Lucky 13 -to- GP Headwall -to- Rock Around the Clock

Rock Around the Clock

Bill's Bad Bolts

Robots of Dawn

West Face

Son of Dawn Wall

Machete Direct

Sons of the West

Los Banditos

This route can be done in several different ways.  You can do the first pitch as one long, 150', pitch or break it in two pitches to avoid rope drag by belaying at the mid-pitch anchors.  The second, third if you break it up, pitch can be done in two ways.  One can climb up and left on easy terrain passing a single bolt to a two bolt anchor with chains for rappel(5.2).  Or, you can climb directly above the belay past 8 bolts to a two bolt anchor(5.8).  From the top of either variation it is an easy scramble up to the very top of Machete Ridge.  For extra enjoyment you can finish on Old Original.

You can get down from this climb, and from the top of Machete Ridge as well, with a single 50m rope.  Rappel from the top of pitch two(5.2 variation) to the top of pitch one. Then use the mid-pitch anchors of the first pitch to make two rappels to the base of the climb.  From there, scramble about 200 feet down and right(west) to the last rappel. This might be a bit difficult to find.  It is located about 50 feet downhill from the anchors on top of the West Face's first pitch on the edge of the small cliff band which is climbed by the West Face's first pitch.

Note that while this route is a combination of aid and free climbing, you cannot aid the 5.9 section on the first pitch. As the French like to say, '5.9 obligatoire.'  Also, note that there are some long reaches between bolts in the ladder.  It is strongly advised that you take regular etriers (aiders) and don't just knot some slings together and try and get by.

Great beginner aid up a bolt ladder. Name is now obsolete due to bolt replacement.  Above the first pitch there are two options.  The original route climbed up and left(5.5) to a left angling ramp(6-7 protection bolts) to a two-bolt anchor.  A second pitch climbs up and a bit right past three bolts(5.6) to the top.  Alternatively, from the top of the first pitch climb up the water streak directly above(5.8) past five bolts to the top.

Two double-rope rappels returns you to the start of this climb.

Solid rock down low creates a fun bouldery sequence with some large knobs and pockets on a bulge. The route slabs out above, becoming more loose and ambiguous. Good warm up to get you psyched for climbing "Son of Dawn Wall"

The original route to climb the entire western face of Machete Ridge.  Machete Direct's final two pitches are part of this route (being also final two pitches of West Face). A fun route if you're looking for something different, though most people would agree that Machete Direct and Son Of Dawn Wall are more appealing.

The normal way to gain the first pitch is to walk along the wall past Corona and Dos Equis: walk south towards Son Of Dawn Wall, and then follow a climber's trail from the base of SODW, up a fourth class ramp to gain a short bolt ladder.

To add a little more climbing, we climbed "Beyond Destiny" (5.7R) which starts just 10 feet right of Corona. From the top of Beyond Destiny, its an easy and safe 40 ft walk straight towards the wall, you will find West Face's initial bolt ladder way back in the corner.

Pitch 1: Climb the super easy bolt ladder, and then follow main wall up and left. The bolt ladder is only 4 bolts, but its actually really easy to climb up a little higher and reach the second bolt. After the bolt ladder climb up and left along easiest path but DO NOT climb into pink rock! Stay about 10-15 feet below it. Shortly after the bolt ladder you will see a two-bolt anchor up in said pink rock, don't go up there, the anchor you want is roughly 30 more feet left, following the easiest path. STAY OUT OF THE PINK ROCK.

From the anchor,  you can unrope and "3rd Class" along the ramp allllllll the way over to the beginning of Machete Direct's fifth pitch. Wee!

When walking north along the narrow ramp from the pitch 1 anchor, you will pass the bases of several bolt ladders. They are (from south to north) Los Banditos, Rock Around the Clock, Bills Bad Bolts, Daedalus, and finally Machete Direct Pitch 5. Note that Los Banditos is not in Young's 2007 book as it was established later.

The third class gets very narrow and loose, and gravel abounds, providing more a sense of 4th class.

My partner and I were happy to rope up again at the base of Daedalus's bolt ladder., using the first bolt as an anchor... a brown tricam also works in a pocket if you want backup... I took the rope over to the Machete Direct Bolt ladder from there. From Daedalus to Machete Direct I used up about 50 of my 60 meters of rope. No meaningful protection for traverse, but its nice to put at least SOMETHING between you and the ground.

NOTE: The anchor you want is about 30 feet down the slab from  the start of the bolt ladder. A good way to tell where you are, is if you can SAFELY scramble down a few feet away from the bolt ladder, look up and Middle Tower should be directly over head. The bolt ladder goes up for about three or four aid moves, before free climbing up and left into the giant dihedral/flare that leads up along the base of middle tower.

