Ecclesiastes

If you are looking to lead an all natural gear 5.12 at Palisade Head then Ecclesiastes should be on top of your list. Although, to be fair, it’s a pretty short list. This classy line starts with some bouldery and committing moves right off the deck, with a terrible landing below. If you blow it and hit the deck, there’s a good chance you won’t be walking away from it, let alone climbing out. Rough water behind you could certainly put the fear of god in you.

At 15’ you will reach your first good piece of gear, a #1 BD. Above this the crack opens up into a splitter of sorts, with killer positioning and just enough face relief to keep the rest of the route in the .10+ range. You can belay on the ledge or continue to the top with some bigger cams (#2, #3 BD).

At some point in the winter season of 2017/2018 a monster storm swept away the starting boulders, thus changing the nature of the route dramatically. It is reportedly even scarier and harder than before. Although a work around would be to preplace a good, high first piece of gear while you are rapping in, and setup your lead line accordingly. The Head will always be bad place to break a leg or worse.

North Annex

An assortment of cams, wires.