Blade ascends the blatant, overhanging, right-facing dihedral just left of

Dragon Slayer

and is a link between the second pitch of

Ancient Light

and the final corner of

Dragon Slayer

. Good jams on the left with the opportunity for daring stems all the way up. The crux is the last 20 feet before joining

Dragon Slayer

.  Good rock and good pro all the way.

Blade makes an interesting circuit. Begin with the first pitch of Ancient Light and belay at the rings above the big ledge.  Climb the second pitch to the right side of Penis Envy Pillar, but don't climb the pillar. One can belay here, just right of the PE Pillar, which reduces rope drag and keeps the belayer in touch with the leader (though I have not done this). Pull through a small roof and ascend the obvious right-facing, right arching dihedral.  Join

Dragon Slayer

and lower off from the 2-ring anchor at the top (the anchor is 3 feet above a final roof). Arrive at the belay tree for

Dragon Slayer

.  Rappel 90 feet from slings with rings around the tree (down the Crack Land Dihedral -

Mystery Ship

,

Ship of Fools

and

Mystery Tour

) to the trail maybe 100 feet west from the start to

Ancient Light

.

Blade

Ancient Light

Thus Us

War Horse

Ancient Sight

Mystery Ship

Mystery Tour

Crack Love II

Crack Love

Ancient Fright

The Enemy Within

Ship of Fools

The Art Of War

Crack Love III

Resurrection

Ghost Ship

This route begins on the far left side of the summit tier of Avalon.  From the Wall of the Dead, follow a trail right and up to Avalon's summit tier. Traverse left heading downstream. Pass a short wall with several cracks (Wall of the Goddess) and continue into the woods on a trail right next to the rock.The route starts at a narrow spot on the trail, right next to a curvy 10-foot-high dead tree.

P1. Climb up a somewhat grungy face (moss, lichen), then make an exciting traverse left at a little roof onto an arete (crux).  Continue up the arete, past a 2-bolt anchor on a pedestal, to a 2-bolt anchor on a big grassy ledge. (10a, 9 bolts, 80').

The climbing on the upper half of the pitch is quite good.

P2. Work up and right past 2 bolts and pull right around the Penis Envy Pillar. Climb the right side of the pillar to a roof. Lieback through the roof, then climb straight up to a 2-bolt ring anchor on a nice ledge (10c, 5 bolts & gear to 3", 80').

There was not a particular crux, unless it was the more physical moves off of solid hand-jams. Good crack technique helps, I suppose.

This climb is fairly long for Avalon and has pretty good moves. I'll give it 2 stars now, but I bet it will clean up to get 3.

This route  required very extensive cleaning, done By Richard, Pebby, and Bruno. Due to the extensive cleaning that was done, little rubble remains, but there is plenty of dirt on the route that has yet to settle- if you do it soon, assist by taking a brush and cleaning on your way back down.

Richard Rossiter and Pebby Johns have added yet another new route on the Northeast Face of Avalon. War Horse follows a line about 15' right of

Thus Us

, and is identified by three bolts heading up a face into a right-facing dihedral.

Start at the wide crack at the beginning of

Thus Us

, and angle up right to a bolt on the face about 20' up.  Be careful making the first clip.  Continue up past the second bolt into a right-facing corner with a flared hand crack at the third bolt.  Make some difficult moves (10c or 10d) past the bolt to a ledge on the left.  Continue up another right-facing corner with a thin crack (gear) to a tree with slings and rap rings.  There is also a new 2-bolt anchor just up and right of the tree.

War Horse seemed slightly harder than

The Art of War

.  Since the route is so new (rock dust below the bolts from recent drilling), it is still a bit dirty.  My partner wire brushed the route extensively on rappel after we were finished climbing.

Continued from

Ancient Fright

, this adds on a trad extension to the summit directly going up and ever-so-slightly right in cracks and pockets to add up to 45 meters of climbing. The belay on top is cord on large boulders and a tricam.

