I had climbed
Voyager (5.11c, 7p) on Fifi Buttress in October 2024 with Nate Beckwith and thought it was an excellent route. I wanted to someday climb
Center of the Universe (5.11-, 7p), another comparable 5.11 on the far left side of Fifi Buttress, a touch easier than
Voyager but equally high in quality.
In June 2025, I was in Yosemite Valley cragging with my friend Rob Dillon for a bit, and while the cragging was a blast, I was getting the itch for multipitch, and getting a bit higher off the ground (and a bit further from the bugs and heat). Rob gave me the go-ahead to find a partner for a multipitch route or two. Tucker Mihalik had recently made a partner post on mountainproject; he was working in Yosemite and looking for partners on his days off. I replied to his post and within minutes we had plans to meet the next morning at 9am in the Bridalveil Fall parking lot and climb
Center of the Universe (5.11-, 7p).
Tucker and I had a blast. We thought that every single pitch of the route was super fun and protectable. We climbed in fix-and-follow style, and block lead, with Tucker leading the first four pitches of route up to the large midway ledge, and me leading the last three pitches of the route. This worked out quite well, and we were at the top in no time, wishing the route were longer (in fact, the route does go on to the top of the buttress, but the rest of the pitches are not as travelled and are mostly moderate with no more 5.11).
On the hike out, we discussed plans for climbing again in a few days. When you're in a spectacular area and you find a good partner on the same page, you take advantage of it.
The following page gives overlay, time stats, and pitch-by-pitch photos for the climb. Enjoy!
