This was the first route to be established on the Bride and is still a fairly serious undertaking today. Like Sam says on the Little Valley page, the rock here is very soft for wingate and climbs more like entrada. Expect a little spice.

PItch 1 - This pitch begins with a stud-ladder about 100 feet to the left (when viewed from the road) of the Bride in a short, shallow, right facing dihedral. Above the stud-ladder this pitch follows a left facing dihedral and eventually climbs a gully to access the bench behind the Bride.  (C1, 5.7)

Pitch 2 - From the top of the first pitch, scramble along the bench to the opposite side of the Bride and climb a short bit of unprotected 5.6 to reach the saddle directly behind the Bride. (5.6 R)

Pitch 3 - This is the business. From the saddle, traverse right to a crack. Follow this crack until it ends and continue upward on rivets and pitons with the occasional gear placement. The first ascent party climbed this in two pitches but the midpoint anchor is 4 empty holes and after I filled them all and equalized the whole thing, I still didn't feel comfortable letting Matt jug on it.

I chose to continue and suffered horrendous rope drag near the top for not using enough runners low on the pitch. This pitch corkscrews around the tower counter-clock wise so manage your rope accordingly.  There are some mandatory free moves at the top. (5.6, A2)

Rappel the Honeymoon Chimney route on big, new bolts courtesy of Sam and the ASCA.

Honeymoon

Shotgun Wedding

This is one of the more serious towers I have climbed. Jay was on his game that year, having done the F.A. of the Terminator (then the worlds hardest ice climb and still a big deal) a few months prior to this.

P1 Climb an offwidth to a chimney. There is a crux (old school5.10) down low where a #6 cam and #3 Bigbro will marginally protect (soft rock). After that, run it for perhaps 30 feet in the smooth chimney to your first solid gear. You can get in a #5 and  #4 here, plus a solid #11 hex if you still have one. A few more awkward moves, perhaps 12 more feet, get you to an overhanging wide hand crack. Takes #3.5's and #3 for 25 feet, then opens to a #5 again. After that its smooth sailing to the anchor in a 5.9 chimney. ITs 120 feet, overhanging, and very hard. Belay from good ASCA bolts at the sloping stance.

P2 climb fingers and hands over loose rock for about 100 feet. The grade is 10+, A1. THere are a few relics to clip on this pitch, but mostly its .4 to 3.5 cams. Lots of loose flakes you need to stand and pull on. THe belayer can hide under and overhang below. Just above the death blocks, which seem to stay when yarded on, there is a pin and then a cruxy (Loose) move. After that its fairly straight forward, though soft just before the anchor. Belay on the ledge off two new ASCA bolts.

P3 pull on the old anchor, then do a slab move to the bolt ladder. These old 1/4 inch button heads were replaced with halfies, so they are decent. Do three or four A0 moves, then work your way around the summit cap on very soft rock. Ascend it on the back side. This pitch is A0, 5.6, but a slip from the loose 5.6 would make for a horrific and potentially deadly fall.

Rap the route on two 60's. You can do the summit pitch with just one rope and leave the other on The Bride's Bouquet.

Two 70's might reach the ground from the Bouquet... watch your knot in the crack.

Description

Protection

Routes in The Bride