Dirty climbing on the lower pitches accesses the clean and spectacular upper pitches. Well worth the effort. This climb has a little bit of everything from thin aid to a mega-long and burly 5.9 chimney.

For the first two pitches we climbed

Childhood's End

, which avoids the grungy looking 5.7 starting pitches.

Pitch 3: Climb a handcrack leading up and right to the edge of the corner (this is actually a sort of crazy feature, a hanging mostly detached arch of rock, you'll see it when you're looking back on it from further up on the pitch). Aid a thin crack in a corner up to an old bolt, then lower down and swing around the corner into a really dirty corner crack with trees in it. Start climbing from the lower tree, top-step past a bush, and finish aiding to a larger cluster of oak trees to belay. Rope drag will probably get kind of bad.

Pitch 4: More dirty climbing on hummocks and grass filled cracks wanders up and right. There are two parallel-running cracks which lead up under a big roof. Take the right-hand one. The last 20ft before the roof are C3. The placements are straightforward but you're putting cams behind a really thin and fragile flake which won't hold a fall. The gear gets thinner as you go up, and I finished by doing one free move to a super long reach to shove a cam up under the roof. People under 5'8" might have to camhook some fragile bullshit or hammer in a beak. From here it's C1 out the roof and up the sort of dirty corner (probably 5.10+ to free the corner). Belay at a sloping ledge which is caked in guano.

Pitch 5: Aid the leaning corner to a fixed pin then pendulum right to the bottom of a splitter chimney. Squeeze up a ways until you exit the chimney then climb up and left through a small roof and build a belay.

Pitch 6: An epic pitch leading up and right along the offwidth crack and chimney. One of the better wide cracks in the Valley. A #6 or two would be good to have for some of the narrower bits. After the final chimney either climb around or tunnel behind some chockstones and belay on a ledge. From here it's just a 15' pitch of 5.0 to the summit of the Folly.

Rappel the Right Side route. With two 60m ropes it's just 3 raps.

Left Side of the Folly

Childhood's End

The Good Book

Leaning corner/flake with lots of handjams for the first 80ft, then easier chimney climbing for the remainder of the route. A bit dirty, but steep and fun and "full-value". It can be used as a better alternate start to the Left Side route. Hike up to the wall from pullout 0.4 miles west of Camp 4. The start is probably around half way between the East Chimney of Rixon's and The Good Book.

The base of the crack has a lot of bay trees and stuff around it, but from 10ft uphill to the right you can get up on a foot ledge and traverse over into the crack. Jam past a small chockstone roof, then enter into the pumpy crux section which is thin hands. After a ledge scramble up to a bombay chimney and exit out past more big chockstones to another ledge with trees. Belay from trees. The Reid topo calls this pitch 100', but it's definitely longer. Perhaps you can rap to the ground with one rope if you swing right because the hillside comes up to meet you.

A second pitch leads up the short 5.8 chimney to more ledges where it joins the Left Side route. If rapping the route, bring extra webbing to replace the tat which is up there.

This is a fantastic route that has not seen much traffic in recent years due to major rockfall.  The entire route is capped by a huge roof (above which a rockfall scar is clear), and for this reason most of the climb is not only unaffected, but also sheltered from future rockfall.  However, you will find that the first two pitches have been affected.  I don't know what they were like before, but presently there are some loose blocks, flakes, and other features on these pitches which must be navigated.  There is good gear to be had, however, and if you tread lightly, you're likely to be OK -- just try to be careful not to pull off a big loose block onto yourself or your belayer.  I also don't recommend bivying at the base.

P1 & 2:  Link these with a 60m rope and judicious use of runners.  This puts you at a huge belay ledge and under the protection of the roof.  The rap anchors are modern but have clearly been struck by rocks.  They appear safe to use and at least worked for us.  On the way up this long pitch you'll encounter lots of loose flakes and a bolt that has been flattened.  5.9.

P3:  This is a long, hard pitch.  5.10d liebacking up a corner with exactly one handjam rest and exactly zero stem rests.  Sometimes wet, always pumpy.  120' or so.

P4:  This is a totally rad pitch of 5.8/5.9 that hand traverses out a series of huge wedged flakes.  Savor the exposure and bring a few large cams and long runners to protect it.  Easily link it into the next pitch if you runner it well.  50' or so.

P5:  Strenuous overhanging fists to hands in the corner.  5.10c, 50' or so.

P6:  Perhaps the true crux of the route?  This pitch is not to be missed.  Starts off as hands and quickly goes to enjoyable fists, then enjoyable handstacks (new #5 Camalot size), then very difficult armbars/liebacks (new #6 Camalot).  If you're flexible you can stem through some of this El Matador style.  The bolts on this pitch have been (appropriately) chopped -- the pitch can be well protected with modern large cams.  5.9 old school.

A double-rope rap will get you to the top of the long 10d corner (just barely with two 60m ropes).  Another rap to the big ledge below this pitch, and a final double-rope rap to terra firma.

Description

Protection

Routes in 4. The Folly