Miner's Delight

Miner's Delight was conceived and started by Joe Desimone in 1996 and finally completed by Richard Wright and Mark Tarrant in 2003. Hike up the talus field to the middle of this huge, fin-like buttress. The blocky talus dike has been cairned adjacent to EOA. Miner's Delight is 100 feet uphill and begins in right-facing corner system that starts out by powering up to a clip that is made from a small adherent ledge. The obvious seam 20 feet right is

Smeagol's Way

. The variation second pitch branches left of the upper dihedral at 90 feet and goes to a separate rap station.

P1 of MD runs up on complex and often hidden corners, edges, and blocks. The climbing is on very solid features that were extensively cleaned by Joe; however, it is advisable to stay close to the intended line since the wall still kicks up loose rock where it has never seen human hands. This is a killer pitch with good movement and solid stone. A first run through felt like 5.11c, so call it b/c for now. The climbing felt a lot like

80 Feet of Meat

at Rifle, but longer. Fifteen draws are required to clip everything.

P2 runs through the dihedral above and is protected by thirteen bolts. The stone here is brilliant, the climbing loads more strenuous than it may appear, and with thirteen clips will not feel in the least over-protected. This can be a spooky lead. The dihedral overhangs, the hardest moves are the most exposed, and despite climbing in a dihedral there are still some pumpy, exposed decisions to be made. Done one way, the pitch goes at 5.11c, but perhaps it's 5.11b if done with a different sequence.

Overall, Miner's Delight is a terrific line in an alpine setting, and climbs on granite that is about as good as it gets. FFA for everything goes to Mark.

This two pitch route needs a 60 m rope, fifteen draws, and something for the double bolt anchors at the top of each pitch. P1 is 100+ feet long but will rap to the ground with 60 meters. P2 is 90 feet long and raps to a double bolt anchor. Tie your ropes together!! Alternatively, one can climb onto the ledge at the top of P2, belay from the block, and walk off North (away from the road).