Leisure Climb

This is fun and devious route which ascends the shortest section of North Chasm View Wall. It looks like a pile from the ground but has pretty good climbing and exposure on the first three pitches. The final pitches are very low-angled and loose, but go pretty fast if you find the easiest line. Be wary of climbing beneath another party on this route and also be aware that there have apparently been some bad accidents on the crux pitch which is runout and also easy to get off-route onto harder climbing.

Go down the Cruise Gully, and find the route shortly after emerging from the second rappel. The first pitch is identified by a right-facing 5.8 corner with a wide crack up high (avoid the harder crack systems and roofs to the left). Access P1 by scrambling up and left on blocky third class to a ledge.

P1. Ascend the large corner and belay on a grassy ledge at left.

P2. Take the obvious, acute left-facing corner above the belay (5.8). At its top, angle right on a ramp; it is best to belay halfway up the ramp.

P3. This is the devious crux: finish the easy ramp past hollow flakes and then cut back left on a ledge (best not to place any pro until back above the belay). Go up a left-facing corner with a flake/finger crack, toward a triangular overlap/roof. Angle rightwards where the corner ends, and climb further up a thin crack past the right end of the overlap, to a sloping ledge.

It is easier, but scarier to place pro in the crack and then traverse a ways back left to turn the roof on bigger holds.

Staying with the crack the whole way as it dies out is the more obvious line, but probably 5.10-something.

A good variation to this pitch moves up and left into the large right-facing corner of Midsummer Night's Dream's third pitch, which is great climbing. It's slightly harder than P3 of Leisure Climb but is better protected.

P4. Go right up easy ground a short ways (to avoid a steep section), then back left up a long, broken and bushy corner. Belay at its top, or (some simul-climbing required) go directly up fun face-climbing for about 35 feet to another good ledge.

P5. Go easily along the base of a steep cliff on 3rd class, then up a chimney to belay on the right end of huge, forested ledge (hard to see from the start of the pitch).

Finish by walking along the ledge to the left (west) for a considerable distance past steep headwalls until the ledge nearly reaches a deep cleft. An easy low-angle cliff accesses the canyon rim.

A standard rack with micro-nuts and small cams for the crux pitch, and a #4 Camalot with optional #5 (new sizes) for pitch one.