Astral Traveller

"Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before!"

Astral Traveller ascends a king-line through the largest roof of the Middle Tower on Mickey Mouse Wall. The dramatic exposed position, the complex movement, remote setting, and powerful crux make for an adventurous journey. Add the two trad approach pitches of

Captain Beyond

, in Steve Levin's words, "the best 5.10 crack climb near Boulder," and you get an intergalactic journey suitable for only the most intrepid psycho-nauts.

P1 and P2

: 5.10a trad, 190'. Approach by climbing the first two pitches of

Captain Beyond

to reach the large, chossy ledge at the two-bolt anchor aka "

Captain Beyond

Ledge

." About 30 feet to the right of the 2-bolt anchor, you'll see a line of bolts trending up and right on a clean panel of bullet stone. Do not belay from the two anchor bolts; rather, set a belay on the ledge just beneath the first lead bolt of the route (#1 and #3 Camalot are best for the anchor).

P3

: 5.12d, 180’. The journey begins on perfect edges through the first four bolts at 5.11. The first bolt is set up to be easily clipped from a stance, making it a far safer proposition than say, the runout start of the

Captain Beyond

crux pitch nearby. After the first four bolts, scramble up easier terrain through broken ledges, aiming for the shallow, right-facing dihedral and arete system overhead. For those concerned with the length/rope drag on the pitch, the uppermost ledge is a comfortable optional belay (thin finger pieces for a gear anchor).

Leave the ledges, entering the shallow dihedral above. Two pieces of finger sized gear (#0.3 and 0.5 Camalots) in an excellent crack protect the moves entering the corner as the crack slowly disappears, leading to the line of bolts above. From here on out, the climb is fully bolted to the top. Stem your way up the technical corner as the terrain continues to increase in steepness and difficulty, weaving to the right and left of the stunning "

Cosmic Arete

."

This whole time, two prominent features loom above - the "

Supernova Flake

" and just to its left, the "

Black Hole Chimney

." Just like Ulysses navigating treacherous seas between Scylla and Charybdis, the Astral Traveller will have to arbitrate both of these features just right in order to send, bringing an arsenal of Rifle-esque thuggery through the steep crux. After cresting the

Supernova Flake

, the climb is 5.12a with a wicked pump and wild exposure through the final four bolts, trending left on easier terrain after the last bolt. if you didn't manage rope drag throughout the pitch, you'll be wishing you had done a few more deadlifts at the weight room on the final moves.

This pitch ends on the "

Space Station

" - a deluxe ledge with a 2-bolt anchor.

P4

: 5.12a, 85’. The "

Moonwalk

" pitch! Although this final pitch is far more straightforward, the character changes completely, favoring technique and footwork over strength and power. Technical edges and a crux traverse halfway at bolt four lead to the blank upper headwall. Channel your inner Michael Jackson, and surf up the final friction headwall via a steep slab. After the last bolt, the angle eases off to easier 5.6 terrain that is slightly runout to the anchors for 20 feet. Many gear options are available through this short runout, but most leaders who make it this far would feel comfortable enough skipping carrying a cam this far up. The bolted anchors are just beneath where

Perversion

finishes up.

Two options exist for the descent:

Summit the Middle Tower, and descend via the standard raps off Mickey Mouse Wall, which involve a short scramble past the summit area to the notch between the Middle and North Tower. A 60m is adequate for this descent, and it deposits you near the base of

Perversion

.

A swifter option to descend, but it requires a 60m tag line. Start with a single rope rappel off the top anchors of Astral Traveller to the

Space Station Ledge

(90' rappel). From the

Space Station

, a 180' rappel over the massive roof to the

Captain Beyond

Ledge's established 2-bolt anchor. Another 150' double rope rappel drops you right off at the start of the route.

Strategy - a good strategy for climbing this adventurous route is to load up on a standard rack of trad gear for the two approach pitches on

Captain Beyond

. At the prominent

Captain Beyond

Ledge, leave the entire rack of cams behind, minus 2-3 finger sized pieces for the crux pitch. Climbing up P3 with a tag-line allows the leader to "project" the climb if you fall high on the pitch where the crux is. You can then leave the tag-line at the Space Station Ledge, because it is not needed above this. All the belays on this route are on spacious, comfortable ledges.

Astral Traveller

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Mickey Mouse Wall