Sound of One Hand Thrashing

An extraordinary climb, this is perhaps the best trad route of its grade in the Dragoons. It was one of the "Three Sisters" climbed by RR and Chip in the summer of 1980 in the corridor between the main Rockfellow Dome and Chay Desa Tsay: three steep and forbidding crack systems rising out of the darkness and disappearing into the slice of sky above. This and other routes in the corridor are great summer routes because they rarely see sun, except for their summit pitches. (As of this writing, though, there is a Forest Service peregrine falcon closure from March 1 through June 30, which apparently is an annual restriction).

Sound of One Hand Thrashing is the best of the Three Sisters. It requires a variety of skills, including Dragoon groove climbing, technical stemming, creative use of gear, and steady nerves. Most pitches have some climbing above questionable gear. When we summitted, we were greeted by a group of vultures eyeing us from the top of Bastion. Eerie.

For decades, after my and Herb North's ascent in 1981, I called this line "Coming to Grips," and used that name in raving about the route to many an ear. When I saw it named differently in Bob Kerry's 1991 guide, I wondered how he could have gotten the name of such a classic route wrong. I later got the chance to post the line here with the name that had been stuck in my head for so long. Recently, at a reunion of sorts, Chip and RR gently informed me that this route has all along been called Sound of One Hand Thrashing. In our mutual haze of senility, I'm not sure mine is worse than their's, but it was two to one.

Begin by climbing a short section of 5.9 to the base of the dihedral. Clip the bolt and climb the nearly flawless corner, past a pin, to a three-bolt belay (5.11c/d). (2) Continue up the groove/corner above past two bolts (5.10d) to a belay from gear maybe 20 feet below a roof. There were two fixed nuts at the belay when we did it. (3) Wild climbing on slightly overhanging rock traverses left and up to a bolt. Stiff climbing past the bolt (5.11b) leads to an obvious traverse left to a ledge and thankfully lower angle rock. Gear belay. (4) Climb a somewhat short 5.8 pitch to a gear belay just before the climbing gets harder and spookier. (5) Continue up the crack/groove system above, stepping left and then back right at one point. Above are the pitch's hardest moves, which slowly let up as you get closer to the summit jug (5.11a).

Start up the massive chimney (the Inner Passage) just right of Abracadaver and Knead Me. A short distance past Lumpy Unmentionables on the left is a striking dihedral with a bolt at its base. This marks the start of Coming to Grips. The crack to the left that arches into Coming to Grip's line is the original start of the Sound of One Hand Thrashing. Rap Abracadaver (2 ropes).

Double cams to 3.5”; full collection of wires, including at least one set of micronuts; runners, some suitable for slinging flakes.