War Horse

Richard Rossiter and Pebby Johns have added yet another new route on the Northeast Face of Avalon. War Horse follows a line about 15' right of

Thus Us

, and is identified by three bolts heading up a face into a right-facing dihedral.

Start at the wide crack at the beginning of

Thus Us

, and angle up right to a bolt on the face about 20' up. Be careful making the first clip. Continue up past the second bolt into a right-facing corner with a flared hand crack at the third bolt. Make some difficult moves (10c or 10d) past the bolt to a ledge on the left. Continue up another right-facing corner with a thin crack (gear) to a tree with slings and rap rings. There is also a new 2-bolt anchor just up and right of the tree.

War Horse seemed slightly harder than

The Art of War

. Since the route is so new (rock dust below the bolts from recent drilling), it is still a bit dirty. My partner wire brushed the route extensively on rappel after we were finished climbing.

3 bolts plus small-to-medium gear. Bring some small wired nuts and cams from small Aliens to a #1 Camalot.

I placed a blue/green hybrid Alien just above the third bolt and a green Alien on the ledge above that. In the upper corner with the thin crack, I placed two small wired nuts (BD #5 and #7 stoppers), and a yellow Alien. I placed a #.75 Camalot to protect the last move to the anchor (could have used a #1 Camalot here instead).

At the top of the pitch there is a tree with slings and rap rings (the anchor for Thus Us), and a new 2-bolt anchor just up and right of the tree. Belay at the tree, or lower off the tree or the new 2-bolt anchor.