South Side Johnny

Location: south slabs of the Dome. Walk up to the saddle just south of the Dome, northwest of the Bishop. Drop over the west side. Pass a monster boulder that has split open (making a nice boulder problem on the smaller chunk), then take a right and walk north. Staying to the right, there's some fourth class scrambling to get you up the the climb's base. It's a meandering crack on the left of a 5.5 gully; you can see rappel slings at the base of a medium-smallish lone pine halfway up.

The climb: I thought this was Seamus at first... It's nice climbing; I agree with the two stars. Medium cams and wires will get you there. If you're just climbing the first pitch, you may want to place a directional before you traverse to the tree; otherwise, your second will be exposed to a decent pendulum. I think the second pitch climbs above in a short, dirty crack, then onto easier terrain...about 5.6. I didn't see any place to rappel from above when walking off a different climb--you have to go way around to the west, and work your way down slabs and boulders--so you may just want to climb the first pitch and rap off the tree. The two slings are fairly new. Nice climb...

ps. There are lots of interesting-looking cracks in this area--short hand and finger cracks, off-widths, huge roofs--all levels of difficulty. Some bolts needed, though. Explore and enjoy!

Medium cams and wires.