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Peak Mountain 3

Shenanigans

FA Tony Schwartz Wilson Cutbirth
CREATED 
UPDATED 

Description

5 parts excellent climbing, 2 parts fun shenanigans. This route connects a series of cracks inside a narrow chasm. The shenanigans start when the route switches from the north wall to the south, then back.Pitch 1: start up a sandy low angle corner ramp to the bottom of a chimney, climb the chimney placing gear in the OW/hands/fingers crack, switch cracks nearing the top and belay at the 2 bolt island ledge. 5.9 42m,  optional #4Pitch 2: leave the island to the north, clip a bolt and gain the ledge, travers right, clip 2 bolts through soft rock off the ledge, thought provoking crack climbing leads to a 2 bolt anchor at a stance. 5.12- 30m, 3 bolts Pitch 3: traverse left past 3 bolts and some gear to the arete, climb up past 2 more bolts before traversing back right placing gear, to the furthest right steep finger crack, take this to a large sloping ledge with 2 bolt belay. 5.11 30m, 5 bolts Pitch 4: the first of the shenanigans pitches, there are a few ways this can be done, maybe the safest and most comfortable way is to climb back down ~15ft until even with a jug on the the opposite wall, get to the jug, make a few moves to a 2 bolt hanging belay, a seat is nice here, top belay partner over and pull rope. It’s possible to avoid the hanging belay by building a lower anchor on the north wall and linking the move across into P5, without 2 ropes this doesn’t protect the leader well. 5.? -5m, Red c3 Pitch 5: splitter fingers to a hand pod, head left and up, around arete past 2 bolts to another finger crack, take this to a 2 bolt anchor at a ledge. Amazing pitch!5.12 30m, 2 bolts, extra finger size cams Pitch 6: the 2nd shenanigans pitch, from the ledge clip the high bolt, throw out an uncomfortable amount of slack and make the leap back to the other side. Clip 1 bolt on your way to the 2 bolt anchor 5.? 5m, 2bolts, approach shoes or Air Jordans are nice. Pitch 7: boulder problem protected by a bolt and cam off the ledge, 2 more bolts up steep corner, small gear crux leads to steep choss blobs and hand crack in a corner to finish. From the ledge below the summit clip the bolt with a runner to prevent rope getting stuck, climb up easy terrain to the right and back left to top anchor. 5.12 38m, 4 bolts Rappel Beta: bring an extra anchor sling for the top anchor, everything else is equipped to rap. With 2 60s. Do a short (~15ft) rap from the top to a ledge with an anchors positioned to keep the rope out of the crack below, then to an anchor at the base of p7 corner, from here make a shorter rappel to  big sloping ledge, then a long rap to the island belay and one more to the ground. Can be done with a single 80m rope if you use the P2 anchor and don’t mind coming up a little short before the ground. You can swing over and leave shoes to jump in on top of pitch 5.

Location

Top access to rappel the route: Take the climbers trail towards Valhalla, the trail goes under an overhang then over a gully, about 100ft after the gully cut left to the canyon rim to an exposed rock point, anchors are kind of hidden under a bush where the rock meets vegetation. 2 bolts point into the chasm to the south.

Bottom Access: Rappel into the canyon via another route or hike up west fork. Look for the low angle corner ramp that leads into the chasm near the middle of the wall.

Protection

Doubles .1 to #2 extra .3 to .5 optional #4 Med nuts 12 Draws and runners Anchor sling for top rappel