The Titleist (aka The Alicia Golembeski Memorial Route)

This route was put up in honor of our friend Alicia Golembeski, who was killed on 7.22.06 while hiking near Great Sand Dunes National Monument. We miss her dearly! Alicia was an avid golfer, and on the first day that we worked on the route, we found a Titleist golf ball in the woods while walking to the top of the Wall of Winter Warmth. Alicia regularly wore a Titleist visor and would only play with Titleist golf balls. Hence the name.

"The Titleist" climbs up the right side of the Wall of Winter Warmth in 2 pitches. The climb starts between the routes "Direct" and "

Regular Route

", climbs straight up to and through a V-notch in the roof above, and then climbs the slab between "Direct" and "Right Side." Here are the details.

Pitch 1 (5.11, 100 feet, gear and bolts): The route starts on "

Regular Route

." Climb the first 20 feet or so of that route (or traverse in from the right). At the first ledge of "

Regular Route

" there is a small bush. From here, climb up a overhanging tooth (see photos), and STAY RIGHT on the slab above (don't go left on easy terrain or you'll have difficulty coming back). Clip 2 bolts on the right edge of the slab, then easy climbing leads to a small roof. Place small gear under the roof, pull the roof, and climb up past 2 more bolts into a shallow seam. Don't get suckered left here. Place small gear in the seam, and then head up to the right edge of the next roof. To get to the right edge of this roof, either climb straight up the seam (a little dirty and hard) or step right on easy terrain and then traverse back left to the right edge of the roof. If going the easy way (which is what we did on the FFA), it may be difficult to see the next bolt, which is a foot above the lip of the roof, so don't climb too high. Once the bolt is clipped, pull around the right edge of the roof. Next, head straight up towards the giant V-notch roof (easy terrain, but may feel a bit run out). Place small gear in the crack that turns into the V-notch. Take a deep breath, and reach out to the left side of the V-notch, poke your head over, and look for a bolt to the left (just over the lip; you can't see it right away, but it's exactly where you want it). Clip the bolt, and then, as gracefully as possible, mantel over the roof (crux) and climb up to a 2 bolt anchor. The crux is difficult to aid and a few have said that 5.11- is a sandbag...give it a go and you decide.

Pitch 2 (5.10-, 90 feet, 1 piece of gear and bolts): Head up and left to a flake and place small gear. Mantel up and over the flake and then step right to clip a bolt. Climb STRAIGHT UP from here, grabbing cool jugs, clipping a few bolts as you go. At several points on this pitch, it would be easy to climb left or right to one of the other crack routes, but no bolt is any where near the cracks. Avoid temptation to stray from the bolt line. Eventually, the jugs disappear. At this point, climb up to a horizontal row of edges. Traverse slightly left (or go straight up) and eventually layback the small arete that forms the right edge of the route "Direct." If you wish, place a #0.75 Camalot in the crack after the arete disappears, and then step back right onto the slab. Climb up past 2 more bolts and eventually up to a 2 bolt anchor. The goal for this pitch was to stay as far away from "Direct" and "Right Side" as possible. Only at one point would avoiding the left crack route be contrived. This is the place where you layback the arete. The rating of this pitch is intended to be more consistent with the other ratings on the wall.

From the top of pitch 2, either rap the route, or climb a 3rd easy pitch (5.4, gear) to the top of the wall. If you go to the top of the wall and wish to return to the bottom, please don't descend the gully to the right of the Wall of Winter Warmth. Hikers, fishermen, and sunbathers hang out at the bottom of this gully and it is easy to send rather large blocks down. A better descent would be to scramble down the 4th class ramp on the left side of the wall that ends at the large tree at the top of the first pitch of "

Left Side

". Rap from the tree. This option is faster anyway.

"The Titleist" climbs straight up the right side of the Wall of Winter Warmth. The climb is between "Direct" on the left and "

Regular Route

" and "Right Side" on the right. Start on "

Regular Route

" and veer left at the overhanging tooth after 20 feet or so. The crux of the route tackles the giant V-notch in the roof above.

There are 2 approaches to the Wall of Winter Warmth.

1. Park at Upper Dream Canyon and then traverse towards the top of the wall by avoiding private property. Eventually, you will pick up a trail. Recently, there was a cairn with a stick in it along this trail. At this cairn, head downhill toward the top of the Berlin Wall and the (climber's) left side of the WWW. Rack up and scramble down the 4th class ledge system to a large tree that marks the end of pitch 1 of "Left Side." Rap from the tree and walk right toward another large tree. If you know where you are going, this takes 15 minutes.

2. Park at Lower Boulder Falls and teleport yourself to the base of the WWW.

The 1st pitch has 6 bolts and requires several pieces of gear, mostly small Aliens. The 2nd pitch has 7 bolts and requires a couple of small to medium pieces of gear. Doubles of blue through yellow Aliens and Camalots up to a #3 should make you happy. If you skip the start of "Regular Route" by traversing in from the right, you can leave the #2 and #3 Camalots in your pack.