Central Buttress/5.7 start

This is a pleasant climb up the obvious rounded arête splitting the Lower Great Face; however, it utilizes an easier start to the right (in the land of many dihedrals) to gain the arête 200 feet up. The actual rounded arête looked challenging for the group I was with that day, so we looked left, then right for less bulging terrain.

P1. To the right of this arête, we used a nice crack/dihedral system for perhaps 100 feet, 5.6, from there a traverse into more alpine-feeling terrain and a slight left-angling line took us to a perch with ok belay with a wire, #0.75 Camalot, #1 Camalot, and red Alien, 200 feet.

P2. Move up alpine-feeling rock to a mid-cliff break and continue up exquisite, beautiful, face climbing reminiscent of an toned-down version of Hallett Peak, 5.5, 200 feet.

P3. Easier climbing arcs slightly to the left to a ledge system short of the top. One last bit and you're there. Beware of rope drag with this last bit. 5.4, 200 feet. Walk off East into the gully between the Upper and Lower Great Faces and skirt the Lower Great Face on the North end.

Certainly there are harder variations to this line, 5.10b Rossiter & Griebe, 5.10d Gillett & Snively, but the path of least resistance described here is a delightful romp.

Wires, hexes, a single set of cams to #4 Camalot, and a 60m are useful.