Slab Time Crack is the prominent crack a few feet to right of the upper half of Slab Time. Easy face climbing leads to a prominent right facing flake. Climb the flake to the base of Slab Time Crack. Follow this crack to the anchors. Slab Time Crack shares the anchor with Slab Time and STD.

Descent: Rappel with two 60m ropes from the anchor shared with Slab Time.

Slab Time Crack

Muscle Fat

Party of Two

Family Flake

Grand Central

Pedestal Center

Beer Gut

Garden Party

Metal Pecker

Small Arch Left Side

Double Down

Hops'n'Barley

Slab Time

Slab Time is located approximately twenty feet to the right (south-west) of Party of Two. Low angle climbing leads to the first of three bolts which is slightly down and to the right of a small bush growing out of the slab. From the first bolt ascend a seam (no protection) to a good right-leaning crack (gear to 3"). When the crack ends, climb the slab past two more bolts (some 5.8+) to the belay.

Descend: Rappel with two 60m ropes.

Scramble as high as comfortable on the easy slab and establish a gear belay.

P. 1: Wander up easy slabs with little pro to a small ledge just left of the downward-facing point. Gear belay. 5.3, 200'.

P. 2: Follow the arching corner up and left to an obvious wide crack that breaks through a short headwall. Up this (crux) to double cracks on the lower-angled slabs above. Gear belay; if you stretch out the rope, there's a small stance with a decent crack (and you can probably finish in one more pitch instead of two), but you won't be able to see your partner on the crux. 5.7, 100-200'.

P. 3: Follow the double cracks up to the ledge and bolted anchor at the top of Beer Gut. 5.4, 100-200+' (depending where you ended the second pitch). The gear is a bit spaced and thoughtful, but OK.

Rappel Beer Gut with two ropes. You won't be able to see the station at the bottom of the first rappel until you're some distance down.

A quality, moderate line. The wide crack section is short, and pretty reasonable.

The right side of the Garden Party buttress is a right facing open book. Party of Two ascends this book using discontinuous cracks and the face. The rappel anchors are shared with Garden Party and are located on top of the Garden Party buttress.

The crack in the lower portion of the climb is somewhat dirty, but the dihedral crack in the upper section is stellar. Placing protection on this climb is a little bit more difficult than on Garden Party.

Descend: Rappel with two 60m ropes.

Family Flake shares the first pitch and a part of its second pitch with Muscle Fat. Where Muscle Fat departs from the flake and turns right to follow a diagonal crack, Family Flake continues climbing up the flake and then traverses left to the anchors of Metal Pecker.

Pitch 1 (5.3 PG). Scramble up low 5th class slabs to a gear belay (small cams) beneath the bottom of the right side crack below the Small Arch.

Pitch 2 (5.6). The flake is 5.5 but save one 2 cam to place as the last pro before the 5.6 traverse to the belay station (shared with Metal Pecker). The traverse is on an easy slab with knobs but it takes no pro.

Descend: 240 feet. Two 60 meter ropes required plus short third class walk-off.

Grand Central is a 6-pitch route that reaches the summit of the North Buttress. The route is 5.7 or easier, except for five short sections ranging from 5.8 to 5.10a. The 5.10a crux is a short overhanging hand crack on pitch 6. The route is Grade III 5.10a or 5.9 C1 PG13.

(1)5.7. 165 feet. 1 bolt. Follow a series of single and parallel cracks to where they end to the left of a large roof (5.4 - 5.6). Traverse up and slightly right to join a long crack fifteen feet above the large roof on the right. As this crack ends, climb up and right to the anchor with bolt-protected 5.7 face climbing which is the crux of the first pitch.

(2)5.8. 150 feet. 5 bolts. Climb past two bolts (some 5.8) to a small dihedral. Step up left to a ramp and another bolt. Ascend slightly up and left to another bolt on a face. Diagonal up and to the right below the obvious small bush to a ledge with a bolt. This ledge is slightly higher and to the right (looking up) of the small bush. Climb 5.8 face to the belay.

(3)5.8. 180 feet. Face climb (8 bolts) to anchor at base of The Ramp.

(4)5.7. 190 feet. 3 bolts. Climb The Ramp using a combination of the crack and face climbing. There is a bolt where the crack becomes a seam and two more bolts near the end of the pitch. The belay is on a good stance next to some small trees. Extending all the pro with slings is highly recommended.

(5) 5.9. 140 feet. 4 bolts. From the belay move up a few feet above the belay bolts and then traverse right above the trees by the belay to a bolt below a small tapering roof. Go around or over the bottom of the roof and then up past two bolts to a thin crack which leads up and right. Follow the crack (protected with an old fixed piton and small cams) until it ends then delicately ascend (5.9) to a bolt. From here climb mostly straight up until coming to a ledge. The anchors are to the left/north on the ledge. Extending all the pro with slings is highly recommended.

(6)5.10a or 5.7-5.8 C1. 190 feet. 1 bolt. Ascend slightly up and left from the belay to a bolt (5.7-5.8). Climb from here up a sloping ramp to the obvious corner above and to the right of the belay. Ascend the crack (5.10a) by jamming/lie-backing. This crack can also be aided at C1. An optional belay can be placed just above the crack to better protect the follower. Continue right/south along the ramp until the wall above it ends, and it is possible to exit up to the ridge. There are several belay points within twenty feet above the end of the wall.

From the last belay, scramble about 100 feet of easy 3rd class to the top.