From there, follow directions for pitches 5 and 6 of Machete Direct.

The "R" rating comes from multiple opportunities to really change your life if your pro blows out of the shitty rock its in... and for the very sketchy traverse between the first official pitch and the final bolt ladder: the catwalk gets very narrow for a bit, and the bulging headwall forces you to crouch and scramble over a large chunk of rock about the size of a refrigerator that has visible tunnels eroding through the base of it, you could probably send the whole thing off the wall with a good kick... best be careful about how you interact with it.

I feel this excellent mixed route may be better than Cuidado. It follows one of the most striking lines in the Park, and offers great and sustained adventure climbing.

P1: Fun sport climbing on good rock. Enjoyable bulge with some cool, non-pinnacles like moves. A little loose up high, but a superfluous amount of bolts protect all moves. Ends at bolt belay.

P2: Some bolt-pulling aid moves through a chossy steep section, much like Bills Bad Bolts. Then open face climbing in a groove. Some exciting 5.9 here. Ends at bolt belay.

P3: More classical Machete face climbing to an invigorating run-out 5.9 move. Then climb into huge flaring chimney with some pods for pro. funky bolt belay.

P4: Wiggle through the huge flaring chimney. The slot in the back feels like Yosemite 5.8. Pitch ends at shiny rap station on top of a cool chock stone. Great Pitch. Rap route from here or continue to top.

P5: Cruise up gully to summit of ridge.

Machete Direct 5.10b/A1 or 5.9/A1: This climb offers six pitches of mixed aid and free climbing. This climb is suitable for a solid 5.9 climber with some aid experience. You will be much more comfortable (and efficient) if you can pull off a couple of reasonably well protected 5.10b free moves. The aid portions are short but often require you to step out of your aiders and make a few free moves. The second pitch is only 5.7 but is pretty runout (3 bolts in 130).

Retreat: It is possible to retreat with 2 ropes by rapping the route but you risk knocking rocks down onto the trail below. At the top of Pitches 3 and 4 you can bail out right by heading toward the Badman Mezzanine. Two ropes make it easiest to bail but it is possible to escape with only 1 rope. If you only have one rope, be sure to study the Badman Mezzanine topo carefully or you will rap off the end of your rope!

P1: 80 (direct start) - The original start chimneyed up the tree and worked its way along the ledge to the start of the aid portion (5.8/A1). The preferred start is the direct start. Two bolts protect the moves up to the aid section (5.10a/A1). The moves to the first two bolts are around 5.9. Bring a stick clip if the move up the first bolt spooks you. The crux of this pitch is between bolts 2 and 3. There is a mandatory free move off the last bolt before you reach the anchor. I found it a bit spicy after being in the security of the aiders to switch to free. Youll need six or seven draws (I always bring an extra in case I drop one!) to protect the direct start. Bring many long slings if you do the original start.

P2: 130 - Three bolts protect about runout 5.7 climbing. Im glad I didnt have to lead this pitch!

P3: 130 - Two old bolts are supplemented with small to medium cams on this fun 5.2 pitch.

P4: 140  Six bolts on mixed free/aid climbing (5.9/A1 or 5.10b). Youll need to make a couple free moves between the bolts if you plan to aid the 5.10b section. The upper section in the waterstreak is super fun and only a tiny bit runout (5.7PG). This was my favorite pitch.

P5: 120  Seven bolts supplemented with cams protect this mixed free/aid pitch (5.8/A1). There is a bit of 5.8 free climbing above the aid moves. Bring long slings for the cams in the gully. There are several very large and very loose chockstones in the gully. The crux on this pitch is NOT stepping on the loose rock. About 10 below the anchor, there is a bolt out right that protects one 5.7 move. Note  the Brad Young topo is NOT correct in this location.

P6: 160  Two (or three?) bolts protect fun, easy moves under a HUG corner. One recently replaced bolt protects a 5.6/5.7 move above the anchor. The rest of the climb to the top is around 5.3. Watch out for pigeons exiting the crack!

Optional P7: 80  Two bolts protect climbing up to the top of the Middle Tower. Rappel back to the top of P6 after summiting the tower to do the Standard Machete Descent.

Descent:

Rap off the backside of Machete Ridge into the gulley. Then rappel 3-4 anchors (all bolted on the right) within the gulley until it opens up. Stay right on a Class 2 trail this whole time and avoid any of the cliffs to the left.

Once the gulley opens up walk right on a faint trail across a 4th class traverse above slab until you find trail again descending right down a dirt path through trees.

