Highway Of Ra

A great pitch that sews together pieces of other wandering climbs into a nearly plumb line for a great and very long pitch.

Levin's new Eldo book lists 'variation' to

Highway of Diamonds

as an independent line which shares the bottom with Highway/

Land Of Ra

and the top pitch up the Arete of

Highway Of Diamonds

. It is actually possible to do this much more directly and share less ground with the other climbs.

To begin, start up the thin cracks left of the corner as for

Land Of Ra

, this is not easily protected but is moderate and offers some gear. If you backdown here, the rest of the climb was not for you anyway. Climb up past the left side of a small tree down low. Continue upward, aiming for a diagonal crack below a small bulge that leads into a very shallow, left-facing corner, perhaps 50 feet up. Climb up this left facing corner as for Levin's listed 'Variation' climb, but DO NOT traverse left to the arete as suggested. An intermittent crack system continues onward, above, and this is climbable at a moderate grade (perhaps 5.8, but not harder than 5.9). Continue in discontinuous cracks until they terminate in a blank face. The runout here is pretty long (20-30'), but the climbing feels both moderate (5.8?) and secure. Step left 2 moves to merge with Land Of Ra just below it's second to last bolt. Clipping that bolt is optional if you want to keep it all trad, but the next move is a step up in difficulty from the rest of the climbing (9+/10-?). Climb a few moves of

Land Of Ra

, then continue up and slightly left into more cracks, going directly up until your line merges with the Left hand arete very near to the top. Good protection is available here and there on this upper portion, left of the final moves and bolt of

Land Of Ra

.

Belay from a 2-bolt anchor. Looking down from the top I saw a nearly plumb line made, and had virtually no drag whatsoever, only the weight of 200' of rope.

The climb starts near

Land Of Ra

and

Highway of Diamonds

.

A standard rack of nuts from very small to medium and cams up to 4" and a handful of slings. Long runouts are not unlikely, and moderate runouts are unavoidable, but both are on reasonable terrain (5.9- or below).