Descent

(refer to 3 beta photos): After topping out on the ridge, go up the ridge about 100 yards and follow some easy ledges/slabs down and left (east).

As you descend, aim for the solitary, ~20 tree that has no lower branches, a roughly light tan trunk, and one dead branch pointing straight up. From the tree, diagonal down towards the very obvious, large dead tree that is just beyond the edge of the slab at the bottom of the ridge.

From the lower tree, work over and down to within a few hundred feet of the top edge of the buttress. You may find a line of cairns here which lead down to the base of the buttress. Hike down around the east side of the buttress. No down-­climbing is necessary (stay away from the edge).

At the base of the buttress where the slabs meet the talus, there are some choices: (1) A quick traverse through the top of the talus leads back around to the center of the Buttress and the JMT. (2) Traverse around the bottom of the talus field and then work over to the base of the buttress or the JMT. (3) Continue down through the east edge of the burned area and traverse back over and up (roughly northwest) to the JMT at the point where you first see the Buttress when you are coming up the JMT from the parking lot.

Toprope the center of Pedestal using the Pitch 2 anchors of Double Down (but please do not use the rappel rings for the toprope to prevent premature wear of the rings).

Enjoyable face climbing ranging from lower fifth-class to 5.8. Two 70 meter ropes would be required for the top-rope with the belayer on the ground. However it is better to comfortably belay the toprope from the Pitch 2 rappel station with a 60m rope.

Descend: Two 60 meter ropes required plus short third class walk-off.

STD follows the right-facing dihedral about ten feet left of the upper half of Slab Time. Climb the lower portion of Slab Time past the bolt to the bottom of the dihedral. Follow the dihedral to the anchor which is shared with Slab Time and Slab Time Crack.

Descent: Rappel with two 60m ropes from the anchor shared with Slab Time.

Start: Scramble 50' or so up the easy slabs and belay off gear in a small right-facing flake-corner.

P. 1: Easy slabs with little protection, up to a bolted anchor on top of a flake. 5.3, 200'.

P. 2: Friction up and left into the large right-facing corner. Follow this to a ledge with a bolted anchor. This is a fun pitch and way easier than it looks from below. 5.6,160'.

P. 3: Climb up the steeper wall directly above the belay, stepping first a bit left and then back right, to join a smaller right-arching corner and crack system. Follow the crack until it fades out, at the base of a field of big knobs. Climb the knobs (not hard, but no protection to speak of) up and a bit left to a ledge and bolted anchor. 5.7-, 170'.

Rappel the route with two ropes. The crack system continues up through the summit visor, but the rock quality deteriorates a bit.

A quality route. Rated 5.8 in the Falkenstein guide; we thought it was more like 5.7-, though thought-provokimg in spots.

Garden Party is on a small buttress containing a number of discontinuous, parallel vertical cracks, 400 feet right of the toe of the Buttress.

Climb the face, the cracks, or a combination of both.

This is a great route for practicing pro placement. Start on the finger crack on the left side, then step over to the hand crack on the right side. Above the tree, the crack widens from hand to fist to off width. The angle of the rock is low and it is very easy to place good pro almost anywhere on the route.

Clever pro placement to the right of the small tree half-way up avoids dragging the rope through the tree (which is covered with sap).

Several fun top-­ropes are possible from the anchors.  This is a very full 60-meter pitch.

Descend: Two 60 meter ropes required to rappel from a 2-bolt anchor with rappel rings.

Pitch 1 (5.3 PG). Scramble up low 5th class slabs to a gear belay (use small cams) beneath the bottom of a flake.

Pitch 2 (5.7 PG). Climb past 5 bolts to a two bolt anchor with rappel rings under a small arch. Good friction climbing on small knobs.

Descend: 240 feet. A single rappel using two 60 meter ropes plus short third class walk-off.

GPS N37.86256 W119.39920.

Toprope the slab from the anchors of Metal Pecker. Multiple toprope routes in the range of 5.7 - 5.9 are possible.

The route starts in a small depression 400 feet left of the toe of the Buttress and 200 feet above and to the left of a large crack that runs diagonally left and up the North Buttress. There is a discolored rock pattern on the right side of the depression, and a short crack runs up the face through the back of the depression.

The first pitch goes up the face a few feet to the left of the crack. The second pitch follows the flakes to the right and ends on top of a pedestal.

Pitch 1 (5.7) 140 feet. 5 bolts and an optional 1-2" cams in horizontal cracks to protect climbing before the first bolt.

Pitch 2 (5.4) 80 feet. Cams: 1 each 1.25-3. Optional extra 2.

Descend: Two 60 meter ropes are required to rappel. A single rappel with two 60m ropes from the pitch 2 anchor leads to a short third-class walk-off to the ground. It is possible to rappel with a single 70m rope using 2 rappels.

GPS N37.86229 W119.39870.

The route starts in a crack at the upper end of a large left-facing dihedral 50 feet right of the toe of the buttress.

Pitch 1 (5.5) 170 ft. cams 1 ea 1-3". Two bolt anchor with rappel rings.

Pitch 2 (5.6 PG) 180 feet. Climb past 5 bolts to a two bolt anchor with rappel rings. This pitch is high quality 5.6 friction climbing. It may feel a little bit run out between the bolts to a 5.6 leader new to Tuolumne slab climbing. This pitch was originally rated at 5.7 but several climbers who repeated the route found an easier line between the bolts that is no harder than 5.6.

Description

Protection

Routes in North Buttress