Zoo View - 5.7 popular

scary traverse, spectacular climbing

Ernest led the climb...almost lost his footing on the move pulling out of the traverse, but did an impressive move and finished it quickly.

I would not have onsighted that!

Great route! I stayed low at the crux traverse left from the Crow's Nest, belayed beneath the roof & then climbed up through it to the right (excellent holds throughout).

Came back to lead this after seconding several months ago. Rain, cold and competing priorities prevented an earlier attempt but I'm thrilled to have finally made it back.

I went the right way on the traverse this time (go low so that the bolt is above head level) and the holds were all there. A bit thin and crimpy in places but there is a nice hold on the top of the arete/bulge as you move around it, a decent but small foot rail, and a good left hand side pull/horizontal to get through the business. The hardest part for me was getting that first piece of pro after the bolt. I suppose one could just blow through that section until on easy ground however. The big roof was just as phenomenal as I remembered and it took a moment to get into the proper state to make the move. The route had good gear options and I felt very secure with lots of jams and finger locks to provide decent rest stances for pro. I didn't use anything smaller than a .3 C4 and nothing larger than a single #3 (I'm sure you could get away w/o the #3).

I opted to climb it in one long pitch, although the rope drag after the roof starts to be a bit of a pain. Thankfully after the main roof the climbing soon eases up and it's a short hike to the summit/belay trees.

Great route, even better on lead. I'd say it felt like 5.7 now that I knew where to go and was prepared for the cruxes; onsight it'd probably feel harder and scarier.