack action while still having plenty of face holds for the non-crack-initiated (great learning spot!). Bolted anchors easily accessed via the Dirty Chimney.

Warning: The first 20 feet of this climb offers tricky protection and have sent many an unprepared climber to hospital.

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.

Well deservedly popular route. Crack starts as fingers, grows to fists by the end. Footholds at the bottom are very polished, and the opening moves bouldery. The gear placement is great, the moves are nice, it's easy enough for newbies to try and hard enough for experienced folk to enjoy. Short, but hits the sweet spot. Bolted anchors can be easily accessed via the dirty chimney.

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".

One of the most climbed routes in North America: Almost no approach, 350 feet of moderate crack climbing and all day shade.

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 ↪

A nice lead, though many seem to skip the first bolt, and start right of it to climb to 2nd bolt.

Up, step over the gap, up trending right, then traverse left along the edge, up left of the anchors, then reach right to clip the anchors.

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.

Super classic crack climb.

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).

One of the most popular multi-pitch routes at Red Rocks due, at least in part, to large comfortable belay ledges the whole way. Can be rappelled on one 70m rope with a bit of 4th class down-climbing, or with two ropes.

Starts below an obvious left-slanting crack.

1. 150' 5.5 - Climb the left slanting crack, skip the optional belay at 90', up a wider crack to a ledge, then continue up the crack to another ledge. Bolted anchors are a few yards out to the right.

2. 50' 5.5. Hike right along the ledge, boulder up to the next ledge, and up gentle slabs to a steeper wall. Re-belay from here, then up steepish black wall to a small overhang, the up a left-facing corner to a ledge with trees. End on a belay off a small group of trees.

3. 120' 5.6. Start up 4th class terrain about 15' to a small ledge, climb a thin crack in the varnished face left of a small corner to a small roof, traverse left under the roof to another crack that continues upwards, and up this to a ledge with a large block on it. Belay off slings around the large block.

4. 50' 5.3. Traverse right and a bit down to a ledge with a crack above it and anchors.

5. 110' 5.6. Climb the crack, past a bolt to run-out 5.5 terrain to the anchors. Most people end here at the anchor and rappel.

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.

Left-most bolted line on the front of the cliff.

1. Climb the slab between bolts. Stay calm, it really is easy.... (5.5)

2. Stellar pitch up a dihedral crack system, you should try get another red cam stuck, this pitch needs more fixed gear! Can be linked with pitch 1. (5.7)

3. A long, long and rewarding pitch, the desert paten looks intimidating, but those cutouts are just sooooo good. For a confident leader you will be running this one out. (5.7)

4. The money pitch, but so short. Trend right off the belay over lots of air. Negotiate the offwidth, look around for gear, then fire out to the right across a series of stellar, unprotected but bomber face moves. Unreal. (5.8)

Descent: With 2x60m ropes, rappel down to the top of P2. Or, with 1 x 60m rope do 2 rappels with a hanging belay half way. From P2 anchors rappel to the ground avoiding the pool below.

Starts where the ledge turns into a ramp up to the right.

Start just left of the big boulder. Up the face to the corner system, pass it mostly on the left, then go right again to the anchors.

To the right of the obvious Centerpiece corner, Masterpiece begins in the steepest section of the wall. Stick clip a hard-to-see first clip (on a left-facing block) with a long draw to avoid backclipping on the way up. Jug haul on steep rock until an unobvious crux between the second and third bolts. Move quickly to pull the ledge above the steep section. From here, face climb a bit before moving around a large, jutting bulge. Climb up into a tight section where an overhang presses you down from above. Traversing left of this and onto a slabby face between two large boulders, stem or jam up between the boulders to gain the anchors.

Watch out for sucker holds on the way up.

Anchors: Quick Clips

A classic 5.10a with fun, varied climbing the whole way. A must-do!

