For Levitation, Kyle and I decided to bivy at the base of the climb. We drove up Saturday and had a leisurely hike to the base of the route. The near full moon illuminating the sandstone walls was amazing. As for the climb, I can see why it’s Lynn Hill’s favorite. It is very well protected with fun moves on a fantastic steep wall.
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Kyle negotiating the faster 3rd and 4th class approach.
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Moonlit view of our objective.
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Messing around with my point and shoot’s time lapse feature. Here we capture my laser beam eyes.
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Kyle cruises the tricky liebacking and stemming of the first pitch.
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Here I am approaching the crux of P2. This pitch was super fun.
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Kyle at the crux of P2
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An old quarter incher placed by Jorge/Joanne Urioste.
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P3. Cruiser 5.8 crack and edges reminiscent of Crimson Chrysalis
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Just past the 11c crux. Crack climbing technique is very handy here. I sent it clean, but had to rest a couple bolts above for lack of endurance.
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Kyle following P5 to the hanging belay. My back still hurts from this one.
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P8
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P9
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Top of pitch 9. We rapped from here using a single 70m rope with no problems.
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We had read that the rappel from P4 was tight. It worked out perfectly for us.
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The rappels took about 1 hour.
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Someone topping out Solar Slab.
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We got a good deal for a room at the Rio where we encountered this oddity. A window from the main room into the shower.
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This amazing line starts straight out of the wash, the lowest part of the canyon and ascends 2000+ feet to the summit, with about 1600 ft of technical climbing.
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Jonathon and Kyle at the P1 belay.
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Enter the chimney pitches.
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Jonathon and Stephen let us pass midway through the chimneys. Thanks guys!
Kyle following the handcrack at the end of the second chimney pitch.
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Stephen leading P4.
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After the chimneys we found pitch after pitch of amazing, gym-like edge climbing on steep terrain.
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On the elephant’s trunk.
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The pitch after the elephant’s trunk is perhaps the most spectacular on the route. Steep, well protected, with lots of jugs.
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Signs of the many climbers who have enjoyed this spectacular route.
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With the exception of the last two pitches, all belays were bolted. Here you can see the hangerless bolts of the final belay (Anchor takes 2-4”). We simul-climbed from here to the pine tree finish.
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Kyle entering the final exposed ramp to the pine tree finish.
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A bit windy on the summit.
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The descent took about 1.5 hours and was very well marked with cairns.
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Back at the car just before sunset! Car-to-car in about 12 hours.
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When we got back to the car we noticed two headlamps on the route, barely discernable in this photo. Could it be our Canadian friends? Turns out it was! But they did make it back safely to the car after an epic descent.
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All in all a fantastic weekend.
