BETA FOR MOONLIGHT BUTTRESSVI 5.9 C1

April 17-20, 1997

Brent Ware

It's pretty obvious how to get to the base. Try to get your bags up to the highest third class ledges. You can haul from the obvious lower ledge with the climber-made stone wall with a 60m rope, but with a 50m you'll have to get the bags higher. In any case, it makes for easier hauling to get the bags up. I didn't; should have.

P1

5.9+, lots of loose stuff, wanders around. Either 50m or 60m depending on which ledge you start from. Two good bolts and a bomber big nut placement. Stance belay. Tough haul.

P2

C1, maybe 5.10ish (estimated). Take the second crack right of the belay, which starts under a small roof. I used a red Lowe ball here. The first crack (shown in the Bjornstadt guide) leads nowhere. Couple of easy free moves at the end. Two good bolts here, big stance. Okay haul.

P3

C1, 5.6. Bolt ladder with some free moves on big ledges. Semi-manky pins and bolts on the ladder. Drilled pins and good bolts at the belay. The Coloradans added at least one bolt to this belay. Stance belay on a 27 inch TV-sized loose block held in place with chains. Okay haul.

P4

C2. The yellow Alien pitch. Straight-up crack in the dihedral. Lots of yellow Aliens and TCUs. I took a 15 footer on this pitch which bought me a multi-colored knee, because I wasn't testing aggressively enough. Good placements in granite are not necessarily good placements in sandstone. Belay 2/3s of the way up the dihedral below the roofs on the left side, not the right as shown in the B. guide. At least one good bolt here, sling belay. 50m pitch. Easy haul. Remind me to punch E. B. in the nose if I ever meet him. His topo sucks.

P5

C2. Awkward aid in a chimney/overhanging corner. Varying sizes, yellow and orange TCUs, .5 camalot seemed to be very handy. This is p6 in the B. guide; apparently the p4 belay has been moved higher, and p5 and p6 combined into one long pitch. Lots of good bolts at the belay, very comfy belay ledge, okay bivy for one, less-than-okay for two. This is the only less-than-fun pitch -- everything else is straight up and straight in. Despite the roofs and chimney, this is an easy haul. One bolt in the chimney.

P6

C2. The orange TCU pitch. 100' pitch to two star drives, a .5 camalot crack, and an okay stance. Easy haul. The Coloradans following us may have added at least one new bolt here. This could be combined with the next pitch using a 60m rope, barely. No way you could make it with a 50m.

P7

C2. Orange and yellow TCUs and nuts. 100' pitch to one good bolt, two star drives, a fixed #4 LA, and a bomber big nut placement. Big loose blocks sitting on the stance. I `aggressively' backcleaned this pitch and the previous one to have enough gear in the right size, and I had pretty much three sets of everything. A decent bolt about halfway up; at this point I looked down and it looked like I had free-climbed this pitch, 20' runouts between pro. Easy haul.

P8

C2. The offset pitch. HB offsets and green Alien size. A very nice belay station, lots of new bolts. Sling belay. 100'? Easy haul.

P9

and the top: C1. The big nut pitch. I used pretty much every big nut I had here, in bomber placements. A little sandy halfway through, kind of choss placements. 15-20' of 5.7 friction at the top, though you can get pro in. Not great rock though, no idea if it would hold a fall. I did this in my One-Sports with only semi-sticky rubber, but would have been happy to have rock shoes on. 120'? Big tree at the top for the belay, hope it's a good one cause it's the only thing there is. I hauled directly off the tree, which I think was a mistake; I should have extended the haul over the edge as the way I did it was a bitch. Very tough haul because of all the ledges and overhangs for the bag to get caught on. Be careful of loose rock, as it will fall right on Lunar Ectasy. I would guess this pitch would go free at 5.10 or so, with absolutely bomber easy-to-place lead pro.

The whole climb seems like a stellar free route, with lots of bomber finger locks, and quality moves. Wish I could climb 12 trad so I could try it.

RACK

3 blue aliens or tcus

3 green aliens

3 yellow aliens or tcus

3 orange tcus (I made it with two, but would have been happier with three).

3 #0.5 camalots

2 #0.75 camalots

1 #1 camalot

1 #2 camalot, though I was happy I had at least two in these sizes.

1 #3 camalot

1 #4 camalot (I used this, though you probably wouldn't have to).

2 sets HB offsets, esp. the bigger ones, 4, 5, and 6.

2-3 sets of nuts. I really, really like Wallnuts.

1 red Lowe ball

Medium hexes could have been used, but I got by without them.
The usual number of slings, quicks, and carabiners. First wall I've ever been on where I had enough biners.
Virtually no fixed gear on the route other than the 3rd pitch. A couple of bolts, couple of fixed nuts, three fixed cams.
No pins, no copperheads, no hooks, no rivet hangers, no bolt hangers necessary.
Once again, I forgot all about my camhooks, though they might have been very useful.
A hammer is useful for cleaning.

Descent: West rim trail to the Grotto picnic area. Very casual trail.