Mega Chimney

If you like squirming, this route is on the verge of awesome. There are so many reasons not to like this route, it becomes impossible not to love it. Lots of decomposing rock, lack of a true summit, and the fact that you will need to lug giant gear up the terrible trail-less approach are all evidence that effort = enjoyment.

But seriously, if you own tons of big gear and you want practice on an easy squeeze chimney, this is a fun route. Stem, chimney, and squirm your way up till the chimney splits. The right side continues up a mossy groove. At the big, rotten, down-facing spike, exit left and up an easy off-width crack to the top.

Gear Beta

Using a #5 and #6 you can protect the first half by back cleaning them from safe stances. When the crack gets steep and wide, leave the #5 as high as possible then the #6. If you don't ever want to be above your gear, there is a small runout section before you can get another #6. This section could be protected with a Valley Giant or blue Big bro. But it's not necessary since the chimney is so secure. A #4 protects the exit left. I used a #5 for the final crack, but if you didn't have another one, a #4, #3, or even a #2 might do the job....

Find the bolt routes on the South face of the Mega Dome. This is the first big crack uphill to the right.

From the top ,walk down a ramp to the left. You can rap from cold shuts above the route,

Left Hand of Darkness

. A 70m will just make it to the starting ledge of that route, but the downclimb from there is a little sketchy and the rope pull is hard. You might want to have a 2nd rope handy for the rappel....

1-#4, 2-#5s, 2-#6s; something for an anchor (many options between 0.75 and #4), optional #4 Big bro (blue).