Whiteside Girdle

Not sure if we were the first to do this but we couldn't find anything saying otherwise. It was a great adventure and it took us 4 trips out there to link up the whole route without rappelling, pendulums or aid. Here is the beta for how we did it. Note the pitch lengths, we simulclimbed several times on this route. Belay numbers refer to the number on the topo in NC Selected Climbs. We added no bolts or other fixed hardware.

Start by scrambling out to the Port O' Call ledge. This can be difficult to find if you've never hiked on/off it.

P1: Off the far right side of the ledge downclimb a water groove into a right facing then move right out to a "diving board" feature. Move down and right reversing the "Highway to Hell" on The Promised Land past a bolt to a 2 bolt belay. 220' 5.9

P2: Climb right off the belay, down, right then back up to access the "3 Clover Ledge" on Blarney Stone to find a 3 rusty 1/4" bolt belay. Poor protection. 70' 5.9

P3: Downclimb the rotten dihedral on the left side of the ledge until you can build a decent belay in a small pod. 50' 5.9

P4: Move back up about 10' to a decent ledge follow ledge to the right past belay 4 on The Matrix to belay 3 on Little Miss Dangerous. 150' 5.9

P5: Walk right then downclimb easy corner to belay 3 on Warrior's Way. 120' 5.4

P6: Downclimb Warrior's Way passing 4 bolts or so before angling down and right to a right facing dihedral. Downclimb dihedral to gain belay 2 on The Great Ah Ha. Sketchy for the second. 180' 5.8

P7: Walk right along ledge the face climb up to another grassy patch. Clip the optional belay on pitch 3 of Volunteer wall and continue down and right over a series of left facing flakes. Move right along a ledge with grass and a tree past, belay 3 on Last of the Dixie Trads, to a gear belay #2 on Mainline. 300'’ 5.7

P8: Climb up 30’ to a ledge with loose blocks. Move right along ledge with some face climbing to belay 3 on Traditions. Very runout. 230'’ 5.8

P9: Downclimb 10’ off the belay then move right to a small right facing corner with a Mountain Laurel growing out of it. Move down around the Laurel then to the right to a large dihedral. A tricky move right crosses the dihedral brings you to belay 3 on The Original Route. 120'’ 5.10

P10: Go right past a huge grey dihedral to a grassy ledge. Boulder up over a bulge to another ledge and move right climbing down to the right end of a ledge with a large pine tree. 150’' 5.7

P11: Climb down off the right side of the ledge to another ledge. Move up and right over ramps passing a bolt and a tree. Belay at the far right side of a tree ledge. 240'’ 5.5

P12: Traverse right around a beautiful left facing dihedral. Continue past belay 2 on Clivis Multrum. Belay at the tree at belay 3 on Clivis Multrum. 150’' 5.6

P13: Climb pitch 4 of Clivis Multrum to a ledge with a gear belay in a wide horizontal (3"-4".) 100'’ 5.3

P14: Escape out the 4th class finish for Clivis Multrum.

Start on the Port of Call ledge and finish out the tree ledge on Catholic School Girls.

Typical runout Whiteside climbing with a few hair raisers. We brought nuts and a singe set of cams to 4" with doubles in the #1 and #2 camalots.