Bella Vista

A long, fun jaunt up the side of Crane Mountain. The top of this route is open and the view is excellent.

P1 110' 5.4 PG: Climb the slab up and right, running it out on friction 25' to the first bolt. Continue weaving upward, following clean patches and bolts, to a right-facing corner. Hop left, up on this, and make a semi-hanging belay. With a 60m rope, one can continue climbing another 25m to reach the short crack below and beside the crux headwall. A gear belay allows the second pitch to then run from there all the way to the oak tree in the central swathe of woods (top of pitch 3). This eliminates two belays, making this a 3-pitch route.

P2 90' 5.5 G 5.3 R: Climb a short vertical crack, then the slab above, moving up and slightly left to a flap. Go over this and up the unprotected slab above to the left of two short vertical cracks to the right of a steep headwall. Climb through this and make a belay (use the spruce tree).

P3 40' 5.7 PG 5.2 R: Climb up the headwall using a short vertical crack and the face to its left. Walkable slab leads to a slightly steeper end at a spruce tree anchor.

P4 100' 5.3 R: Step right onto the main slab and make a few dicey moves to the first gear at 25', then continue up easing slab to a point by a spruce tree on the left. Step into the wooded patch at an oak tree with a horizontal branch, and belay.

P5 200' 5.5 G 5.3 R: Scramble left, over blocks, onto a low-angle slab. Work up to its upper left end at a vertical crack in a steeper slab (possible to belay here). Climb the crack and short slab above its end to a stance, step left to a series of shallow scoops beside a seam and go up these to a stance below 2 small spruce trees. Step right around these and climb to the top. There are cracks where a gear belay can be established, or you can stretch the rope out to trees in the woods.

At the lowest point of the slab above and climber's left of the Belleview Slab. Descent: walk climber's right, traversing along a narrow ledge to reach a brushy gully. Walk down this gully to the lowest of several spruce trees, where there is a rappel anchor, near the top of Benediction. Rappel anchors lie along the general line of Bella Vista all the way down from here.

Standard Rack. While the crux move is well-protected, be aware that there are many 5.3 R runouts along the way.