The Moratorium is three (sometimes four) pitches of technical and powerful stemming and jamming up a steep, right-facing corner system at the base of El Cap. The first pitches go at 5.10d, 5.10d, 5.11b, and all are generally thought to be challenging at the grade. The fourth pitch is 5.9, and most parties stop after three pitches--the meat of the route is over, and you can rappel from the top of the third pitch but must walk off from the top of the fourth pitch.

I had climbed the first two pitches of The Moratorium in 2018, but we had not climbed the third pitch because my partner dislocated his shoulder while leading the second pitch. Finally, in fall 2024, I climbed the route again and experienced the crux third pitch.

Nate led the entire route. It was 22 days post tibial plate fracture for me, so following sounded like a less poor idea than leading. Plus, Nate does a much better job at leading that I would when the climbing gets hard. The crux pitch was a bit wet at the crux. Even without the moisture, we agreed that it felt quite stout for 5.11b.

With all the stemming and liebacking and jamming, this route was pretty knee/leg intensive. I hardly thought about my fracture. Guess I've somehow climbed myself into being healed three weeks early. Nope, guess I am not taking a moratorium from climbing. (I think that is how the word is used; moratorium: "a temporary prohibition of an activity".)

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