Fun mixed aid and free climb up the right side of the

Triangle Wall

. This is a good Yosemite warm up route.

Pitch 1: Start below a small bulge/roof with a splitter above. There may be a fixed bashie to get you started. Continue up the splitter using small aid gear, passing a few bolts and a hook move. Belay at two bolts below the giant roof. 90' A2+.

Pitch 2: Aid to the right out the roof and then back to the left above the roof. This pitch is exposed. Much of this goes on modern clean gear, but it is tricky to get. Some pretty big pin scars on this pitch. Belay at two fixed pins with back up gear or continue along the traverse to the next anchor, while fighting incredible rope drag. 60' A2.

Pitch 3: Traverse using mostly aid on fixed gear to the left until the break in the roof. Pull a thin free move(5.8 or C2) and it is possible to set up a belay off a small tree and the first bolt of the next pitch. Can be combined with Pitch 2. 60' A1.

Pitch 4: Continue up the last pitch of

Stratosphere

. Belay at two bolts. 60' 5.9.

Descent: Rappel

Stratosphere

with two ropes.

Less Than or Equal To

Stratosphere

Broken Rhombuses

LOTS OF FUN!!!

P1

Pretty mello climbing (past a pretty, new bolt) to a smack-you-in-the-face slab. I found the left traverse after turning the roof a bit nerve-wracking. It made me wonder why the newer bolt was placed lower down and not right there. Nice bolted belay. I had a belay seat which made all the belays very nice.

P2

Short left-facing and leaning corner. The crux seems like just getting started. Way fun and VERY free-able. Belay at some old pins that you can back up with small (i.e., tiny) cams.

P3

This is where the good stuff begins! Easy thin nuts get you warmed up for the rad arch feature. This was only really made difficult by my not bringing enough of the right piece. The crack widens about halfway but make sure you bring several SMALL cams. I had one 000 C3. If I had 2 more, this part would've been a breeze!

The bolt ladder is cake as the bolts are only about 3-4 feet apart. Some of these bolts could REALLY use replacing. The right shuffle with a hook is very cool. You can top step and skip the last fixed mank. Three-bolt hanging belay (bring your seat). The right most bolt is nice brand new one (why didn't someone replace a few others?), the others are the old button heads.

P4

Another good one. More easy bolt ladder work to a great traverse. The crack has a few fixed pins, but reaching the first one can be tough. We used a red C4 in a flare that worked great. I originally used hooks in the little holes between pins but Tristan was able to get small C3's into 'em just fine. Those C3's are the greatest small cams ever!

The finish to this pitch is a somewhat committing 5.8 slab. Possible to finish using aid but be ready to garden a bit in a dirt-filled crack. Use a big tree to belay. From here it is possible to rap all the way to the ground with doubled 70 meter ropes in one rap (60m would be really close, I think).

P5

We skipped this one this time but I did it years ago. There is a new bolt (that I don't remember being there before) at the start of the right traverse. I remember this last bit to be a bit cruddy and not really anything I wanted to do again, but J.G. thinks it is pretty good. I guess it has been bolted up now. The only thing that would make me do it again is the big rap. You end up going right over the lip of the HUGE roof on the right. You get way out from the wall! One more rap from a big tree puts you back on the ground.

This is a great mini adventure route that every aid wanna-be should do. Just don't bring too much gear!

Complete kudo's to the guys to put this route together! Great job!

Broken Rhombuses is a fantastic pitch of climbing. At about 45 meters in length, gently overhanging most of the way, and having multiple 5.11 sections with a wild boulder problem crux up high it's also quite a journey. Protection is often spaced, but always good (consisting of a mix of gear and bolts). Super fun and totally worth the hike up to the Triangle Wall.

Technically it is on the Geometry Wall (see "Location" notes). Begin about 15' down from the start of the aid line Unknownosphere at an obtuse, right-facing corner with glue-in bolts. Climb this corner, but at the 5th bolt and just below a small roof, move hard left (do not continue straight up) to a stance below a right-facing flake system. Climb this to a small rest ledge and then move right across the wall to access a system of steep right-facing flakes which are followed upwards to the crux boulder problem. This powerful and pumpy bit of climbing is protected by three closely-spaced bolts and ends at a good stance at the base of the upper headwall. Two more bolts protect climbing up the delicate “Ghost Flake” and a final move around a roof leads to a tiny ledge at the top of the wall.

To get down: Lower from the bolted anchor straight down to a big ledge on the wall behind you (this is western aspect of the Triangle Wall). Anchor in and belay a seconding climber up from there. When the second has cleaned the route and reached the upper anchor, lower them to your location, pull the rope, and do a short rap back into the gully. Alternatively, you can clean the upper two thirds of the pitch while lowering to this same ledge, but the second will still have to clean the lower third and then swing over to you… it sounds complicated but it makes sense once you see the architecture of the walls.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Triangle Wall