Ghost Dancer Arete

Some fantastic sections on this climb; many of the bolts have been replaced; route finding is not very difficult. The only drawback may be that the approach, lengthy upper section and return hike make for a much bigger day than five pitches would normally require.

P1. Climb unprotected 5.7 to gain a small, right-facing corner. Traverse left to second right-facing corner and belay at the top of this with a single, recently replaced bolt, 80 feet. (The Ripe Stuff heads out left from this belay.)

P2. Step right, then straight up towards the bolts crossing the peg band. The first two have been replaced and this is solid, fun face climbing. Continue up through beautiful rock to many options for a belay.

P3. Clip old bolt (you would be happier if they had replaced this one) and climb a ways to your next piece (mental crux). Continue up to a belay that is about 50 feet below a roof with a crack through it. (We combined P2 and P3 without much difficulty - approx. 180-190 feet combined.)

P4. More great rock leading up to the roof crack (a #4.5 cam was useful here). Above the roof, angle slightly right to a ledge at the base of another peg band, 180 feet.

P5. Cross peg band heading up and left with just a few options for gear (here, the guidebook says offwidth. The only offwidth is a long ways out left? We think that we should have traversed over to that feature.) We turned a small roof directly above the peg to gain a dirty slot. Another 50 feet above, the climbing eases and many ledge belay options exist, 150 feet.

The "pitches" are over but about 800 feet of stepped, bushy terrain remain to gain the rim. Simul-climbing or simul-soloing is recommended to prevent this from becoming an all-day (or all-night) affair. Note: all 5 pitches contain at least short sections of 5.10, but most of the climbing is in the 5.8-5.9 range.

Same approach as for the

Russian Arete

. Continue up the gully past that route for a couple hundred more feet. Just before a vertical step in the gully the route begins on clean, slabby rock on the left.

Double set of cams, set of nuts, and a few big pieces for pitch 5 offwidth. In addition to the 5 or so bolts on the climb, there are a few fixed pieces. No fixed belays with the exception of the bolt at the base of pitch two.