SEE ALSO
1st Ascent Black Pyramid
Cruising the Zodiac
Chamonix: To Climb or Not to Climb
Climbing in Autumn
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EAST BUTTRESS of EL CAPITAN: The 13 Pitches
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The Rack: Double set of TCUs from Blue to Orange, single set of the smaller ones.
6-8 wired nuts, medium sizes best.
Double set of Camalots, .5 to 2, one #3, nothing larger (if you plan to
do
the offwidth, bring bigger stuff).
There is a fair amount of fixed iron on the climb, so quick draws are
useful.
Long slings are helpful for meandering pitches.
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Pitch One: Unlike most 5.9 Yosemite chimney climbs, this one is pretty reasonable.
I
climbed right side in, with good foot holds on the left wall.
Protection is
good. The real crux of the pitch is right at the end, a short fingery
section.
Belay at slings below bolt.
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Pitch Two The crux move, a 5.10 a/b move right is now protected with a nice bolt.
Once you do the move, follow a cool groove to the belay. I climbed left
side in at first, then switched to straight in or slightly right side
in.
Cool pitch, but a bit awkward. Rather than stopping at the obvious
belay
(at 90 feet), keep going. The belay tree is swarming with biting red
ants
that found there way onto every part of my body, and challenged my
ability
to keep my hands on the rope. Instead, keep going up easier ground for
another 30-40 feet. Keep in mind that the next pitch drops down and
left,
onto an arete.
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Pitch Three/Four/Five: Climb the 5.6 arete (protection sparse). Great climbing on varnished
black
knobs. The leader should go as far as possible, heading to easier third
class ground. Move the belay up to the base of the next 5.7 pitch,
belaying
at a tree.
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Pitch Six There are several ways to do this pitch. We stayed on the ridge
(right).
The 5.7 pitch is a bit greasy and devious. I went about 140 feet to the
base of a really good hand crack (steeper), right on the true ridge.
There
are grassy cracks to the left that we did not climb.
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Pitch Seven: Awesome pitch. Steeper, follows a clean hand crack in a great position,
directly on the arete. Follow this pitch all the way to an obvious and
comfortable ledge.
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Pitch Eight I would call it full value Valley 5.9. Nothing heroic about the pitch,
but
it's athletic and sort of awkward. I started slightly left of the ridge
(two feet?), using a crack for protection, then did a move that took me
right onto the ridge for a few feet, then back left into a left trending
crack that leads to an alcove at the base of the 5.9 offwidth. Belay at
old
bolts (I went higher into the alcove, but it's less comfy).
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Pitch Nine: Great pitch. Bypass the 5.9 offwidth by climbing left onto the face.
Go
left at an old purple sling that is threaded behind a flake. Clip an
old
funky bolt, then two fixed pins (one newish), and follow the face
climbing
straight up, ending below a roof, as the topo shows. I think this pitch
can
be combined with the next pitch. Both are about 100 feet. We did not
do
it, but a party willing to simul climb on 5.9 could do it.
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Pitch Ten The topo calls it 5.5 (whatever?), but I'd give it a 5.7 rating. Cool
climbing, trending left on a knobby face. Stop on a ledge on the left.
You'll know you are in the correct spot when you can see the large white
flake about 30 feet to the right.
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Pitch Eleven: Spectacular pitch, probably the best on the climb. Airy, exposed,
moderate.
Follow flakes right, until the climber goes around the corner onto
knobs.
If you are having trouble moving right, you're too high. The traverse
is
not hard, but does go up and down a bit. The last part of the traverse
goes
down, then back up on knobs. The pitch goes way up after the traverse,
so
keep rope drag in mind when protecting. The knobs are protected with
fixed
pins, although they are hard to find. This pitch ends on a ledge with
loose
talus, a full length pitch. There is a spot to belay about 30 feet
below
the talus (Chet belayed here), but you can keep going too.
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Pitch Twelve Unremarkable pitch. The climb backs off and you are near the top. Head
straight up above the belay, through a 5.6/5.7 slot. I belayed just
below a
right facing corner, below a black, knobby face that starts with a
bulge.
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Pitch Thirteen: This move is supposed to be 5.5, but I thought it was 5.8. Chet led it
in
his 5.10 approach shoes, since it was so hot and our feet were pretty
sore.
The temp was 90 degrees and there is no place to hide. Climb the black,
featured face just right of the right facing corner. There is one fixed
pin.
After this move, trend slightly left on easier ground to a tree. You're
done. Follow a ramp right to the east ledges descent. You'll be on the
valley floor in 90 minutes. The first thing we did was jump in the
river!
The climb can be done in about 8 hours, valley to valley. Start early
to
beat the heat.
Mark Kroese, MountainZone.com Correspondant |
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