Middle Cathedral Rock- East Buttress
Sierra Nevada– Rock Climbing
Total Time: 7:30
Distance: 1.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 1600′
Crux: 5.10 c / 5.9 A0
Pitches: 10
Protection: Double rack of cams #0.3-3 plus #4, set of nuts
Companions: Cory B
Trailhead: El Cap Cross over, no services
After a nice romp up Superslacker Highway with Cory in late winter, I felt ready to tackle some of the more difficult moderates in the Valley. Of the dozens of routes on my Valley to-do list, none loomed larger than the East Buttress of Middle Cathedral Rock. First climbed by Warren Harding, Jack Davis and Bob Swift in 1954, the route follows a series of cracks and ledges up the distinct east buttress to the Kat Walk, a broad ledge system a few hundred feet below the true summit. When I first started climbing in the Valley, I gave the route little thought, dismissing the 5.10c rating as beyond my abilities. But the overwhelming majority of climbers aid the short 5.10c section via a tightly spaced bolt ladder, connecting a relatively blank section of slab between two cracks. In fact, all other pitches are rated 5.8 or less making it well within my ability. And once I realized the crux pitch was routinely aided, it shot to the top of my to-do list. I met Cory for another midweek day of climbing, avoiding crowds on this potentially busy climb, one of 8 climbs in the Yosemite in Roper and Steck’s Fifty Classic Climbs of North America, although probably the most moderate and beginner friendly after Royal Arches. Despite Cory having climbed the route several times, he drove past the parking area and we both missed the turn off onto the climbers trail on the approach- although in fairness a tree had fall directly on the turnoff.
The climbers trail was well defined, ascending 500′ through the forest to the top of the Pedestal (and two 5.8 climbs, one a nice lieback, the other a very dirty crack) and start of the climb. I offered to take the first lead, looking to link the first two pitches together given the slightly later start.
The first pitch is 5.easy, scrambling up big ledges past a large tree and up to a ledge with a smaller tree and small roof. This was the first 5.8 move of the route, with a new crack for placing some pro before swinging right around the roof somewhat blindly into a finger crack. Despite it being early spring, it was unseasonably warm, and I was dripping sweat as I prepared to make the move. Swinging around the roof, my sweaty fingers couldn’t find good purchase in the crack, and I wasted a ton of energy locking off to place a small cam before resting. With the small cam in place, I committed to the move, making it easily enough but making me feel a bit nervous about the rest of the climb having struggled in a spot early on. I built a quick anchor on some tree roots and brought up Cory to join me, quickly swinging on to lead for the third pitch, a 5.7 left corner with a slippery start.
He made short work of the pitch and brought me up to lead the fourth pitch, a 5.7 polished lieback. I felt a bit nervous starting up after flailing on my last lead, but found the climbing to be much easier then it looked, with plenty of little lips and dishes to comfortably stand and place gear. I followed up a series of corners up to the two bolt anchor below the 5th crux pitch and bolt ladder.
The bolts started at the apex of a boulder at the far left side of the ledge, and consisting of 9 bolts, was once the longest bolt ladder in the country. Since they were very closely spaced (Harding was notoriously short) Cory easily french freed on quickdraws up, using a fixed sling on the highest draw to pendulum over into the crack system on the left. Although the crux section on this pitch is typically aided, it did still have the hardest free climbing move of the route as well, a 5.9 move through a roof protected by an old piton. Cory pulled past the ancient pin, following the crack above up to another ledge with a two bolt belay. With the benefit of a top rope, I thought I might try to free climb the bolt ladder. I actually fared better than I expected, reaching the 4th or 5th bolt free before peeling off. Having now fallen, I pulled on draws to get through the rest of the bolt ladder, using the upper sling to pendulum over to the crack as Cory had on lead.
I then took an unexpected fall at the 5.9 roof, missing an obvious right foot that would have made the move straightforward. There goes my onsight…
I joined Cory at the anchor and was back on the sharp end, leading the traversing 6th pitch. While only rated 5.6, the slab and ill defined dike traverse was only protected by two old pitons, and I took my time figuring out the move at the second old peton, not wanting to risk a big fall on the ancient hardware.
The 7th pitch was the only wet pitch of the climb, a thin stream of water trickling down the 5.7 left facing corner. We did our best to keep our shoes dry as Cory led up to the base of an intimidating crack and built an anchor. This 8th pitch was rated 5.8 and looked tough from below, a broken and steep chimney.
As I started up, I found little to no chimney or off width technique was required, with plenty of knobs and features on the outside of the crack for climbing and the crack in the back for ample protection. I was soon grinning ear to ear and I worked around a flake at the top, following a series of right facing corners to a delicate face traverse left to another ledge. It had been by far my favorite pitch of the climb. The 9th pitch was short, an easy 5.6-5.7 corner 100′ up to another tree where Cory brought me up to lead the final pitch.
The tenth pitch was also rated 5.8, and the climbing felt fairly straightforward with a number of pin scars climbing a left facing corner before escaping left to a two bolt belay and the start of the rappel route, which I almost blew past having so much fun climbing.
Although the route had one more pitch of easy fourth class to reach the Kat Walk above, most parties take the relatively newly installed rappel route down the east face, avoiding the tricky descent down the gully between Middle and North Cathedral Rocks. We took a short break at the anchors, enjoying the views across the Valley, having climbed the entirety of the route in about 4.5 hours, not breaking any records, but pretty good considering the guidebook recommended bringing a headlamp for potential epics. I headed down the first rappel, the only tricky one of the route making a hard diagonal rap out left to a notch in the skyline with a bolt and another two bolt station. From there the rappels were more straightforward, and directly down the steep face, although Cory did shoot past the second station, my 70m rope just long enough to reach the next station with a little rope stretch.
The rappels were otherwise uneventful, taking a little over an hour for the two of us to perform the 10+ rappels back to the base. We circled back around the base to grab our packs, finding them unhassled by wildlife. It was a short hike back to the car, and we circled into the Valley for a celebratory beer from the store before heading out of the Valley for dinner at home.