Firefly

This fine adventure awaits for any trad team beginning to work through the grades: It has a fair amount of scrambling, but parts have great exposure that rivals that of most other BCC 5.6's and there are enough tricky moves to engage the 5.6 leader. Since

Firefly

reaches the very top of Strone Crag, it can be used as an alternative (and maybe slightly more difficult) way to start Standard Ridge.

Firefly

should rise to three stars as more folks do it (yes, this is a bait and switch -- I put three stars on it so it comes up using the three-star search parameter). Expect some looseness, minor but worthy of a helmet.

(1) Face climb past three bolts, staying right on the cleaner rock to broken ledges (this used to be the first pitch of

Kiss the Sky

, but retrobolted for the 5.6 leader). Scramble up ledges to a face with two more bolts. From the second bolt, traverse left and up into a shallow corner on the arête. Climb the shallow corner to a nice crack that gains Brunch Ledge (don't pass up any pro and use runners to reduce drag). Belay from bolt anchors and a hand-size cam about 10 feet right. 125' 5.6.

(2) Traverse left off of Brunch Ledge, using one of the bolt anchors for pro, and climb to another bolt. From here, there are a number of options, all fourth or very easy fifth class. If you're not interested in climbing to the top of Strone or continuing on

Standard Ridge

, one possibility is to stay as near to the right side of the face as comfortable and climb to the chains on top of

Mr. Bad Luck

. If interested in continuing to the top, um, continue. 125' (75' if to

Mr. Bad Luck's

chains) 5.6.

Once the ledge cutting across Strone's northwest face is gained on the approach, walk east for about 120 feet, well past

Starstruck

and the bolted lines of

Cersei

and

Tyrion

. After the trail slopes down, narrows, and passes through a well-shaded area, look for three bolts above. The route starts by standing on a small dark-colored rock protrusion.

Descent: If descending from the top of Strone Crag, work your way maybe 40 feet to the west to the anchors (there are actually two sets of them) shared by

Starstruck

,

Kiss the Sky

, and

Mad Calf Disease

. See the

Starstruck

page for the descent options from here. If descending from the

Mr. Bad Luck'’s

chains, rap (70'’, mostly free-hanging) to a break that can be walked to Brunch Ledge, then rap again from the bolt anchors on Brunch Ledge (a 70 meter rope will reach the ground, but shorter ropes will require a third rappel from another rap station about 45 feet off the ground).

Trad rack, singles of everything from small stoppers to a 2-inch cam, long runners.