Fairly Easy-- 5.5 R, 5 Pitches

Overview

This is a fun route put up by Vlada Matena, Jana Matena, and Tom Rogers in 2017. Although they gave it a 5.5 R grade, I suggested Easy 5th on the Mountain Project page, and some others have suggested 5.4 or under as well.

Regardless, this well-named route-- since it gets you to the top of Fairview Dome and also is pretty easy-- is definitely worth doing. In fact, it was a great way to introduce two of my kids to Tuolumne climbing.

Although the route has bolts, this is a trad climb for two reasons:

• Bolts are sometimes 50' or more apart, so this is hardly a sport climb.
• The 3rd pitch has no fixed protection at all.

The bolt spacing is also why, despite the grade, this is not a great route for leaders new to the grade.

Summit views are fantastic, taking in the Tioga high country in all directions, and there is an easy walkoff.

Getting There

From the MP page: "Park at the obvious pullout south of the road that is 3.5 miles from the store and 4 miles from Tenaya Lake."

From there, take the obvious use trail to the dome and hike around its western side to its southern side. Keep going until you are at a prominent tree on the S/SE side of the dome. The climb starts a little left of the crack you'll see, and the first bolt is really hard to see from the ground. I hope the picture below helps.

The approach took us about 45 minutes. It's possible that starting from the Cathedral Lakes TH instead and then cutting over would be shorter.

Route Description

P1-- App. 200', 4 bolts, bolted anchors. Bring your runout head; you will be 40-50' off the ground by the time you make the first clip.

P2-- App. 200', 3 bolts, bolted anchors.

P3-- 180-200' depending on where you belay. This is by far the easiest pitch, but it also has no bolts, so a seasoned trad leader should take this one.

The summit is a short clamber away. For the descent, take the traditional walkoff, which basically follows the lowest-angle path possible and never has to be harder than 3rd Class.

Essential Gear

60m rope, single set of cams, 5-6 alpine draws, and whatever you like for bolt and gear anchors.