Ribbon Falls Amphitheater is a pretty unique place in Yosemite. Splitter cracks, many filled with grass, are everywhere. The waterfall dries up early in the year and doesn’t affect most of the routes even when it’s roaring. The approach is about an hour of hiking with 1300 feet of elevation gain.

Gates of Delirium follows a compelling natural line on the East Face of the Ribbon Falls Amphitheater. Despite the fact that the left wall of the Gates dihedral juts out like a glowing blade begging to be climbed, the first ascent of this obvious line was relatively recent, in 2002 by Sean and Jake Jones. The ten-pitch route follows continuous cracks and corners on very high quality granite. All the belay stations are fixed chains, making the climb feel less committing than many similar size Valley routes. The climbing is well protected, and the bulk of the climbing is endless 5.10 hands and fingers corner cracks, physical in nature. The most difficult sections of the route (for us) were the 5.12a section on Pitch 1, the 5.11a offwidth on Pitch 8, the long insecure 5.11a corner on Pitch 9, and the overhanging 5.11 Pitch 10, but all of these sections were easily done at 5.10 C1 if needed. The setting and positions are super cool. The only real cons of this route are some grassy cracks and pokey shrubs. The route is a sun trap, which was great for our November ascent, but it is likely scorching much of the year.

I climbed this route with Matt Allen, whom I had first met a week previously when we climbed Jericho Wall Free (5.12-, 8p) together. We climbed in fix and follow mode, with Matt leading the first nine pitches. I led the last pitch.

I will admit that while I freed everything 5.10 and lower and several 5.11- moves and the 5.11b fingercrack on Pitch 8, I would say I climbed the route at 5.11- C1, french-freeing a few short sections including the 5.12a crux, half of the 5.11a offwidth, and the hard sections of the final pitch. To me, the cruxes seemed a bit stout for the grade, whereas the non-cruxes were quite reasonable.

The following page gives time stats and pitch-by-pitch photos for the climb. Enjoy!