Birdland

A beautiful climb with a variety of moves. This route is nice to do in the cooler months, as it's in the sun all day. Approach as to "The Brass Wall." This route is on "Brass Wall Left." The first pitch is also the start of a climb called "The Big Horn." Starts on a ledge with a single scrub oak.Pitch 1: Climb the obvious crack which shoots up to the big ledge. Continue up the well-protected varnished crack/face with lots of features for hands and feet. This pitch loves nuts! Climb straight up to the big ledge with a scrub oak. Bolted anchors. 5.6.Pitch 2: Stay right of the chimney (the chimney to the left of the anchors is the start of pitch 2 of The Big Horn.) Start on the face above the anchors. Climb up to a left-facing corner. There are a couple of little offwidth moves in this section. Stay right at the top of the chimney, stepping out of the alcove, then move left into the crack, climbing up to a ledge with loose rock and bolted anchors. 5.7.Pitch 3: Climb up about 10 feet and look to your left, for a left-leaning, right-facing corner/ramp. Follow the fun, narrow ramp, continuing to traverse left, to a protection bolt. The pro is a little tricky before the bolt: nuts in not too obvious seams. Move a little left of the bolt, then go straight up to the thin right-facing corner and up right to a ledge with bolted anchors. 5.7+.Pitch 4: Climb up and traverse right about 20-30 feet heading for black varnished face holds. Climb up the black varnished face, following the path of least resistance, to a belay at a small stance. The P4 belay can not be seen until about 15 feet from it. A good amount of gear can be had on this pitch. 5.6.Note: Don't go straight up from the belay; the climbing peters out into unprotectable face climbing on less than inspiring white/orange rock.Pitch 5: From the belay look up and right 60 feet or more for a light brown 2-3 ft roof (about 20-30 feet to the right of the belay). Birdland goes just left of the edge of that roof and up the nice crack that is above the roof and out of sight. This pitch ends with a beautiful finger crack to a triangular stepping stool to reach the anchors. The last moves to the belay are the crux. Fight for this pitch! 5.7+.Note: On pitch 5 do not go up and left. From the belay one can see white slings on an anchor about 30-40 feet left. This anchor is for a new route and not Birdland.Pitch 6: 5.7R, that I haven't done, which consists of climbing on loose rock, to an anchor. [admin's note: best to pass on pitch 6-- loose rock directly above the belayer, minimal pro, etc. Way out of character with the rest of the route.]Rap the route with two ropes or with one 70m rope. All the rap stations except the 1st have two sets of anchors, so it's pretty easy to rap past other parties who are still climbing.

Standard rack to 3". Bring a good selection of nuts and plenty of long runners as the route wanders a bit.