The route has a few cracks dug out for pro, and the rock is mostly solid, but expect lichen and dirt here and there.  While not terribly dirty, it has not been cleaned by any stretch of the imagination.

The 3 crack climbs, Mystery Ship,

Ship of Fools

, &

Mystery Tour

(aka Crack Land Dihedral) begin from a common system and branch to individual lines after the first 30 feet. These 3 climbs were once organized (called Crack Land) under a sub-area for the Northeast Face (now renamed Crack Land).  Begin about 10 feet left of Mystery Ship and follow vague, blocky terrain to where the lines diverge (5.6, gear to 1 inch, 30 feet). All 3 lines top out at the belay tree for Dragon Slayer. Lower off or rappel 90 feet from slings with rings. Extensive cleaning and trail work have been done to provide access to these excellent crack climbs.

These routes are located on the NW side of the Third Tier of Avalon just left of Mystery Ship. This is actually the far right side of the NE Face, perhaps 100 feet right of

Ancient Light

.

See Dawn on

boulderclimbs.com

.  Hike to the Wall of the Goddess on the ledge above the second tier of Avalon.  Continue around to the east past a gully full of boulders.  Descend past two obvious dihedrals to a ledge that runs all the way across the northeast face beneath

Ancient Light

.  Look for a bolt above a low roof, just left of the two dihedrals. The route is visible from here.  Climb over the roof  and follow the line of bolts to a sloping ledge with a 2-bolt anchor.

The 3 crack climbs,

Mystery Ship

,

Ship of Fools

, & Mystery Tour (aka Crack Land Dihedral) begin from a common system and branch to individual lines after the first 30 feet.  Begin about 10 feet left of Mystery Ship and follow vague, blocky terrain to where the lines diverge (5.6, gear to 1 inch, 30 feet). All 3 lines top out at the belay tree for Dragon Slayer. Lower off or rappel 90 feet from slings with rings. Extensive cleaning and trail work have been done to provide access to these excellent crack climbs.

These routes are located on the NW side of the Third Tier of Avalon just left of

Mystery Ship

. This is actually the far right side of the NE Face, perhaps 100 feet right of

Ancient Light

.

Tape up for the Mystery Tour.  Begin as for the previous two routes, but stay right and gain a stance beneath a magnificent, left-facing dihedral with a perfect crack.  Jam to the top of the dihedral, then step left and climb the final crack for

Ship of Fools

.  Hands, fists and arm bars.  Bitchin'.

The Sequel.  This route begins 8 feet right of the obvious V-slot of Crack Love.  Hike up a short ramp, then climb a finger and hand crack straight up to a roof.  Pull the roof via hand jams and continue up a  widening, slightly flared crack to the top. It is not very difficult, but it is a real crack climb on excellent rock.

This is an excellent crack climb that begins about 75 feet up and left from THE ART OF WAR.  Climb a V-slot and a good hand crack to a roof.  Work left to a perfect hand crack and climb to second roof.  Place gear, pull the roof (crux) and cruise to a stance beneath a tree with slings and 2 carabiners.  Lower off.

ANCIENT FRIGHT is located on the remote NE face of the Third Tier of Avalon, well around the corner from the Wall of the Goddess.  The route ascends a steep wall some 30 feet left from the top of Ancient Light.  Approach via

Ancient Light

or climb in from the left (class 4).

Climb steep and very well-formed rock past 5 bolts.  The higher you go, the harder it gets.  Lower off, 70 feet.

Resurrection

continues from the top of this route to the magnificent summit of Avalon (5.9), but you need gear up to 3 inches, q.v.

This route ascends the conspicuous, narrow chimney between

The Art of War

and

Thus Us

.  The rock is solid and good quality.  Crux is in the last 20 feet of the chimney where it tapers from narrow to squeeze.  Two bolts protect this final stretch.  A big throw with the right arm and a virtual pullup get you out of the squeeze and up to a good stance at a two-bolt anchor with rings. You may have broken a sweat by then.

