- Edit (TBD)
Description
The rock is perfect and so are the surroundings. Solid Gold is an excellent route at a moderate length offering a nice alpine challenge. Many feel that that the first pitch is the crux, although not the technical crux of the climb.
Pitch breakdown (copied from Max Tepfer's comment below):
P1 (5.10d) - Right leaning crack system to under the roof. Obvious and hard to miss.
P2 (5.11a) - Feels a lot like the previous .10d. Step out and right under the roof and follow the corner to a long #3 camalot-sized horizontal. Belay on gear while standing in the horizontal.
P3 (5.10a) - Link the next pitch to the slab with the 5.8 above. Be careful in the chimney exiting the slab as there's some rotten rock. Follow the seam arcing left on the left wall of the chimney. Belay on a large ledge at the base of the aesthetic last pitch.
P4 (5.11a) - Feels soft. Yes, you get to climb the perfect corner crack above your head. Climb up the corner on small gear for 50ish feet eventually stepping right to a small tree below the crest of the W. Ridge. If you're good about your drag and have enough gear, keep going to the ridge top where you can rap the back side or carry on the summit.
Location
Start right of the outside corner on the left flank of the face.
Protection
Double from Finger tips to #2 and one #3 worked great