West Arete

This is a steep, exposed route that is a good alternative if

Hair City

and the

West Buttress

are occupied or a good route just to do in its own right. Hike up the West Face of the Bastille past a large block to where the face first makes a sharp jog inward, forming a pocketed arete.

P1. Climb the arete, with tricky protection at first, then belay in a recess, or climb a chimney to a large ledge with bolts. You can rap from here to the ground, angling to the right up the hill, with a 70m. It can be done with a 60m if you are willing to do some reasonable but not entirely trivial downclimbing, or maybe without any downclimbing if you can swing really far to the right, but I can hardly recommend this. Knot the ends either way on this rap.

P2. If not rapping, choose from 3 alternatives above the belay: the West Face, a 5.8 crack to the right (with a rotten start);

Hair City

, which tackles the steepest part of the overhang at 5.9, directly above; or the

West Buttress

to the left, which climbs a shallow chimney over the left side of the overhang. All 3 reach another ledge, where one may belay or continue easily to the top of the Bastille.

A standard rack.