West Chimney

The climbing on this pitch is surprisingly good. It can be used as an alternate start to

Rewritten

,

Great Zot

,

Swanson Arete

, Dirty Deed, or

Icarus

. It's a good way to get to the Red Ledge if the first pitches of

Great Zot

and

Rewritten

are busy.

Start at the deep chimney about 10' right of

Great Zot

. Climb the chimney, passing some fixed pins and an intermediate bolted rappel station, to a belay at a tree just below the Red Ledge (160 ft) or a tree at the base of

Swanson Arete

on the Red Ledge (205ft).

The upper pitches continue up the chimney/gully to the notch north of Lumpe Tower, but these are seldom climbed. If you do go to the top, descend back to Red Ledge by rappelling from trees; be careful of loose rock.

The first pitch of this route is commonly used to descend from the Red Ledge. There is a two-bolt anchor on the left wall of the chimney just below the Red Ledge (about 130' up), and a second two-bolt anchor about 70' up. Two rappels with a 50m or 60m rope get you down. It's possible to get down with one rappel with a 70m rope with a little bit of downclimbing at the end.

It's best to avoid climbing this route when parties are rappelling, unless you want to get brained by a tossed rope.

Standard rack.