Heavy Metal

From the campground, you have a great view of the entire route. It starts on the north west side of Assembly Hall, below the obvious bowl. Leaving the campground, follow an old road, and washes to the gulley leading up to the base of Assembly Hall. There is a cliff band up high that had a fixed rope to facilitate climbing it when we did the route (7/7/2007). Once above this cliff band, it is a short distance to the base of the climb.

Pitch 1: Below the bowl are several cracks. The route starts in a hand crack in a corner on the right. The hand crack is short (30 ft.), then traverse left and up to a bolted anchor on easier ground. (5.9/5.10)

Pitch 2: Scramble 3rd and 4th class up the bowl to the base of the steep headwall. As you near the headwall, you can see the rappel anchor high on the right. The final pitch climbs a bolted line a bit left of the bolted anchor.

Pitch 3: The final pitch has many bolts (7+), but is no sport route. The first bolt is about 30 ft. up. You can get a small cam in midway up to the bolt, but the rock quality is very poor. Follow the line of bolts to a small overhang. Place a small cam here, then traverse right and up to easier ground and the final bolt. Due to rope drag, we built a gear anchor here.

The rappel anchor is off to the right from the last bolt, and easy scrambling gets you to the top. Admire the views, particularly of Window Blind peak. It is an amazing perspective on the area.

Scramble down to the rappel. Rappel 60M back to the base of pitch 3, scramble down the bowl, then make a single rope rap (70 ft) from the bolts at the top of pitch 1 to the ground.

Single set of cams to #4 BD C4, quickdraws