Blood of the Monkey

A fantastic and highly involving route that ascends the full east face of the Needle. There are fantastic rope-stretching crack pitches intermixed with delicate face climbing, and sometimes very gymnastic/sporty sections too. Rock quality varies between "very good" and "very alpine" but we didn't pull off any big chunks on our ascent. I hesitate to rate it "R" as the majority of the route is reasonably protected, but at times anchor set-up requires extra attention and some 5.10-5.11 sections can be dangerous to fall from, especially considering the scale, altitude and remoteness of the face.

Through my correspondence with Myles after our ascent (being the 5th, according to him), I learned that the route was intended to be "bold" and I have to agree that it is certainly not just another alpine route. My personal opinion would be that if you are not regularly onsighting 5.12- trad routes, this would be a big cake to slice (especially in one day). Some 5.11 sections would require lots of creativity and tolerance for spice to aid through.

There is one 2-bolt anchor and one 1-bolt anchor on the entire route; there are a few hangerless button heads along the way that you could bring hangers for, but we managed just fine without. Retreating would certainly mean leaving gear. This is a serious and demanding outing on one of the very highest faces in the whole Sierra Nevada, therefore before you contemplate getting on the route, you should read the FA's trip report (link below).

For topo, read Amy's trip report here:

http://www.supertopo.com/tr/Keeler-Needle-Blood-of-the-Monkey-VI-5-12-16-pitches-F-A-Moser-Ness-May-28-2012-June-6-2012/t11495n.html

The AAJ has some more info:

http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201212195/Day-Needle-BCB-On-The-Prow-Keeler-Needle-Blood-of-the-Monkey

Watch their video compilation here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjADK8zIwEc

Our trip report here (Aug 2019):

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/117613712/blood-of-the-monkey-512-16-pitches-2000-on-the-keeler-needle-14260-trip-report

Park at Whitney Portal. Take the North Fork trail to Iceberg Lake, or stop on the talus field just in front of the east face. For route info, refer to the topo drawn by the FA team.

50m half ropes, set of nuts, micro cams from 0 C3 to green alien, double rack up to #3, single #4, optional extra #4 and #5.