The Slit

The Slit is a nice pitch if you're in the area and is a good approach to routes on Wall of Winter Warmth. Rossiter says the FA was in 81, although the trad routes above on the Wall of Winter Warmth were done in the 60s and early 70s. Perhaps The Slit needed cleaning? Otherwise it would have been an obvious approach pitch back then, as it is today.

Approach:Hike the slope above and left of the tourist trail to Boulder Falls to a window in the rock. Descend the other side back to the creek. Follow the left side of the creek until it is feasible to cross it (it may not be feasible if water is high). Follow the right side of the creek to base of the south facing Wall of Winter Warmth. There is a large terrace about 100' up. The Slit it the obvious hand and wider crack in the slab below this terrace.

There are several short bolted, mixed, and trad routes left of the The Slit. In right-to-left order starting from The Slit: Leader of the Pack 11c - 2 bolts to a flared finger crack; Alpha Bob 11d - 4 bolts; Closed Open Space 9 - 4 bolts plus gear; Mini Moe 5.2 - The gully; Escutcheon 10c - Thin crack left of the gully.

The climb: Climb the crack and the easy upper slab to the terrace. The crux is when the crack jogs right a bit and then widens. The hardest part for me was hanging out in a layback getting a big piece in the wide part to protect the final move to a good in-balance stance. It would have been better to make the move first--it wasn't that hard. The upper slab takes a couple of small cams and then is run out but very easy.

Descent: Walk right and descend or use the bolt anchor for Leader of the Pack, just to the left as you start the upper slab.

Single cams from finger sized (for slab above crux) to #4 Friend or 3.5 Camalot. A #4 Camalot is convenient but not necessary--you can move it up after the crux into a nice pocket. Big nuts work well at the bottom.