Day 1, we had a late start. After breakfast at a Starbucks and discussion on what route to do, we packed and arrived at the base at 10ish. We started on the route a bit before 11. There are two teams in front of us. One of them is already high up. Another one is doing the first pitch when we arrived. They stopped short on pitch 1, not sure if it’s a route finding issue or they are just polite so that we can jump on the route as soon as possible. Anyways, Jack led the first rope and Yinan followed. I led the second one as Grace belayed me. The first few moves off the ground are the crux of the pitch, maybe even the whole route, technically. They are certainly stiff 5.7s, some even rate them 5.8. You can set a good piece below the roof, but you definitely don’t want to fall when you traverse under it. After you go over the first roof, all rest of the pitch is pretty straight-forward. We stopped at where the first team belayed, which is a large boulder. The official belay station is about 40 feet up on another ledge. Grace led the rest of pitch 1 and to belay 2, which is a pair of bolts in a chimney. Rope drag was an issue since Grace short clipped a couple cams.

I led the 3rd pitch, which is supposedly the crux pitch. I took the 5.7/5.8 varation on the face rather than the 5.6 chimney. It looks a bit harder but I was able to set 3 finger sized cams above the bolt. After that, it’s a serious runout. I looked down my last piece, prayed and went for it. There is probably a few soft 5.8 moves but in generally not too bad and the fall is mostly clean. The variation then merges with the chimney route, at which point I was able to stick in a #4 camalot. That made me feel a lot better. If you have a big bro of this size, I’d recommend bring it to this route. Another 20 or 30 feet easy moves finish this pitch under a big alcove. Jack praised me for leading this pitch fast (it was fast, I guess, it took no more than 15 minutes), I said ther is no place to put pieces anyway. Yinan and Grace led the next pitch. The first 30 feet of the pitch is rated 5.5 but we all think it’s sandbagged. Getting over the roof is a bit sketchy. After that it’s supposed to be 5.0 all the way. However I didn’t look around and followed the crack where Grace put in the pros and it felt like a 5.6 or 5.7.  End of this pitch is a huge platform where the tunnel begins.

You enter the tunnel by moving to the left. You can place a small piece right off the ground. Then it runs out at least 20 feet. Don’t fall or you are guaranteed to deck. Be very careful with the rock surface here. It could be quite slippery since water probably has been running down in the tunnel. After 20-30 feet up, I was able to find a place where I can sit on the back wall and put my feet on the front wall. It’s a very comfy position. I was even able to find a good size pocket on the back wall where I placed a #0.75 or #1 camalot. It’s a bomber placement. After that, you veer to the left a little bit, following a bulge with a think crack. You can place a blue TCU in the crack but I doubt it’d hold a serious fall. You go up and left from here without pros then traverse to the left above a wedge. The rock is pretty slippery and there is no good holds. But I was not worried since the wedge will catch a fall within 3 feet. The traverse leads out of the tunnel into a big crack/small chimney. Stay left of the chimney to a ledge to finish pitch 5. Rope drag of this pitch is more serious than any other pitches and that’s what I expected even I used double slings wherever possible. The rope was stuck in the cracks a few times when I belayed from the top as well. I had to ask Grace to place a piece and hang on it to free the rope. The final pitch starts on the right of the ledge and follows a crack system to a roof, which is probably the crux of the pitch, especially for short people. I was however able to high step onto a good hold about my chest height and push myself up so it wasn’t too hard for me although strenuous. We topped out before 4 and began descending the gully. It was very windy the whole day and it began to drop snow flakes when we were on the final pitch! I don’t know how often it snows here but my bet is not too often. We spent a little time trying to find the base. So you definitely want to take note where you left the pack (or bring everything with you on the climb). Very nice climbing today.