Some old timers seemingly tried to take this line of least resistance to gain the summit.  You can not determine if they made it from the old angles driven into the rock.  There needed to be more to indicate an access to the free climbing chimney and summit. See the photo and ponder as did we.  Perhaps the rope came later?  The angles looked vintage 60s?  Sure would like to give credit where credit is due!

(Edit)  Now climbed on another line (The Other Side of History), (5/6/17) there was zero evidence of a previous summiting.  If any credible information of the contrary comes to light, well then, good on them!

The "Old" Chimney

The Other Side of History

Pitch I: Ninety feet. The first pitch has its crux at the beginning of the obvious finger crack halfway up. There were death blocks above that I did not want to be desperately flailing on, as I was sure the lower crack would be pumpy. So I aided. Goes about 5.7 C1 and you will want #1s X 4 and #2s X 2 for this crack section. Later we cleaned these and the crack goes clean, albeit pumpy and sustained in sandstone, at about 10-. Hand size matters! Most of this is BD # 1 size. Fat fingers are a bummer here.

Wiggle into the gaping maw at the top of this crack where the death blocks once resided. Clip a runner to the shuts here and then walk the ramp with one hand on the sheer face as you move left or north about 25 feet. There is a big flat staging ground here on the shoulder of the Chimney to comfortably belay from and start the second pitch.

Pitch II: Thirty feet. Boulder up some loose blocky material and find some small finger holds to give confidence while making the clip to the only bolt on the route. Stretch here and reach whatever sketchy edge you can find and then throw a left foot far left to mantle this bulge of cap rock. The rest is class 4 capstone to the broad summit. This place is big enough to have a picnic and take a walk. We did take a long walk around the periphery as well as across the interior in search of expected anchors and/or cairns and other tell-tale signs. We found zero evidence (to our great surprise and delight) of any previous summit party. Looking down the "The Old Chimney" route on the southeast side we also saw no hardware, tat, scars, or any other sign that "they" got past their last drilled pin (see photo of this on the cover page of The Old Chimney). It seems unlikely they could have pulled rope given the broad summit and its jagged surface IF they simo-rapped. So...until otherwise informed, we will take credit for the FA of this dominant feature that can be seen from HW 89.

Look for our cairn and the register hidden underneath.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Church Chimney