Royal Arches, 5.7 A0 (16 pitches)
May 17, 2008
Parisa Tabriz, Peter Valchev

An absolutely great route. Not hard anywhere, but has a lot of easy/moderate climbing, making it a pleasant day out. Make sure you have comfortable shoes (I climbed with my approach shoes) and lots of water if it's a hot day. There is very little shade and the granite gets cooking hot. There are a number of 5.7 variations in the supertopo, which we took and they had the best climbing on the route (steep hand cracks).

This is one of the "50 Classics of North America" so it can be crowded. Starting early is a good idea... we didn't start climbing until nearly 8am, but luckily crowding was not an issue (total of 3 parties for the day, the 3rd one an hour behind us) - we were back at the car at 4pm.

  Parisa walking with the rope to the base of the  
  Parisa walking with the rope to the base of the "steep 5.7 hands"

  Pondering, somewhere on the route... Looking down at a couple of guys that slept 2 pitches up :) Where are we?  
  Pondering, somewhere on the route... Looking down at a couple of guys that slept 2 pitches up :) Where are we?

  A very clean another view of the 5.7 crack (pitch 7 variation on supertopo)  
  A very clean "5.7 hands groove", one of the best on the route another view of the 5.7 crack (pitch 7 variation on supertopo)

  Parisa cruising up pitch 6  
  Parisa cruising up pitch 6

  happy to be here Parisa traversing the 4th class ledge system after the pendulum pitch  
  happy to be here Parisa traversing the 4th class ledge system after the pendulum pitch

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