Direct North Face

This Route is on the shaded North face of the Sibling. There are 2 possibilities here, the direct, and the 'non-direct' traverse-in. The second (non-direct) eliminates most of the technical difficulty, but also most of the grunge. It is also probably a better route, as it still hits all of the 'fun' climbing.

The best approach to this route is probably up to the North side of the rock from Shadow Canyon trail, but we had been on the west side and dropped down to there from the West face, which we approached from the South.

This climb ascends the North Face from near an old, rotted-out tree stump. The relatively direct line of climbing first ascends a face for 40 or 50 feet (5.10, S/VS) to intersect a series of diagonal 'slashes' that are very well protected (5.10a) and rides those to the top of the rock, perhaps 3 meters East of the true summit.

Alternatively, one can traverse in to the system of cracks from near the NW arete, at it's base. The route is given 1 star. That describes my experience with it, including some cleaning of loose rock and lichen. My partner enjoyed it more than did I. I will probably be more of a 2-star route once it is well-cleaned.

Be mindful of the loose blocks on top when setting an anchor. Not all that glitters is gold. To descend, rap from the fixed anchor on the rock's west end.

At present it was only TR'd to clean and inspect. The route has not been lead yet.To lead it, bring a standard light rack and some strong nerves. Narrow TCUs/Aliens would be good. The top protects on hand-sized cams.