Pat and Jack Pinnacle- Super Slacker Highway
Sierra Nevada– Rock Climbing
Total Time: 4:30
Distance: 0.4 miles
Elevation Gain: 600′
Crux: 5.10 b/c
Pitches: 7
Protection: Double rack of cams #0.5-3 plus #4, set of nuts
Companions: Cory B
Trailhead: Cascade Fall Picnic Area- trash, pit toilets
Due to work obligations, family obligations, weather windows and life in general, Cory and I had not linked up for a day of climbing since our long outing climbing the North Arete of the Matterhorn. We both had a Monday off that lined up, making a day of climbing in the Valley a good option with less crowds during the week. We were hitting a weather window between storms and looked at some options down canyon where things would be a bit warmer and dryer, and I was quite pleased when he suggested a climb of Super Slacker Highway, a multipitch at Pat and Jack Pinnacle that summits the formation. Although the 5.10 b/c rating was near my Valley limit, all of the cruxes are well bolted making it a good option to push yourself on. With the cold weather, we waited for the Valley to warm up, not reaching the crag until 11 AM. Super Slacker Highway had two options for the first pitch, Nurdle 5.8, or Knob Job 5.10b. We had both agreed to climb Nurdle for the first pitch, but unfortunately found a pair of climbers on the route as we reached the start of the climb. With the assumption that we would move faster waiting for the easier line then fighting up Knob Job, we patiently waited for the two some to finish in order to start up the climb.
I had wanted to lead the 5.10a finger crack fourth pitch, leaving Cory to climb odds and the first pitch while I took evens. The crux of Nurdle comes early as the crack weaves right around a bulge, which happened to be the only wet part of the entire climb. Cory made short work of the pitch and I quickly jammed up to join him at the anchor. I had led Nurdle before, but the remainder of the climb would be new terrain for me.
I swung onto lead, climbing knobs directly above and right of the anchor, crossing back over a handcrack for pro to reach a series of bolts weaving through massive knobs. The knobs disappeared into 5.9 slab with a single bolt before reappearing just below the anchor. It was a very fun pitch and I brought up Cory to join me, now his turn to lead the third pitch- known as the boulder problem and rated 5.10a. An easy ramp to the right of the anchor led to a short 10′ face with two bolts. The knobs here were slopers, and although Cory shot up it on lead, I would fall when it was my turn, a bit unprepared for the step up in difficulty from the prior 5.9 pitch.
From the pitch three anchors, we moved the belay from a detached boulder 20′ to the start of the fourth pitch, a beautiful finger crack in a tight corner, rated 5.10a. A bolt protected the opening moves on knobs to gain the crack, although it still felt quite insecure at the start of the crack, the ledge polished and shallow. I settled down once I place a black totem and nut, and was able to make a few moves higher on some good feet out left, placing a pair of 0.5s a bit higher.
I tried to climb the crack straight on and took a very small fall, rested, then switched to liebacking up, moving about 5′ higher to where the crack widened to 0.75 and I was able to place gear and move into the crack more securely. The crack widened to a #1 higher up with a nice rest on knobs to the right, just before the crack widened to a chimney. Here, the route moved left on knobs, leaving the chimney past a bolt to a small roof. I climbed the roof straight on, not realizing I should have traversed on knobs out left to the anchor at the base of the headwall, necessitating a short downclimb to reach the traversing section. It was not my proudest lead, but I was happy to have only fallen once in the sustained crack.
Cory climbed up to start the next pitch- the glory Headwall Pitch, also rated 5.10a. From the anchor, there was a delicate traverse on knobs out right with a large mantle onto a huge knob, reminiscent of the crux move on New Dimensions nearby. From there, the climbing eased to 5.9 before entering an awkward squeeze chimney to the next anchor. The next pitch was the crux pitch, a 5.10 b/c mantle and it was my turn on the sharp end.
I was able to reach the bolt protecting the mantle with a few delicate slab moves off the belay, and found the shallow notch to the right to try and pull myself up and make the move. But the slab above was polished with minimal features, and I quickly fell. I made at least a dozen more attempts before I turned things over to Cory, using the draw to steady himself for the balancy mantle and step up onto a small knob. There was a short corner leading to a small ledge and next anchor, now directly below Pat and Jack Pinnacles.
The topo here was a little confusing, the 2D picture not fully translating to the complex terrain between the two pinnacles. Since Cory had led the last pitch, I offered to lead the pitch directly above the anchor, with decent hands but essentially no feet. With my height I was able to bump up to some good holds above, but similar to the last pitch I couldn’t stick the move to get me above the bolt. I came quite close and was nearly at a stand when my foot popped and I feel, again turning things over to Cory. We would later learn this was the 5.11a variation, and that we should have headed left between the pinnacles then back right to avoid the steep move. Above the crux, Cory continued to the top of Pat Pinnacle, climbing a steep 5.9 corner to a cool chimney with bolts.
It had been an excellent climb, although I was a bit disappointed to have been unable to lead the two crux pitches. Looking down we could see the anchor on the lower Pat Pinnacle, but standing only about 20-30′ above the ledge, it didn’t seem worth it to climb sitting on the higher more interesting summit.
From there we began our rappels, first dropping back to the ledge between the two pinnacles with another short rappel to the top of the headwall. This was followed by a rope stretching rappel with our 70 m rope down pitches 5 and 4 to the top of the boulder problem. Another long rappel put us at the anchors of Knob Job, which we decided to top rope before calling it a day. The temperatures were dropping as the edge of the storm front moved in and we called it a day, heading out of the Valley and back towards Fresno before the next round of winter storms.
