The Zipper

This is fun but sandy climbing on marginal pins and spinning quarter inch bolts. This route must go through many changes over the years. We felt like we were cleaning a new route. This does not see too much traffic. It is a good one to tick once the rest of the Garden is getting played out.

Pitch 1: Climb

Unzipped

to the two eye bolt belay at the base of the headwall. (One could climb

Cowboy Boot Crack

and then downclimb or lower to these anchors, but it would just add some more time.)

Pitch 2: The bizz. Climb up and right from the belay following old quarter inch bolts with no hangers. A fall here could be fun. Establish below the roof and clip the first pin. Pull the roof on sandy holds (5.10ish), then continue up the line of pins. The crux is the top two clips where the holds run out and the feet have been lost over time. Crux (5.11d??) Belay at a two drilled angle anchor with rap slings.

Pitch 3: Short and spicy. Climb up and right over loose rock to passed two pins to the summit.

Rap from here.

Descent Beta:

Rap off the east side of the spire off two drill angles into Tourist Gully. We beef'd up the anchor a bit with two new runners and put a locker on it. The Original is still in place with an old military cable thing and a single piece of shotty webbing. 1 60 meter rope will do the job for this route.

This is on Tweedledumbshire Spire on the Southwest side of North Gateway.

It is just above

Cowboy Boot Crack

.

Climbed

Unzipped

to get there.

Old drilled pins and quarter inchers. Yeah!

12 draws or so. Maybe a few extra just in case you wanna clip some manky stuff.

Bob D's book lists bringing a #3, 3.5 and a 4. We did not bring any of these. Nor would I have wanted to place one in that rock :)