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Chasm View Wall, Royal Flush (5.11c, 10p)

Chasm View Wall

Route:

Royal Flush

5.11c, 10p

Camping and climbing in one of the most iconic locations in RMNP.

Region: Colorado

Elev: ~13,500 ft

Rock type: Granite

Type:

Date(s): July 29&30, 2022 (Fri&Sat)

Partner(s): Nate Arganbright

Related trip reports:

Chasm View Wall, Babies R Us (5.12a, 5p, toprope)

Chasm View Wall, Directissima (5.10b, 4p)

Chasm View Wall, Indirectissima (5.9, 4-6p)

Chasm View Wall, Red Wall (5.10b, 6p)

Chasm View Wall, Sharp on Both Ends (5.11d, 6p)

Route Overlay

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Intro

Royal Flush is one of the longer routes on Chasm View Wall, climbing the tallest portion of the wall in 10 pitches. The route finishes begins as for Invisible Wall, then crosses Tip Toe, and finally finishes with the beautiful right-facing dihedrals in the upper wall.

Nate and I climbed Royal Flush on a weekend overnight at the Boulderfield, a vast sweep of rock located at 12,760 feet on the north side of Longs Peak, located about 1500 feet below the 14,259 foot summit. We had planned on also climbing a route on The Diamond on Sunday, but heavy rain on Saturday night and early cloud build-up on Sunday morning caused us to wisely decide to hike out. Nevertheless, it was worth it to just climb Royal Flush and hang out in the alpine for the weekend. Nate and I thought Royal Flush was a worthy route, with some excellent stretches of climbing (namely, the 10b Pitch 3, the 10a corner of Pitch 6, and the crux 11c thin crack on Pitch 7), mostly good climbing otherwise, and climbing the tallest section of the wall.

The following page provides a trip report for the climb and our overnight in the Boulderfield. Enjoy!

Time Stats

Longs Peak Trailhead to Boulderfield (with overnight packs and in a rainstorm): 3 hours 26 minutes
Boulderfield to base of Chasm View Wall via "Fifth Avenue": 1 hours 2 minutes
Climb Royal Flush: 4 hours 50 minutes
Top of route to camp in Boulderfield: 30 minutes

Pitch-by-Pitch Photos

Approach

2nd-3rd

The approach depends on where you start. It is probably most common to start from the Longs Peak Trailhead: Starting from the Longs Peak Trailhead, hike up to Chasm Lake and from there to the base of Chasm View Wall. However, on this trip Nate and I started from the Boulderfield, since that is where we were camping: Starting from the Boulderfield, hike to the ridge connecting Mt. Lady Washington to Chasm View. Either descend the Camel Gully or for a more direct but lesser known approach descend "Fifth Avenue" directly to the base of Chasm View Wall (we descended "Fifth Avenue").

Note: There seems to be a bit of confusion as to the exact Fifth Avenue route and route name (alternative names include Fisherman's Folley, Fisherman's Fantasy, 42d Street, Positively 4th Street). I was psyched to be able to gather some beta for the Fifth Avenue connector route between the Boulderfield and Chasm Lake Cirque. It is definitely the most efficient way to the base of Chasm View Wall from the Boulderfield. I added some photos (the ones with green headers and annotations) to my Diamond Beta Page.

Pitch 1

5.9

Follow a left-angling ramp and corner system. This is the first pitch of Invisible Wall.

Pitch 2

5.8

Follow cracks up and left to a roof as for Invisible Wall. Leave that roof by jamming a hand crack though the right side of the roof, and belay at the bottom of a slot.

Pitch 3

5.10b (5.9 R)

Squeeze up the slot and a strenuous finger/hand crack, then traverse right via knobs and belay at a flake. The final traverse is rated 5.9 R in the guidebook, but we located sufficient gear placements that it didn't feel very runnout.

Pitch 4

5.8

Follow a dihedral to a diagonal roof. Climb up and left beneath the roof to a fault line on Tip Toe, and then go up a broken dihedral system. Set up a belay on any of the several ledges. Or link with Pitch 5.

Pitch 5

5.6

Scramble up and left along the big ramp on Tip Toe, then climb up to a stance at the bottom of a long right-facing dihedral.

Pitch 6

5.10a

Stem up the beautiful dihedral and exit to the left. Climb 15 feet, then traverse 20 feet left to the right end of a small roof. Move down and left 10 feet and belay.

Pitch 7

5.11c (crux pitch)

Climb around the left side of the roof and follow a thin crack (crux) to a ramp. Go up and left along the ramp, then work straight up to a big grassy ledge that is the right end of Broadway.

Pitch 8

5.6

Move the belay up and right and climb a short wall to the bottom of a chimney. Be aware of where the rope is since it drags through loose rocks on the Broadway ramp.

Pitches 9&10

5.9 R & 5.9 (Notch Exit Left)
5.7 (V-Notch Exit)
5.7 A0 (Chasm Cut-Off)

PITCHES 9&10 via Notch Exit Left: Offwidth up the loose and poorly protected chimney to a ledge 30 feet below a square notch in the ridge crest. Climb to the left side of the notch.

PITCHES 9&10 via V-Notch Exit: Climb the steep chimney and corner system that leads to the V-Notch. This is just right of Notch Exit Left. This is the way we went.

PITCHES 9&10 via Chasm Cut-Off: Follow the ledge system right along the lowest band of schist that runs across the top of Chasm View Wall. The crux occurs where the ledge fades and one is confronted with a small overhang; climb this directly by pulling on a fixed pin.

Top

The route tops out at a notch on the ridge to the right of Chasm View.

Descent

3rd

There are a few options. You can descend easily to the Boulderfield and gain the trail to Longs Peak Trailhead. Alternatively, you can return to Chasm Lake via the Camel Gully or Fifth Avenue.

Other Photos

Below are some other photos from our weekend surrounding our climb of Royal Flush.

Our camp

In March, Nate was lucky enough to secure us an overnight permit for camping in the Boulderfield, a vast sweep of rock located at 12,760 feet on the north side of Longs Peak. This spot provides quick access to the popular Keyhole Route (3rd) and North Face / Cables (5.4) route and more importantly (for us) to Fifth Avenue / Camel Gully or Chasm View Rappel Route, which can be used to access the base of Chasm View Wall or the Diamond, respectively. We camped in the Boulderfield for two nights (Friday and Saturday nights). Storms passed through both afternoons/evenings, but fortunately our tent kept us dry and warm. This was my first time camping overnight in the Boulderfield. What a marvelous place to hang out for the weekend!