Curious George Goes to the Park

The cliff looks like a giant jumble, so describing the route is a challenge; perhaps the photos will help. Generally, the climb follows weaknesses up to what looks from the base like the notch between the right and the center towers at the skyline (the “towers” are illusory).

P1: Up furrows, trending left to a short headwall that gains a ramp/corner that heads up and back right. (200’)

P2: Up and a little left to an orange face of impeccable rock bounded on its left by a shallow, left-facing corner. Up the corner and orange face to an adequate stance. (200’)

P3: Up; then head up and left, looking for gear and a stance in right-facing corners. A short pitch; the objective is to keep your belayer protected from rockfall. Some loose rock on this pitch that would clean up with traffic/gardening. (80’)

P4: Arc up and right to the weakness in the overhanging headwall. Up. (200’)

P5: Continue up to the ridge. (60’)

300 feet of 3rd/4th class, climber’s left (east) along the ridge (the West Ridge route) will return you to terra firma.

The cliff can be accessed via ~3 hour hike from the May Lake trailhead; hiking gains the north/south ridge separating Tuolumne Peak from That Scary Buttress/SAR Peak; continue hiking down to the west face of Tuolumne Peak.

Start at the base of the cliff on a flat lay-out-all-your-stuff area up, below low-angle grooves, (climber’s) left of a clump of trees, and just right of the arete that ends casual walking to the north-east (climber’s left) as one traverses the bottom of the cliff from the south shoulder.

standard rack