The Whole Enchilada

Post date: Sep 29, 2009 1:49:29 PM

The Big Dome on the Right is the most easily visible climbing feature from the roadway, at least to me. I drove by it for years just seeing a wonderful mountain, then as I got into climbing more and more, I wondered what routes and adventures had been done on it. I climbed other formations first because that's where my climbing partner had started and knew the routes. He had never been drawn to the chunky, blocky, varied face of the Big Dome, rather the cleaner lines of ascent on Red Dome and Silver Dome across the gorge. Big Dome had a lot of potential in my eyes, though...

In August three of us went in to seriously explore climbing options on Big Dome. We had photos to study, many hikes around the area, and experience on parts of the dome, having used it to rappel to the base of Red Dome and Silver Dome. An ascent from the river to the summit had not yet been made, though. On our first trip in we only went for half of the enchilada, hiking into the rappel tree and finding VERY dirty rock that was climbable to the summit. Two pitches from the rappel tree and we had reached third class and second class terrain. Not necessarily a line I would recommend to repeat, it had black crusty lichen covering everything. But there was at least a line to the top.

A few weeks later two of us returned and bit off the whole enchilada- we rappelled to the river and went for an ascent to the summit. The rappel in traverses a lot of face and we were going for a completely trad line- no bolts necessary. There were enough cracks and pods along the way that if the rest of the mountain proved unprotectable, we could at least follow the rappel route back out. But there had to be a better line.

We had lunch at the river, enjoying the cold alpine water in unusually warm fall temperatures in the 90s. The sun would not be a huge factor; thankfully the face gets shaded by 2 pm this late in the year. We started simply, sighting a general line up low angle terrain with many apparent seams and cracks that led up at least a pitch. Having spotted the general area to climb in, it was time to walk up to the rock and actually see if this would take protection- neither of us were willing to risk long runouts in remote territory like this.

Of the three cracks we saw, one was clean and looked inviting to climb, but was actually just a seam and wouldn't be protectable. The second crack was a different story. The crack had just enough soil in it to have small stubs of grass and other plant life growing out of it. Not fun to climb with vegetation, but it was the only line that would take pro, so up we went. There would be some gardening along the way to clear it, so we started up the Gardener's Route in the midday sun. A low angle crack on red granite with smooth water polished surfaces, but not so smooth that it was slippery, the pro went in well and the holds were positive. A good start for the day.

A series of large blocks made for some fun and bouldery static moves to gain a leftward ramp. The ramp was a good, walk that led to more cracks and a dihedral that left me climbing next to some very tantalizing knobs on a face, but that would take me away from the protectable crack, so I finished the first pitch, leaving that territory for another visit. I was tired of all the rope drag with just 5 or 6 meters of rope left, and pitch one luckily ended on a beautiful ledge with great protection.

Pitch two was more uncertain- there was an obvious large dihedral up and left, but it was at least two grades harder and not a consistent line with our current position. Going straight up would be a better choice, and it was up to the leader to determine if that would actually work. Half a rope length later, the second pitch belay station was built and I followed up some small cracks and face features between crack systems, enjoying the rock that had transitioned from red slightly slick granite at the base to larger crystal gray granite that formed an engaging mix of flared pods, clean edges, small cracks and good smearing face. My partner continued with the lead, having sighted a smaller crack system that was in line with our route and allowed us to save the large obvious dihedral for another line, another day. Pitch three was a very rewarding line with a right facing crack for the first thirty feet that formed a nice lieback, but was low enough angle that it was not strenuous. After gaining a ledge, the route moves right a few feet and follows a left facing crack system for about 60 feet before sloping off to the rappel tree level. The bottom half of the Big Dome had a clean, fun, easily climbable line all the way from the river to the rappel tree.

Gardener's Route, 5.6 FRA Tim and Denny, Sept 2009

The second half of the mountain was an entirely different flavor- the rock was just as dirty with black lichen as the last time, but a new line was apparent and much more appealing. After walking the rappel tree level to find the start for a new line, we led an easy fourth class ramp for 70 feet to moved to an actual face.

The face is a completely different zone from the low angle red and gray rock that characterizes the bottom half of the dome. Here the rock is closer to vertical, black and dirty, with horizontal cracks and large beautifully inviting jugs and knobs of quartz-rich rock extending out from the dark granite below that is such a wonderful habitat for the lichen that the lichen covers everything. Leading became a slow process of cleaning holds and cracks with my hands and feet, all with eyes closed to prevent any more bits from flying into my eyes. Placing solid pro on great holds easily made up for the "adventure layer" covering everything (to steal a phrase).

The third pitch was of a different character- the horizontal cracks that protected the second pitch so well disappeared. My partner took the lead and made a tremendous ascent that, unfortunately, didn't follow the best line. It was the best line we could see, chasing protection, but after climbing to a new stance it was obvious that a line straight up from the last belay station was the best choice and could be protected; the climb out left from the belay station was more obvious immediate protection but not a good line.

The summit of Big Dome was gained and a long standing goal had been accomplished- two routes that together allowed a river to summit ascent of the Big Dome on the Right. The rock that was so obviously appealing and climbable that I looked at for years I had finally actually climbed from the bottom to the top. And the best part is that there are so many other obvious lines... Future adventures await!

Are You Lichen It?, 5.9 with exposure! FA Tim and Denny Sept 2009