Witches Brew

I have seen different descriptions of Witches Brew and Witches Brew Direct. In my opinion, "Direct" is the only version worth considering. Any escape to the left or right does not make the climbing any easier, and you miss the best part of the climb.

Due to the length of the climb, the first time I did this I did it in two pitches, setting up a belay on the loose ledges at the base of the chimney. Don't do this. There is tons of loose rock on these ledges, rope management here sends showers of rocks down on to your belayer. I strongly suggest leading this climb in one long 160-foot pitch. the climbing is very easy, use some longer slings.

Climb the crack system using larger gear to the base of the Witches Brew Chimney (5.3). Climb the chimney--the key piece of pro will be on the south wall of the chimney--horizontal crack takes a pink Tri-cam or small C4.

Do not climb to the top of the chimney. You will get trapped under a chockstone. Instead, climb about 2/3 way up, then exit the chimney by stepping around the north corner onto the sunny exposed face to the left of the chimney (5.3). Easy climbing to the top.

PS. Please do not tie two ropes together and use this climb as a top tope. This is a nice easy lead for aspiring trad climbers. It doesn't make sense to tope rope such an easy climb.

At the far left (north) side of the Main Wall there is a small buttress--20 feet left of that there is a large tree at the base of a major crack system. This large crack system is 30-40 left of the small Main Street crack. If you back up to the railroad tracks you'll see the crack ends in a ledge area with lots of loose, broken rock and then directly above that there is a nice chimney finish.

There is a large tree on top to use as a belay. Walk off or use a two-rope rappel. A single 60M rappel will not make the ground.