- Edit (TBD)
Description
(P1, 5.9, 60ft.) Easy slabbing takes you up to the thin crack. Follow the crack and pop up into the left-facing corner. When you reach the first roof you have two options, either start traversing left and up through the stacked roofs, or pull straight out the first roof and go up the face above. We went straight up and it was good times.
When you reach the ledge there's a nice spot to build a gear anchor at the back of an overhang and belay the second.
If you are smart and decide to rap down after p1, then there may be a yellow sling and quicklink on a tree 20 yards left. If it isn't there I'm sure you'll figure something out.
(P2, 5.fugly, 60ft.) If you're stupid like us and decide to do pitch 2, move over about 20 feet left from the belay. There's an obvious sort of bulging weakness through the rock above with a tree growing just to the left of it. Pull through the overhang on big jugs and then start weaseling your way up through dirt and brush and trees both living and deceased. Eventually you'll reach another 20 foot section of cliff. Clamber up this to reach the top and belay from the trees. You'll basically be in someone's backyard at this point, so keep a low profile and don't be a dick.
The way we got down was to head climber's right along the faint clifftop trail for about 30 yards or so. There will be an opportunity to scramble down and back climber's left to a lower tree ledge about 15 feet or so down from the clifftop trail. On that ledge there was a big tree that has a nice horizontal section of trunk about 10 feet up. We threw our rope over that and rapped down. Once you get through the vegetation on the ledge, the rest of the way is smooth sailing.
With a single 60 meter rope you may BARELY reach the ground. If not, there's a good ledge about 6 feet off the ground where you could stop and pull your rope and then clamber down. A 70 meter rope will make it with room to spare. If you end up rapping from anywhere higher on the cliff than where we went from, you might need 2 ropes to make it.
Location
From the Pony Party corner, walk further along the cliff a ways passing by a bunch of low roofs. Once the bottom of the cliff turns back to slab, keep an eye out for a thin crack that leads to a left-facing corner capped by a roof.
Protection
A standard rack is plenty. There are no fixed anchors on the climb itself. Some friends of ours did only the first pitch and rapped from a yellow sling on a tree about 20 yards left along the ledge. If the sling is still there, it should be clearly visible from the ground.
Routes in Griffin Falls
- 18King Plow5.9Trad