Riding With the King

Riding With the King is the best of the easy climbs at Secret Crag, and so I am surprised that it hasn’t been written up yet. It has good position and excellent rock with the exception of the initial red band. The current

Secret Crag from the Upper Ramp.

on the Secret Crag home page shows a climber on this route.

Start right of the belay with a difficult move at the first bolt by climbing either directly at the bolt or to the left. Pass three more bolts and suspect rock and clear the overhang at a notch. From this point, the leader is out of sight. Another bolt leads up a right facing corner to a good ledge and an optional two-bolt belay. You may want to belay here to facilitate communication or to provide a tighter belay on the first move for your second. It is not necessary to belay here to avoid rope drag if you use long slings on the first four bolts. Beautiful climbing on some big crystals and pebbles and solid plates with a few more difficult sections lead up and then slightly left to anchors at the top.

Approach: From the large, left-facing corner at the far right of the Tier B ramp (Book of Dreams), continue, carefully, another 20 feet, staying close to the wall, to a sloped but comfortable belay ledge with a bolt.

Descent: You can descend the route in 2 rappels, but I've twice rappelled the big, left-facing corner. A 60m just makes it to the ground (tie knots in the end). There is also a big ledge and tree about 20' above the ground in case your rope is a little short.

14 bolts plus anchors if done as one pitch. 8 draws plus anchors if done as two pitches. Include 4 long slings.