Da Black and Gold

The route begins in a shallow, left-facing corner, midway up the ramp that leads to the base of the Gold Wall (L.Ellison, C.Noble, 1980). Climb the corner to a small ledge, step left into a finger crack to a small roof. The original line traversed right on small face holds--avoiding the layback--to gain a finger crack that leads to a ledge. The roof/right facing corner can also be dealt with directly; committing layaway moves gain a flaring crack that eventually leads to the same ledge and to an optional belay beneath a small roof, the belay takes 1" to 2.5".

From the stance beneath the small roof, trend leftward, climbing thin edges to an overlap. Undercling the overlap to gain a thin stem box below a large, rectangular keyed-in flake. After surmounting the flake, climb the clean face above; continue up the face along twin parallel seams to a thin gear crux just below a belay stance with a bolt. The bolt can be backed up using a small cam or wire. A short, leftward traverse (maybe 5.8) joins the Gold Wall just below the roof.

A standard rack: small wires--offsets useful--with doubles in tips to finger-sized cams. The single bolt at the belay can be backed up with a small wire or cam.