Gonzo's Lament

This route is located on Sunshine Wall. The approach is steep and rather strenuous; allow 45 minutes. From the trail, walk right (north) along the base of the cliff until you come to a chimney and gully in a shaded area. Gonzo's heads up the chimney to what appears to be a saddle between two formations of the rock.

P1: Climb the chimney (5.5) being careful for loose rock. Easier scrambling after the chimney leads to a nice hand crack. The crux of the pitch is the final move up and over. It helps if you're tall, otherwise the move may seem a stretch at 5.9.

P2: Take the obvious dihedral on the right (5.8).

P2 Variation (recommended): Follow discontinuous cracks up the middle of the face. (5.9+) Eats up small to medium cams. Great pitch! Belay when you find standing room and protection for a belay.

P3: Continue straight above the variation. Or, if you climbed the dihedral second pitch, you should diagonal up left for 30 ft from the 2nd belay until you find the vertical crack headed up. A solid pitch (5.8); belay on next ledge with sitting room.

P4: Gonzo's lament? This is a 50 foot off-width, off-balance 5.8 that I thought needed lots of big gear (4-6") for protection. Tough; don't be fooled by the grade.

Variation (if you don't have the gear to protect the off-width...) From the belay, traverse south around a loose-looking block and out of sight of your belayer. You will see the chain anchors for the

Standard Route

. You can climb the last crack pitch of this route (5.10) or traverse another 30 feet south and gain the 5.8 finish of

Equinox

--certainly a much easier 5.8 than the finish to Gonzo's.

4-6" cams for the off-width, final pitch.