South Face of Out of Towners Dome

A good south-facing wall that gets all-day sun even in winter. But after spending 3 days on the wall between christmas and new years, on warm sunny days, I still have yet to see another party on it. Out sole company was a beautiful Redtail Hawk who wheeled overhead and underfoot on all 3 days to observe us.

This wall offers several well-documented lines and many many undocumented lines. At times, finding which line is which must be done by carefully studying the relative positions of the cracks and bolt lines relative to the shadows of overlaps and water-stains on the wall.

The climb 'Out Of Towners' is seemingly most acclaimed line on the wall, but Aribas Amoebas, and the route left of El Cautivo are certainly good routes and worthwhile. However, the lines here vary from outright clip-ups to wandering and somewhat runout and vague and dirty crack systems. Not every route here deserves to be climbed.

To descend from the wall there are certainly good and bad options, but these are impossible to define in more than vague terms, so that will be as much as I can realistically provide. In some spots forced passage will be evident and in others, not so much. It will take 40-60 minutes and will involve some bushwhacking and scrambling. Wear hearty clothing or you'll trash it.

Descent: head to the West on the summit ridge until you see a cairn, then drop down North into a hallway of sorts and continue West toward the end of the main dome. As the dome breaks down, start heading back West/Southwest into a gully. You will pass though an over/under 'cave' between boulders and then Eventually you will reach a choked gully with some bush-whacking and descend back due South, staying near the rock. If you go too far North here, it will make things far worse. Cross back Southeast on a slab, back through some more boulder hopping, then back East along the base to the climbs where you started. I am more presently informed by a local that rapping off from 'Out Of Towners' or 'El Cautivo' is possible, but I suspect 2 ropes.Credit: Tony B.