One of the best routes of its grade at Rumney. On Jimmy Right, it's the rightmost route that follows a blunt arret up to some tricky moves along the face. Small holds and small feet make this one a bit of a puzzle. Rounded crack lines require a bit of searching for good purchase. Don't go too far right around the corner, or you'll find yourself up shit creek without a paddle. To get to the anchors, choose between going right to undercling a large flake, or left, using a series of easy cracks to gain the anchors. Fantastic route and quite popular, but absolutely worth it.

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

Starts a few meters (yards) right of Easy, up an easy right angling-corner ramp. Step right onto a small ledge, then up crack systems towards a small roof; exit on the left and finish up the crack.

Follow the big flake system. Great route for the grade.

1. From a small clearing with slopping blocky section which includes a small semi-detached pillar, aim for the fixed 3x bong anchor.

2. Traverse right to the bolted belay/rap anchor, the bigger horizontal crack holds gear, but it's also the best thing to use as a ramp for your feet... can be very spooky/exposed/run-out.

3. Head straight up the face, pulling the large flakes, up the corner with the tree, belay with natural pro on the ledge.

4. Go straight up from the little cave and do a balancy move to the left flake, head up the easiest path, past a 2 tree doulble ledge and up a ramp to the left up to the base of aireation buttress.

For a safer second traverse: trail a second rope or use doubles and merge pitch 2 and 3 together, only using a single rope after passing the last piece of pro at the beginning of the traverse, run this rope on the left side of the tree when climbing the chimney on pitch 3, this way, you can better protect your second across the traverse.

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

Pro to 4.5", 2 ea. 4".

Climb the closely spaced bolts up the center of the wall.

Goes up 3 bolts to anchors beside trees.

The bolts that continue above the anchor are "Rubicon".

On the far right side of Jimmy, but to the left of Lonesome Dove (blunt arret). Start up the slab to some tricky moves that allow you to gain the finger crack. Follow the crack up, using some sweet layback moves over a bulge at the top that will leave you feeling quite exposed.

Watch out that your rope doesn't get stuck in the finger crack near the top.

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".

Route starts by traversing in from the right towards the first bolt, rather than pulling directly from below. (Direct start is in the 5.10-5.11 range depending on how direct.)

Big holds low down lead to more balancy climbing on top. Great warm-up or route for the grade.

Climb the blunt corner below the railway ties, easier if you go around the corner to the left at times, more difficult (maybe 5.8) straight up the bolts.

The best route on this section of wall. A short section of steeper wall to start then the angle eases off but the climbing is still mostly sustained at the grade

The right-most bolted route, about half-way up the ramp.

Climb the bolted face between the chimney and the crack.

A brilliant first lead or easy solo. A popular way to get reception.

3 pitches of crappy climbing to lead to the most spectacular summit ever!!!

1. 35m (5.8 A0 or 5.10) Up the easy boulders (5.5). Some parties belay here with cams to reduce rope drag. Move left to steeper climbing up a thin face, 4 bolts, pull on draws for 5.8, or go free for 5.10. DBB.

2. 30m (5.8) Mud Chimney - The only real climbing on the route. Plenty of cam options plus one old manky bolts. TBB on spacey ledge.

3. 10m (5.7 A0 or 5.10) Short pitch to gain the summit area. 4 bolts well placed to pull through, climbing free it's slightly easier on the left at the top. Top out on the start of the walkway. TBB.

4. 20m (5.8) What you came here for!!! Balance your way across the unprotected walkway, with 600ft of air either side! Mantle awkwardly onto the diving board to find your first bolt. 5.7 moves up the skinny tower lead to 2 more bolts out to the right. Awkward move over bulge or pull on draws, then top out and get an awesome photo!!! The last pro is the multitude of slings/ropes, but 3rd/4th class terrain to the top.

Protection: single set of Camalots #0.5 to #3 (double 0.75 and 1 optional), some quick draws, and four to six long (24") slings.

To descend, get lowered from the summit block from the multitude of tat, then walk back to the belay. Rappel back to the top of the chimney. Then, 2x60m ropes reach the ground from here, or, with 1x60m rope just rappel reversing the route.

A great intro to climbing trad in the Moab area. Right facing corner to a 2 chain anchor.