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Peak Mountain 3

Waterfall Route

FA Paul Horton, Bill Conrod--1971
CREATED 
UPDATED 

Description

Lost to the ages until NOW, this obscure adventure-route will certainly be the most go-for-broke 5.6 you've ever groveled on.

(start is same first two pitches as 'Old Goat' until traversing right at the bolt)

Pitch 1: Head out up flaring diagonal grooves until you kink left and gain a lower angle ramp and corner crack. Follow your instincts up crack systems, trending to the right until you've stretched your rope (70m) to a belay stance of your choice.

200-230 ft

Pitch 2: Finish the slab corner and gain the base of the headwall. From here head left, behind a detached feature and start piecing your way up the mixture of crack and slab climbing until you're within striking distance of THE bolt, an archaic star-drive. Build a belay 20-30 feet below the bolt.

120 ft

Pitch 3: Gain the bolt, clip it just for the hell of it and venture right across a chickenhead traverse. Remember that manky bolt? Pretty much your only pro for around 100 ft of traversing. I was able to plug a dubious #2 at one point but the "cracks" are all very flaring. So only two pieces in 100ish feet. Traverse until you gain the "double cracks"—again, really only flaring troughs. Surmount the righthand "crack" of the two and gain and little belay alcove up right.

150 ft, R

Pitch 4: From the alcove, head up horrid rock through a bush move and into a desperate shallow corner (for the 3rd time, NOT a crack but a flaring trough). Place gear/sling bush down low while you can because I had to literally DIG a mantle move into a shelf of soil at one point and the only pro was a hail-mary tri-cam juuuust barely clinging to a constriction. Get through the hectic stuff and slab up to a BIG mahogany tree, ledge and belay.

100 ft

Pitch 5: Above the tree, the right-facing corner system provides the most enjoyable climbing and the path of least resistance (which you've had enough of by now). Look for intrusive dikes or ledges to traverse across the slab with and follow your nose up until you find the top and rap anchors.

130-160 ft

Now was that so bad?

Either take the fairly good looking walkoff trail or rap 'The Bellagio' or 'For Whom the Bells Toll'

Location

Hike all the way to the base of the second waterfall (cue 'Ode to Joy'), which is simply jaw-dropping and look for the ramshackle footbridge spanning the river. From here, get your schwack on, making the best of a very dense jungle of trailless approach. Do your best, aiming for the center of Waterfall Dome. Look for a series of long diagonal grooves in the rock (from left to right ////); the base of these grooves is the start of 'Waterfall Route' and 'Old Goat'

Protection

Singles to 3 (not much pro on pitch 3 anyway) with an assortment of passive stuff and plenty of long slings.


Routes in Waterfall Dome