Monday, May 10, 2010

Guidebook: Gunks - Easy Keyhole (5.2), Bunny (5.6)

Easy Keyhole (5.2) - Two Pitches - Trad - Tree Anchors


Approach: One of the first climbs in the Trapps, walk down the carriage road until you get to the first obvious face with climbing on it (obviously on the left-hand side). Walk up the first path (has stone steps) after this face (around the corner from the arrete) to a thin crack on the left and an off-width on the right. Both are within 10 feet of the carriage road. Not a good route for beginning trad leaders.

Pitch One (5.2) - 60 feet - Tree Anchor: Stem the block that forms the offwidth on the right and jam the crack on the left (crux). Climb straight up this section to the roof. Climb up to the roof and exit left, belaying at a tree.


Pitch Two (5.1) - 60 feet - Tree Anchor: Walk right of the tree to the "keyhole." Climb up on the left-hand side, then trend left to the large ledges above. Belay from any of the solid trees.

Descent: Walk off left along the easy path that fades right. You will end up about 50 feet uphill from the start of the climb.

Bunny (5.6) - One Pitch - Trad - Tree Anchor

Approach: Walk down the carriage road to the Uberfall area. About twenty feet left of where the obvious roof starts, find the crack in a shallow, right-facing corner that starts a couple of steps up from the road that.

Bunny (5.6) - 130 feet - Tree Anchor: Climb the corner straight up to the tree. Climbing the roof that is midway up the route directly results in a 5.6. Stepping left and going around it makes this easier (5.4). A great route for beginning trad leaders. Belay at the tree that has slings for rappel.

Descent: Rap off the slings on the tree with two 60m ropes. Or, walk off right. The walk-off to the right has an easier-than-it-looks down-climb that is about 150 feet to the right of the climb.

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