New Diversions+Pat & Jack, Lower Cathedral Spire (South by Southwest)
April 13-14, 2013
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On Saturday we went to a new place.. New Diversions cliff!
The place is quite awesome, we had it to ourselves as well on
an otherwise busy weekend. We first did New Diversions, the
most classic climb that the crag is named after... the topo
for this climb shows anchors higher up than the new bolts
there. As a result I kept going, only to find out there are no
other anchors in sight - so I ended up going a full 70 meters
to the top and belaying from a fat manzanita tree. We
rappelled twice from there, and I think an 80 meter rope was
necessary for the first rappel (which we thankfully had).
Otherwise there is supposedly a walk off but I can't imagine
it's pleasant.
On Sunday we hiked up to do Lower Cathedral Spire, which hosts
South by Southwest, a climb that includes two amazing pitches
(5.10d and 5.11a respectively). The long hike meant we had the
whole place to ourselves again - awesome!!! The only bad part
was the seemingly insane ant infestation... there were a couple
of sections crawling with millions of ants you had to climb
through (as they crawled all over you). Fun times! We chilled
out at the summit for 30 minutes before rappelling (one
70 meter rope is enough for that, but barely, check the supertopo
website for the latest beta).
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New Diversions, stellar 5.10a |
The start of New Diversions is a bit wide |
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We both toproped this 5.11b which was quite thin and desperate for a few moves |
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Chicken Pie, a fun 5.9 corner |
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Cool shadows from the trees show the featured nature of New Diversions |
A quick run up Knob Job at Pat & Jack crag, 5.10b |
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Starting up Knuckleheads, fun 5.10 face/arete route |
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The upper pitches of South by Southwest as seen from Higher Cathedral Spire |
Sunday: Scrambling up the dead log/4th class at the start of South by Southwest |
We linked the first two pitches with a bit of simul climbing (80m) |
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Short pitch to gain the 5.10d/5.11a pitches (visible on the left near the skyline) |
The crux pitch above |
Pulling the crux 5.10d bulge |
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Nice view of Higher Cathedral Rock |
Linking the two crux pitches |
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Looking down the crux pitches |
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View from the top of Lower Cathedral Spire |
El Cap looks big, even from here |
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Photosphere from android |
Beginning the scary overhanging rappel |
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El Cap from the descent trail |
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