2nd

From Glacier Gorge Trailhead, hike the Loch Vale Trail to Sky Pond, then hike up talus to bottom of south buttress.

4th to mid 5th

From the grassy area at the very top of the gully, climb up and left along a ramp, belay at end of ramp. Then climb straight up to base of route. We did this in 2 pitches.

5.10a

Climb a small left-facing corner to a roof, then veer left and continue up the corner for about 80 feet. Traverse left to a good ledge at the west end of the face.

5.8

Climb a left-facing dihedral system past the left side of a blocky roof, and continue to a ledge atop a pillar.

5.9

 Traverse straight left (5.8), then follow thin cracks to the left end of the roof (5.9). Climb a left-facing dihedral along the left side of a hanging pillar and belay on a good ledge at its top.

5.9

Aim for a notch in the left edge of the face. Step around and climb the left of two conspicuous dihedrals to a good belay on the right.

5.9

Climb up and a bit right and join with the upper stretch of the right dihedral. belay on the crest of the ridge.

5.5

Scramble up the ridge crest to a little summit above a notch.

The route ends on a little summit above a notch. The true summit requires a downlclimb and a bit of 5.5 to get there.

5 Rappels

Either downclimb off the true summit or take the East Face Rappel Route (double ropes). We rappelled. This involved 5 double-rope rappels as follows:

Rap 1: Off summit block. 110'
.
Rap 2: Off slung block. 100'.

Rap 3: Off slung block. 150'.

Rap 4: Off slung block. 200' to a ledge. (Important: skip the intermediate rap anchor set back on the ledge with the sling to elongate it; pulling the rope from this would be very difficult and with double 60s you can reach the next ledge where there is a better anchor).

Rap 5: Off an anchor made of two nuts, a piton, and a couple of slings, on the edge of the chasm. 180' to the top of the approach gully. (Important: there is a nicer looking rap anchor on a boulder on the ledge, but the rope pull from this would be difficult if not impossible, so best to rap from the edge of the ledge.)

2020/21 Update: In July 2020, a bolted rap route was installed generally in the same locations as the slung blocks. See my 2021 trip report below for details.

2nd

From Glacier Gorge Trailhead, hike the Loch Vale Trail to Sky Pond, then hike up talus to bottom of south buttress.

5.6-5.8, 2 pitches

We chose to do the Snively-Harlen start, which takes a direct line up the lower section, down and left of the regular approach pitch start I had used with Dow on our July 2018 climb of The Saber. The Rossiter guidebook is a bit ambiguous about the difficulty of this start (seems to suggest 10b) but reading the route description a bit closer and actually doing the start, the start seems to be about 5.6. The fact that you don't have to scramble as far up the gully makes this my preferred start.

For the Snively-Harlen start, begin at the southeast corner of the buttress, right of a roof, and left of a "thumb-shaped" formation. Follow cracks and corners up and slightly left, then merge with the regular start.

The Snively-Harlen start to the base of the Southwest Corner took us 2 long pitches with about 20 feet of simulclimbing on each pitch.

5.10a, 130'

Climb a small left-facing corner to a roof, then veer left and continue up the corner for about 80 feet. Traverse left to a good ledge at the west edge of the face.

5.8, 120'

Climb a left-facing dihedral system past the left side of a blocky roof, and continue to a ledge atop a pillar.

5.9, 120'

Traverse straight left, then follow thin cracks to the left end of a roof. Climb a left-facing dihedral along the left side of a hanging pillar and belay on a good stance at its top.

5.9, 160'

Aim for a notch in the left edge of the face. Step around and climb the left of two conspicuous dihedrals to a good belay on the right.

5.9, 150'

Climb up and a bit right and join with the upper stretch of the right dihedral. Belay on the crest of the ridge.

5.5, 100'

Scramble up the ridge crest to a little summit above a notch. Find the bolted anchor of the East Face Rappel Route and belay here.

12,300'

The route ends on a little summit above a notch. The East Face Rappel Route (bolted anchor) starts here. The true summit requires a downlclimb and a bit of 5.5 to get there. We just finished at the little summit and began the rappels.

5 Rappels

Either downclimb off the true summit (this requires climbing to the true summit which we did not) or take the East Face Rappel Route from the subsummit where the route officially ends. As of July 2020, the East Face Rappel Route has bolted rap stations that are very close to the original slung block locations I had used when I climbed The Saber in 2018. This involved 5 double-rope rappels as follows.

Rap 1 (110 feet). Start behind the summit block on the initial sub summit, and rappel trending about 30 feet to the right.

Rap 2 (120 feet). The bolts are on a left-facing slab close to the edge of the ledge.

Rap 3 (130 feet). Continue down to a ledge system.

Rap 4 (200 feet). Do a rope stretcher rappel to a huge, sloping ledge/chockstone.

Rap 5 (180 feet). Rappel free hanging down to the grassy or snowy approach gully.

Note that climbers have reported to have rappelled the East Face Rappel route with a single 70. However, this would involve several non-bolted intermediate anchors and some scrambling. We were pretty satisfied with our choice to use double ropes, since the rappel descent went without a hitch, and easy rope pulls, and only took us 45 minutes to get to the descent gully. I did not spot a good intermediate anchor for the final hanging 180 foot rappel.