West Country

Approach

Scramble up third class slabs from the roadside at the base of the dome towards a broken area beneath Hermaphrodite Flake, the obvious, large detached flake about 100 feet to the left of the even more obvious dihedral of the Great White Book. Most parties rope up at the large ledge at the base of a big right-facing dihedral.

Route Description

Pitch 1: There are several options for the first pitch, all easy in the beginning, and all converging on a short 5.7 jam crack that surmounts the left side of a large left-facing dihedral. If you find yourself struggling with a roof blocking further upward progress, you’ve gone too far! Back down a bit and look for a hand crack diagonaling up and left out of the corner. A couple of 5.7-ish moves lead to a short friction slab and the spacious belay ledge at the base of the second pitch.

Pitch 2 (crux): Ascend the obvious left-facing dihedral to its end. A bolted belay stance is found a few yards beyond. The dihedral protects well, but the crack in the corner becomes less and less receptive to fingers as it curves right about 50 feet above the belay. Never fear, the feet are always good, and there is a big jug at the corner where the dihedral makes a sharp turn straight up.

Pitch 3: Follow sporadic bolts to another bolted belay ledge 15-20 feet left of the bottom of an obvious right-facing dihedral.

Pitch 4: Traverse across to the dihedral and follow it to the top.

Essential Gear

1 set of nuts, cams 0.5 – 3”

Miscellaneous Info

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Images

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