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Profile of pinnacles taken from Discovery Wall |
More pinnacles taken from Discovery Wall |
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East side of Pinnacles |
East side from the High Peaks |
Pinnacles National Monument has enough quality routes to keep a climber busy for months. The guide book by David Rubine has literally over 900 separate routes! The rock in Pinnacles is composed of lava conglomerate and a lot of the holds look like you can rip them right out of the wall. However, after going twice I haven't yet popped out any major holds (just tiny pebbles), so I can testify that the rock is a lot stronger than it looks. The park's namesake comes from its trademark massive monoliths, the pinnacles, which are dispersed all over the East and West Sides. Toproping and sport are the predominant type of climbing here, as well as a couple multi-pitch trad routes.
Climbs I've Done:
Discovery Wall
| Approach | 30-45 min. up moderate hills |
| Poison Oak | Low-Moderate |
| Sun Exposure | Low-Moderate |
Ordreal (5.8 **) TR: This route is on the far right side of Discovery Wall. Starts following a big crack then goes under a small roof. The crux is comming out of the ledge under the roof and onto a thin, exposed face.
Wet Kiss (5.9 ***) TR: This is a classic climb in middle of Discovery Wall. Follows a short crack at the beginning and then heads up to a bulging mantle. The crux is getting over this mantle onto a fat ledge.
Big Pucker (5.10c/d **) TR: This is directly to the left of Wet Kiss and starts on a angled crack. Many of the holds on his route are hidden so you have to really serach around for them, but they're there and they're really good if you can find them. The first part is about 5.10a climbing and then the crux is traversing left over a protruding roof. The second half is slightly overhung 5.10c/d climbing and requires a lot of pumpy moves. My favorite climb at Pinnacles.
Portent / (Stephen Variation) (5.6, 5.11, 5.6) TR: On the left hand side of Discovery Wall, this is route runs a good 120'. This was an epic climb that I toproped by tying together my rope together with my friend Dan's. Not really having a planned out route while climbing this, I must have started on Ordreal (a 5.6 classic) for about 50' or 60', then switched over to a 5.11 overhang to the left. After struggling up the 5.11 face for about 20', I then switched back to the last part of Ordreal for another 30' or 40' and finally made it to the top. This climb took me over an hour and I was thoroughly exhausted by the time I finished it. Unless climbed in halves, I wouldn't recommend doing this entire route on TR since the rope drag was really bad.