Once the dirt trail disappears and you find yourself among huge boulders go left. Look for a metal rail in the shape of an upside down "U". This brings you into 'the caves' trail. Walk left through 'the caves' until you reach stream bed. Retrace your approach trail to parking lot.

Optional Pitches: From the top of Pitch 6 you can reverse the Machete Traverse and add 3 more pitches. P1: 5.2  Work your way westerly (unprotected) up and over a small tower to the base of the rappels. There is one bolt and ring at the top of the tower to protect the easy downclimbing. P2: 5.3 - Fourth class your way into a gully protected by two bolts. Belay at a pine tree. P3: 5.5  Move the belay up past a manzanita then do a boulder move down a short wall (7 or so). Belay (unprotected) as your leader works up to a single bolt then traverses under a headwall (on the leaders right). One bolt protects a 5.5 move to the top of a waterstreak. From the anchor, rap down The Hideout then 4th class your way to mother earth. Mostly 3rd Class back to the base of Dos Equis then back down to the climb.

More Info. and Pics: For more info. and pics of the route, check out my blog:

centralcoastclimbing.blogsp…

Excellent, prominent line going up one of the steeper portions of Machete ridge. Sons of the West is the free line of Icarus. It essentially follows almost all of Icarus, except for about a 50 ft section. If you liked Son of Dawn wall, you will likely enjoy this climb. It is more sustained and longer than Son of Dawn wall.

P1 - Go up the discontinuous and pocketed crack, trending up and right after slinging a tree branch that abuts the cliff. Anchor is one new-ish bolt, and a couple of relics.(5.8++ 80' or so)

P2 - Aid up the bolt ladder. There are couple of old relics, but mostly it is new bolts. End at two bolt belay with chains. (C0 and 85' or so)

P3 - Long slabby pitch with very hard to see bolts at times. Crux comes at the end, 5.11ish. Probably depends on what has broken off or is exfoliating at the time. End at chains below a small roof on the left (5.11ish and 100' or so)

P4 - Head right off the belay following bolts. Enter the V-slot. Worm your way up the stanky, loose, v-slot. Eventually find two bolt belay with chains. (5.8++ and 140'ish)

P5 - Slab up the rest of the V-slot aiming for shade under a MASSIVE flake. There are a bunch of bolts, 2 bolt belay with chains (5.8 and 180').

P6 - Casually romp your way to the summit ledge, and walk east until you find the rappel line off the back.

The following description is from the Pinnacles/Mud'n'Crud web site forum's new routes "sticky" thread. It uses the route numbers from the 2007 Pinnacles guidebook (that thread's description of the route also contains a link to a topo but I'm not sure how to link/insert that topo here):

Route number 815.4 Los Banditos 5.10a A1

The natural continuation of the Bandits in Bondage pitches. Four pitches.

Approach via the first pitch of the route The West Face (route # 811). Fifty feet past the end of this pitch (to the north, The West Face traverses after its first pitch) is a small meadow. Los Banditos starts from this meadow, 100 feet right of the start of Rock Around the Clock.

Pitch one (60 feet): start on a small pedestal of rock. Six aid bolts on an overhanging face lead up and left to a small roof which is at the bottom of a water streak. Two more aid bolts lead over the roof. Intimidating free moves from the eighth bolt (5.9) lead to a ledge and one directional bolt. The first pitch anchor is 5 feet to the right.

Pitch two (110 feet): This excellent pitch continues up the obvious water chute past 10 bolts (10 includes the directional from the first pitch). Getting into the chute is 5.9; two bulges higher in the chute are each 5.10a. The pitch finishes with 15 feet of easy slab to a stance and a two bolt belay.

Pitch 3 (195 feet): Continue up the chute past five bolts on increasingly easy and runout climbing. The crux is after the second bolt (5.7). Large knobs can be slung for additional protection. One hundred fifty feet up, the chute branches. Take the straight up branch (that is, don't take the branch to the left). A two bolt anchor is obvious on a low angle slab, 30 feet below the bottom of the water chute which is descended as part of the Old Original Rappel Bypass variation (route # 836).

Pitch Four (90 feet): Climb the deeper chute which is 30 feet left (north) of the chute which makes up the Rappel Bypass (these chutes are obvious on page 338 of the guidebook). Small cams (the only gear on the route) can be used to protect the moves into the chute (5.5); the chute then becomes class three and four (and can be further protected by slung knobs).

End on the top of Machete Ridge, at a pine which is 30 feet from the end of Old Original's third pitch.

Description

Routes in Main Face