Tape up and wear appropriate clothing to protect your knees and elbows. Bolts and ring anchor were installed on 2 July 2007.  Route was previously toproped. ENEMY is now a solid and reasonable lead...not a sport climb.

The 3 crack climbs,

Ghost Ship

, Ship of Fools, &

Mystery Tour

(aka Crack Land Dihedral) begin from a common system and branch to individual lines after the first 25 feet. Begin about 10 feet left of

Mystery Ship

and follow vague, blocky terrain to where the lines diverge (5.6, gear to 1 inch, 25 feet). All 3 lines top out at the belay tree for

Dragon Slayer

. Lower off or rappel 90 feet from slings with rings. Extensive cleaning and trail work have been done to provide access to these excellent crack climbs.

These routes are located on the NW corner of the Third Tier of Avalon, just left of

Mystery Ship

. This is actually the far right side of the NE Face, perhaps 100 feet right of

Ancient Light

.

Ship of Fools: Climb a right-facing corner to a small roof, pull right and jam a perfect hand crack to where it narrows.  Continue up difficult terrain to a horizontal break.  Step right and climb a flared crack to the alcove at the top of

Mystery Tour

.  Climb a short crack on the left wall and gain a good ledge and the belay tree for

Dragon Slayer

.

This climb has a few cruxes in the low 5.10 range and probably clocks in at about 5.10b now that it has cleaned up. The hardest moves are ~1/2 of the way up the climb and require balance, not power. The route is long, continuous and in places complex for its modest grade. I believe I recall 9 clips to a 2-bolt anchor. The route will be a classic for the area- possibly the best 10 at Avalon.

Richard and Pebby have cleaned this route extensively, followed by another session of cleaning by Pebby and Bruno. They deserve some thanks and recognition for how hard they've worked at providing an 'instant classic' as opposed to a 'cleaner-upper.'

The final bit of Art of War has some remaining lichen, but it is not on the holds or at the crux so it does not detract from the route.

This is actually a 20-foot variation finish to Crack Love II; and a good one it is.  Climb Crack Love II to the roof where the main route goes offwidth and fist.  Pull 5 feet left beneath the roof and place gear, then make a very strenuous move to clear the roof and get established in the crack above (crux). Good hand and finger jams continue to the top of the wall and the anchor for Crack Love II.

It must be noted that Bruno Hache busted his butt cleaning this system and is commended and thanked for his hard work and contribution to the routes of Avalon.

This route is on the remote NE face (Crack Land) of the Third Tier of Avalon.  Approach via the route

ANCIENT FRIGHT

.  Instead of lowering off from the anchors, continue up and left to a 2-bolt anchor and belay.  Climb an obvious crack to a ledge with a tree (5.7).  Climb the steep wall above the ledge (5.9, 2 bolts) and finish with a short crack.  Lower off from a 2-ring anchor or climb to the spectacular summit and belay, then walk off to the east and north.

The 3 crack climbs,

Mystery Ship

,

Ship of Fools

, &

Mystery Tour

begin from a common system and branch to individual lines after the first 30 feet. Begin about 10 feet left of

Mystery Ship

and follow vague, blocky terrain to where the lines diverge (5.6, gear to 1 inch, 30 feet). All 3 lines top out at the belay tree for

Dragon Slayer

. Lower off or rappel 90 feet from slings with rings. Extensive cleaning and trail work have been done to provide access to these excellent crack climbs.

These routes are located on the NW side of the Third Tier of Avalon just left of

Mystery Ship

. This is actually the far right side of the NE Face, perhaps 100 feet right of

Ancient Light

.

Before committing to the middle crack (

Ship of Fools

), climb a right-facing corner to a small ledge, pull left and jam a hand crack to the right side of a roof.  Pull right and jam a final crack to good ledges and the belay tree.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Crack Land