This route climbs the very thin crack system on the edge of the face, about 30 feet to the right of Return of the Jedi.  A few awkwardly balanced moves get you to a good ledge about thirty feet up.  Follow the crack up and right.  Protection is adequate, but involves a bit of work to arrange.  When the crack finally peters out, it appears that you could traverse left to easier ground and reach the low rap anchor on Return of the Jedi, but this would expose the second to quite a swing.  Better to make one more hard move straight up and belay in the varnish directly above the crack.  A very short, easy, traversing second pitch then gives access to the rappel point.

Improbable Prose

School of Rock

Return of the Jedi

Short Subject

Blackboard Technique

Discipline Problem

Deja Vu

Across the choss

Dunce's Corner

Schoolyard Bully

Sunday School

Honcho Imposter

Pop Quiz

Multiple Choice

Coffin Corner

Up the corner & the arete on its left; continue up the face above aiming for the face right of a short 4” corner; grab the jugs at the top of the corner and up again; step left to the Jedi rappel. Slightly easier and slightly better protected than Improbable Prose.

Just to the right of Schoolyard Bully, a broken chimney wanders up the face.  Climb this, being careful of loose rock.

Just to the right of Deja Vu, a thin crack wanders up the face.  After the first few moves, the angle eases.  There is now a rappel anchor near the top of the crack. A single-rope rap (60m works) will get you down.  Alternatively, you can continue up and left, on lower quality rock, to a small ledge and rappel from the slung chockstone.

On the small face down and left from the Schoolyard Bully, climb twin cracks.  Grade is estimate from very hazy recollection...

Fun face and crack climbing on black patena flakes. It will take some more traffic to clean up the crispy edges; that said, overall the rock quality is pretty darn good. 

  Descent: Downclimb to the Coffin Corner anchors. Rappel with 2 ropes (We had a pair of 60 m ropes; don’t think a single 70 would suffice).

Fifty yards to the right (west) of Coffin Corner is a smaller right-facing corner. A boulder move over the initial bulge takes you to perfect hand-jams in the corner. At the top of the corner, continue up delicate rock to a small ledge and rappel from a slung chockstone.

 Start up sometimes frighteningly chossy patina, with descent protection, as it follows a right arching crack until it hits an obvious clean wide right leaning Crack at about 40 feet. Climb this until it hits a ledge and the back wall. There is a small ledge about 3/4 of the way up to split it into two pitches if the rope drag is to heavy.  Looks like you could continue up and left from the top for a short second pitch at a similar grade, but we rappelled from two nuts in a small alcove about 5 feet down and right. We used double rope but a 70 meter might work as well.

This is the corner to the left of Short Subject.  The rock is not so good and protection may be an issue.  I don't really recall the technical grade, so it might be easier.  Then again, it might be harder.

The classical bully-- this offwidth crack looks real mean but is not so bad if you stand up to it.

The face to the left of Schoolyard Bully is split by a system of three cracks that converge at the bottom. Start here and follow the center crack.

This is a very striking straight-in crack that brings full value for the grade.  It begins with perfect steep hand jams then progressively becomes wider until you can finally (mercifully) squeeze your body in near the top.  Expect a lot of sustained, clean offwidth climbing in between.  Unfortunately, the location will likely keep this route from becoming the classic it could be if it were more accessible.

The face to the left of Schoolyard Bully is split by a system of three cracks that converge at the bottom.  Start here and follow the right crack through some soft, sandy rock.

The face to the left of Schoolyard Bully is split by a system of three cracks that converge at the bottom. Start here and follow the left crack.

To the left of the approach ridge is a tall, steep, right-facing corner in varnished rock.  Climb this.  Descent is via a long rappel from horns, or downclimb east and do a shorter rappel.

At the mouth of First Creek Canyon, on the south (left) side, there is an area of complex cliff bands with several good routes.  In Joanne Urioste's 1984 guidebook, she says merely, "Short climbs abound in the broken easternmost section at the mouth of the canyon."  Much of the history is hazy, but Joe Herbst, Mark Moore, and Tom Kaufman (and probably others) did a number of lines back in the 70s. 

  Most of the cliffs face northeast and stay relatively cool.  The rock ranges from excellent varnish to the sandy white variety.

Description

Protection

Routes in The Schoolyard