Split Pinnacle 5050′
Sierra Nevada– Rock Climbing
Total Time: 5:00
Distance: 2.1 miles
Elevation Gain: 1500′
Crux: 5.7 A1
Pitches: 4
Protection: Single rack of cams Black totem – BD #3, two aid ladders, mini stick clip
Companions: Levi Cover
Trailhead: Northside Drive, no services
March had turned out to be an excellent month in the Valley, and by the last week I was on my sixth visit with my sixth partner- this time teaming up with Levi. We had last climbed together the previous fall on the East Arete of Mount Humphreys, a highlight of 2025. Our objective for the day would undoubtedly wind up being a highlight for 2026, climbing the relatively obscure Split Pinnacle in Yosemite Valley. Blending into the higher cliffs of the Three Brothers, Split Pinnacle is hidden in plain sight part way up the Eagle Creek Drainage. Once a popular objective out of the Valley, the summit had fallen into obscurity as the limits of both aid and free climbing were pushed on bigger objectives throughout the Valley, most with an easier approach. Aside from an old Bob Burd trip report, there is little beta on the original route of the climb aside from a short description in the 1954 A Climber’s Guide to the High Sierra:
Split Pinnacle (5,100) Class 6. First ascent May 28, 1938, by Raffi Bedayan, Muir Dawson, Richard M. Leonard, and Jack Riegelhuth. Follow the west fork of Eagle Creek to the 5,000-foot contour and circle back to the southwest corner of the West Pinnacle. An easy upward traverse on the valley side of the West Pinnacle, past its class 3 summit, brings one to an ample ledge beneath the 25-foot, 117° summit pitch. A shoulder-stand and three well-placed pitons with slings enable the leader to grasp excellent hidden holds on the edge of a ledge on the extreme left. Use minute transient footholds and pull up onto the ledge, from which the summit is easily reached. This pinnacle is one of the most popular short climbs in the valley.
Aside from the occasional A0 bolt ladder, I had not led any aid climbing since learning to lead climb in 2016, but was willing to give it a go on the historic route. We expected the route to only take a half day, so we had a bit of a leisurely start, meeting Levi at an unmarked turnoff mid morning at the base of the Eagle Creek drainage. After a quick gear check, we started cross country up the Eagle Creek drainage, sticking largely to the forest on the west side of the creek, the creek itself running strong with spring snowmelt.
We followed the creek for a little under a mile, gaining a just under 1,000′ before we found ourselves in line with the Pinnacle, now rising directly overhead. From there, it would have been possible to climb to the summit via the East Arete, adding on a few pitches of 5.8 climbing before the summit pitch. But the route had not seen a tick on Mountainproject in several years and most comments said the lower pitches were dirty and low quality, with the main attraction being the summit pitch, shared with our planned Regular Route. So we continued past, up the drainage until nearly at the level of the pinnacle’s base before traversing over to the forested notch between the pinnacle and Valley rim.
The lower western summit was directly above us, and we looked for the class 3 route to gain the notch between the two summits. Starting up slabs, we found ourselves facing a loose low fifth class chimney with some old rappel tat at the top. Rather than mess around looking for the class 3 approach route, I called for the rope, and we geared up at the base of the chimney. I started up on lead, climbing to the top of the chimney and finding the class 3 option was down to the right, requiring a slight drop off the notch to reach. Rather than downclimb to it, I continued up along the path of least resistance, climbing over a series of flakes leaning against the lower western summit up to a short narrow catwalk that led perfectly to the notch between the two summits. The notch was quite small, and I built an anchor off a pinch point between boulders before bringing Levi up to join me.
Above the notch was a short pitch of 5.7 to access the base of the aid pitch, with a nice dual crack system- the left being flared and a bit dirty, but the right being cleaner and solid. I placed a 0.75 cam in the right crack off the deck to protect the opening moves, liebacking and stemming up the short bit of 5.7 to quickly gain the ledge at the base of the summit pitch. There were two large boulders at the base of the aid pitch to build another anchor, so I put Levi on belay so he could have close eyes on me for the summit aid pitch.
Directly overhead I could see the first piton- possibly the original piton from 1938. It looked quite rusted and was sticking about a half inch out of the crack. To the right was the slightly overhanging 5.10c free variation also protected by a rather old looking bolt part way up. The piton for the aid route was out of reach, although there was a lower slot that could be reached by standing on the boulder that took a black totem nicely. I also had brought up a small collapsible stick clip, and was able to stick clip the first piton from the base, giving myself two protection points before even starting. I had Levi take my weight and tested the piton before starting up, clipping one ladder into the totem and the second into the piton before pulling myself upwards. It took a minute to remember how to stay balanced in the ladders on the overhanging pitch, needing to find my balance to keep from tipping backwards. Climbing up a few rungs, I found the second piton at the base of the higher, dirty crack. The third piton was now missing, and I placed a #2 and purple totem in the flared crack and pin scar above, the crack coated in moss making the placements feel less secure. Levi and I quickly found a rhythm- I would place a cam as high as possible and clip, he would take my weight and I would hang to move the ladder up and backclean a cam or two.
The crack began to widen higher up, and I placed a final number 3 before I felt secure enough to step out of the ladder and transition to free climbing. I was unable to reach down and unclip my aid ladders and left them for Levi to clean, squirming up the final offwidth crack (and breaking my stick clip in the process) to the lone scraggly pine at the summit. I wrapped some cord around the tree and anchored myself, bringing up as much slack as possible before fixing the rope for Levi to follow, who planned to jug the fixed line up. Although small, the pine tree at the summit provided some nice partial shade and I was able to have a nice long break as Levi began grunting his way up, using two aiders to ascend the rope along with his Grigri as a progress capture device.
Unfortunately, Levi’s full weight on the rope made cleaning the cams in the upper crack extremely difficult, the rope pinning them down fully. He was able to eventually clean them by directly anchoring into a higher cam with his PAS to unweight the lower ones, eventually escaping on to the summit slabs as soon as possible. I tossed him down a portion of the rope to put him on belay, and he was able to abandon his ascenders and clean the remaining cams before climbing the low angled slabs to join me at the summit.
It felt a bit unfair that I had some much time to relax at the summit, and it seemed to both of us that cleaning the aid pitch had likely been harder than leading it. After a short snack and summit pickle, Levi left a register at the summit, finding a secure spot at the base of the pine tree for future parties. With a fresh piece of webbing, we rappelled off the small summit tree, leaving behind a locking carabiner that I had damaged during the aid pitch (don’t booty it, I really mangled it!).
Back at the notch between the two summits, we decided to climb the lower west summit to reach the rappel station, allowing us to both tag the subsummit, and avoid having to reverse the approach pitch or downclimb the loose class 3/4 to the base. Back on lead, I started off the notch, finding it surprisingly awkward with two different sections of wide crack that required a bit of offwidth technique up the grainy rock. The rappel station at the west summit features 3 bolts, two of them looking quite new. I put Levi on belay and brought him up to join me, with the view of the higher eastern summit being another highlight of the day.
We both untied and rappelled, our 60 meter rope putting us perfectly at the base of the chimney and our packs at the base. Changing out of our climbing shoes, we started back down the way we came, more or less following our same route down along the west side of Eagle Creek, dipping directly into the drainage when it became too brushy.
We quickly found ourselves back at the car, the entire outing taking a bit under 5 hours. Levi rewarded my lead with a jug of his family’s Apple Cider, which I was more than happy to crack into on the drive back home.
