West Face

Approach

Approach as for the North Ridge, but instead of climbing all the way up to the notch traverse south to the base of the pinnacle and move west along a faint trail 150 yards to a flat area beneath the large west dihedrals. Scramlbe down 75 feet and around until facing the steep west face.

Route Description

The 1st pitch moves up a large pillar to a fractured blocky area where you can set up an anchor and may indeed see some existing slings.
Pitch 2 starts out slight to the right and then angles back left and up diagonallyfor about 100 feet or so to a good belay ledge. Pitch 3 is the crux featuring loose rock and 5.9 climbing. Head up right and sling a horn 8 feet up. Now move back left and head straight up using small wires in the crack on the left. Exit into the mouth of a large rotten gully. Pitch 4 goes straight up the back of the gully and emerges 50 feet later on a sloping plateau of rock mixed with clumps of grass. Beware of loose rock in the gully as the 2nd is in the line of fire. Also, the danger is not over on the final easy section as rocks as big as a toddler can pop out under weight. This entire route requires careful testing of all holds and equalized weighting whenever possible. The gully and the 1st pitch can be wet at any time so again exercise caution and judgement. Even though a little rotten and requiring some rock dodging, this route can be a very satisfying climb. Descend via the North Ridge.

Essential Gear

A single 60 meter 10.5 mil rope is a good bet as it is long enough to reach the notch onthe rappel if you aren't comfortable downclimbing. For a rack you will need a set of camalots from .75 to 2 with an extra 1, 3 or 4 smaller TCU's, a set of stoppers including the small ones for pitch 3, a cordelette for each leader, 12 arm length runners, 4 lockers and 16 'biners. You could bring quickdraws, but runners and biners work better on this meandering route. Also, place a biner on each cam.

Miscellaneous Info

If you have information about this route that doesn't pertain to any of the other sections, please add it here.