Pearl Necklace

The left bolt line on the clean face of The Pearls. Pearl Necklace is a route for those that like technical moves on dime edges. It has multiple cruxes with good rests in between. The crimping starts right off the high ledge. Difficult climbing leads to a large edge and a puzzling series of moves between it and the next big hold. From there an arching crack leads to a tough series of moves to big holds below the anchor.

Pearl Necklace is the obvious left bolt line on the clean southwest face. From a high ledge it arcs left to a thin crack, then back right to the anchor.

The upper face is above a bulge of somewhat poor rock (once on the ledge, the first bolt can be clipped). Vogel's 1992 guide reads, "Start near the center of the formation, to the left of some sharp flakes/boulders. Climb discontinuous thin cracks to a ledge..". Our experience:

• The most straight forward access to the starting ledge is via a small buttress right of the first bolt on

Pearl Drops

. A 5.0 scramble leads to a #1 Camalot placement with an easy step across to the top of the ledge (recommended).

• Climb the cleaner crack that starts a body length up the center of the lower face. We didn't try, so no gear recommendation.

• Climb the dirty crack on the left side, with very loose holds (not recommended).

One warning is the second bolt is very difficult to clip from the obvious line. A fall from here would land on the ledge below. Gear opportunities (small fingers size) exist between the 5th and 6th bolt.

6 bolts, green to red alien and similar nuts, 2 anchor bolts with slings and fixed biners. Additional supplemental pro depending on the start chosen.