Demon's Delight is a fantastic outing that doesn't appear to receive much attention, but certainly deserves it. If you're looking for four pitches of sustained and interesting climbing, and trying to avoid crowds, go for it.

The climb takes a traversing line up a large left facing corner/roof system on Shultz's Ridge. Scramble up some 4th/low 5th class ground to a perch in a tree.

P1: Ascend the steep left-facing corner via a hand crack, then jam and undercling out a roof and up to a stance for a belay. 5.10.

P2: Bust left out the roof on positive jams and small feet and perform a very powerful lieback move to get around the corner. Continue up to an ill-defined site for a hanging belay. 5.11a.

P3: Continue a short ways up the corner, then begin a long leftwards traverse. Pass a quartzite band with difficult pro but good holds, rest, and then continue out the roof on very thin underclings and feet. Save small cams for this stretch, and marshall your gear in general on this long pitch. Belay just around the corner at bolts. 5.11a.

P4: Head up the thin corner with tricky gear to an obvious mantle crux (hint: there is a very inobvious way to solve this that utilizes an undercling if you, like me, can't make the mantle work). Continue up a thin flake via jams and stems to a bolted belay. This last stretch has pretty poor pro and some questionable rock. 5.11a.

Descent: One nice feature of this route is that you only need to carry one rope on the climb. Rappel from the 4th pitch anchor to the 3rd pitch anchor. From the 3rd pitch anchor a 70 will just reach the ground, mind the end of your rope. Also, check the cord on the last rap.

Demon's Delight

Gidget Goes to Yosemite

Superstem

Are You Hard Enough?

Second Thoughts

Psycho Bitch

Burden of Dreams

Dreams of Thailand

Caught at the Lip

Bikini Beach Party

Crystalline Passage

New Suede Shoes

Proud Snapper

The Moratorium

Just Do Me

Warm Up Crack

[Redacted]

Crux is stepping off the rail near bolt 3(?). Crux is definitely well protected, but the rest of the route is VERY run-out. Be comfortable soloing 5.8. Use the small cam for a crack in the roof 15' above the crux.

Use long runners to minimize rope drag.

A 5.9 friction move or 2 after the first bolt. The rest is easier. Tie a knot in the end of the rope! Even with a 70m rope it will only reach 5-10' up on the easy ramp when lowering. A 60m could be used with some more climbing up this ramp. Topropes can be added to nearby climbs after leading this if you choose.

This short climb is at the very toe of the Schultz's Ridge buttress. Look for the shallow corner with 3 bolts.

Make some moves on large holds to reach the first bolt. Clip it and then mantle onto a small ledge in the corner. The second bolt is difficult to reach from this stance if you're short. You can get some optional gear in the crack (thin) if you want. The crux is getting to the 3rd bolt and then it gets easy to the anchors. If you need beta just remember that the climb is called Superstem, not Superlieback.

Start at the same spot as

Just Do Me

but at the small overlap clip a bolt and move right. I might have placed a small cam in the crack before making the reach to the first bolt.

Make some strenuous and balancy moves, utilizing the corner to your left and arete to your right. After that is some easy climbing up a slab. I recall one of the bolts here having a very loose nut that was barely holding the hanger on. I tightened it back down with my fingers. You'll also want to probably extend some of the bolts through this section to decrease rope drag.

The difficulty picks up again after you pass a roof and finishes with steep and technical moves leading to the anchor. A fun sport route with varied climbing.

This climb is a pile. Climb the ugly flake to a slab and then finish up a steeper face/arete. Gets sort of interesting near the end, but the rock is mostly junk.

A short, action packed route. The upper pitches are STEEP!

Just up and left of

Superstem

is this short but stout sport climb up an overhanging wall. Most of the moves are in the 5.10+ range with one very powerful crux move about halfway up - a long reach to a side-pull off of bad feet. Having supreme body tension is necessary to stick the move, and being tall probably doesn't hurt either.

Climb up along the roof in the dark rock alcove to the left of Gidget Goes to Yosemite and continue up the thin face above.

Sustained and a bit loose in spots. Get your micro-crimp on in this ultra thin slab route. Many cruxes, but one distinct hard spot in the middle, leading up the the first roof. Use caution when when trusting the flakes, one blew up in my hand and sent me flying and several flexed under pressure.

Some hard moves well above bolts.

This is a worthwhile face climb, located just to the left of

Second Thoughts

. Climb on thin edges leading up to a roof. Optional gear under the roof but you don't really need it. Pull over the roof and climb past a few more bolts to the anchors. I remember the crux being the thin stuff at the start, but the Supertopo shows the crux being after the roof.

Last fall we decided to go check out all the routes at "Dan and Jerry's Playground" listed in the Supertopo guidebook. Most of the routes were forgettable, but Proud Snapper stands out among the rest as a high-quality pitch.

About 100 yards left of

Demon's Delight

is a blocky terrace. Scramble up to the top of the terrace where there are some trees to sit in and belay here. I recall the start being sort of funky with a couple different options. Climb past a few bolts heading for the steep left-facing and left-arching dihedral above. The overhanging corner is wild and fun. Good jams and good face holds abound, but it gets sort of pumpy near the top.

The Moratorium is three (sometimes four) pitches of technical and powerful stemming and jamming up a steep, right-facing corner system at the base of El Cap. It serves as a great approach to the classic "East Buttress" as they finish and start within a few meters of one another, but because the climbing is of such a different nature (that is, East Buttress being much easier, wandering, and adventurous), the Moratorium is perhaps better as a stand-alone climb.

The corner is easily identified on Shultz's Ridge. Approach via a short third class scramble in from the right.

P1: Climb up the steep, pumpy 5.10 corner via jams and quite a bit of laybacking. The top gets thin but just when things get desparate, one can step left to a great belay ledge. Belay at bolts. 5.10d.

P2: Step back into the corner (airy), and continue up on fun climbing until an ultra-thin, creative stemming affair at the top. 10d.

P3: Climb up some hollow flakes to a stance a little ways out from the belay. The crux involves steep liebacking and stemming up a seasonally wet crack. Kinda tough 5.11b. Link this pitch into the next one if you're continuing up to the East Buttress, or rap from here with two ropes.

P4: A short 5.9 pitch up flakes and blocks to the top.

Start at the same spot as

Are You Hard Enough?

. Lieback up the left slanting crack to reach a high first bolt (optional gear, fingers or hands I think??) Move right and up the face to get positioned under the roof. Make some cool moves pulling the roof and then fight the pump as you climb to the anchors.

Just downhill (right) of

Demon's Delight

is this short and moderate climb. Climb the face past 4 bolts and then cruise up an easy left-facing corner to the anchors.

This face route begins off the same terrace as

Proud Snapper

and wanders out left on featured rock. Bring long runners to extend some of the bolts. I'm pretty sure a hold broke off just below the anchors. There's a rock scar there and the final move is very hard for 10c.

Description

Protection

Routes in 1. Schultz's Ridge