This is an interesting, varied, and entertaining route that may push you at the grade...especially if you are not taller than the average guy (5'10"). The upper face has some exquisite, moderate face climbing.

Start on a challenging slab. At 5'10" with a +2 ape index, you can barely reach up and left to a small edge. Pull aboard with a crummy left foot and then a somewhat better right smear. Stay in balance and reach a decent edge. A funky lean and an awkward stem keep you barely there. Fight upward on less-than-adequate nubbins and smears. This lower slab feels like the technical crux of the route. Gain a big ledge, and regroup.

Clip the bolt out right across the gap. Now, you have to make an airy stem out right. You can clip the 8th bolt before you have to commit. If you are tall, you can reach the decent flake. If not, you'll have to do a lieback off a marginal edge, pull your left foot aboard, and reach for the decent flake. Now the fight is on. Scratch your way into a more stable spot and a horizontal hand jam crack. That is the physical crux.

Finally, you get to enjoy some fine face moves that feel reminiscent of Hallett Peak or The Crags face climbs. There is a spot in the middle of the upper face where you have to engage yourself again. Finally, at the last bolt, move left to the arete for a final bit of exposure.

You may need a rest after this climb.

Strong Arm Tactics

The Monster Mash

Academic Freedom

Hrunting

Beyond the Pale

Pierced Lip Lock

Daneland

Mother Grendel

Beowulf

Nægling

Leitner Route

Pebble In The Sky

Freedom Fighter

Beowoof

Exit Stage Right

This is a slab route of good quality, but it seems to be the shortest route on the cliff. It will challenge those shorter than 5'10".

Some such folks will argue for a 11-ish rating.

Go up and right on a ledge to clip the 1st bolt. You can back down to the ground to add a few more moves. Pull onto the slab, make a high step with your right foot, and stay in balance. Move your feet up high with small hand holds. Reach far and right to a relative bucket and find a balanced position to clip the 3rd bolt. Move back left and then continue up on easier terrain to the anchor.

Climb up to a ledge & the 1st bolt.  Follow an easy wide crack to a ledge.  Pull over a small overlap on the right, past the 4th bolt.  Wander up to a ledge and the 6th bolt.  Climb a steep face past 2 bolts to a long narrow ledge.  Traverse 10' left and reach the 9th bolt.  A short vertical face leads to a roof.  Move left on a horizontal crack to where the roof get smaller.  Pull over the roof on jugs.  Move right to the anchor.

This is located near the center of the crag, right of "

Pierced Lip Lock

".  Start off the top of a huge boulder that sits against the wall, forming a ledge.  Climb up a slab angling right to a small roof & 3rd bolt. The crux is getting over this roof.  Continue over a series of tiered roofs (.12a) to finally pull onto a steep slab.  Moderate climbing leads to the anchor.

This steep trad climb breaches the roof between

Academic Freedom

and

Exit Stage Right

with a puzzling crux. Varied and interesting, with a good finger crack and corner to start, well-protected but strenuous moves turning the roof to the left, and a fun hand crack above the roof. After the hand crack, place directionals and move left to finish on

Academic Freedom

, clipping one bolt before the anchor.

This gets a provisional three stars, pending some traffic, because parts of it are quite lichenous. As is, it's still really fun.

The pitch was led with a couple of falls, restarting each time from the no-hands rest stance under the roof, and then followed clean. This will be redpointed...if we get around to it.

Climb the shady west face of Grendel, starting on a platform about 50' up the talus. Follow the most obvious line of thin cracks through two orange tiers, passing a large roof to the left at the start of the second tier, and then go up a final groove to the top. Either traverse right to a bolt anchor or continue to summit and downclimb north and back west. It is very fun climbing but there is lots of lichen. With traffic, this would earn three stars.

This route stands out for me as the best at the cliff: fun, sustained climbing, requiring a variety of techniques on great rock in a beautiful setting.  Easy climbing leads past the first bolt into a steep dihedral capped by roofs.  Tread lightly at the pierced lip, and try not to break it or we'll have to rename the route "Busted Lip".

The real fun of this route kicks in after you pull the tricky crux corners at the start. The climbing eases off a bit, but the route goes all the way up with fun climbing on great stone.

A 60 meter rope is just long enough; I was lowered all the way to the ground with all of the bolts still clipped.

You will need a long sling to negotiate rope drag over the roof between the 6th & 7th bolt!

Climb up the face past two bolts & move left onto a ledge. Step right & climb a short vertical arete, past the 3rd bolt, to a steep slab that ends on a huge sloping ledge. Clip the 6th bolt & ascend a steep face along a short, right-facing corner.

Clip the 7th bolt with a long sling & clip out of the 6th bolt.

Gain a small ledge on the left. The crux pulls over a small overlap, past the 8th bolt, onto a steep face. Continue up this beautiful long face with nice holds to a ledge & the 14th bolt below a small roof. Pull over the roof on the right.  Move up and left to the anchor.

This route starts from a pleasant belay area above and left of

Daneland

.  Climb up the initial prow moving right onto the face.  Continue up and head left out the exposed, thuggish, crux roof.

This varied pitch climbs the shallow corner just left of

Exit Stage Right

to a good ledge, continues up the left side of a blunt prow to a roof, then exits the roof right on strenuous edges and flakes to reach easier ground and the anchor for

Exit Stage Right

. It has cruxes at the initial corner and the final face section. One hold at the start of the second crux was strangely seeping in midsummer, but otherwise this route is pretty clean and solid.

This route features a devious, bouldery sequence to solve the crux roof start.  Once past, the face above yields considerably easier climbing that cruises past the namesake "pebble"; a boulder suspended in a pinch of alpine granite.

Scramble up to a ledge below a roof. Clip the 1st bolt in the roof. Move right & up on big holds over the lip before moving slightly left. Clip the 2nd bolt & make a strenuous move off side pulls or an undercling (.11c/d) to reach jugs above. Continue with ease to a stance & 4th bolt. At the 5th bolt, the difficulties begin again. Ascend a vertical face via small edges with the crux at the 7th bolt (.11d/.12a) to reach a shelf. Awkward moves gain the shelf & a good rest standing on it. From the left side of the shelf & the 9th bolt, move left & up to a stance left of the 10th bolt. Move right & up to a small roof & the last bolt over the lip. Strenuous moves pull the roof on good holds. Continue up moderate moves to the anchor.

I originally rated this climb 5.11d/12a. If it is well-chalked, it may feel like 5.11d. I recently revisited this climb to find no chalk on the holds. I wasn't sure where the small holds on the vertical face were at first. Without chalk on the holds or beta, this climb feels like 5.12a.

Beowoof climbs a pleasant corner to a very large, stepped roof split by a diagonal crack. Good holds make the traverse into the roof easier than it looks, but pulling through is strenuous and may be awkward. If you get the beta perfectly right, as I did on my second attempt, it feels like traditional 5.9. More likely it will feel harder. You get into wild positions on this one.

There is a large block near the top of the corner crack, just before traversing under the roof, that should not be used either as a hold or for protection. It is easily avoided, but hopefully this can be cleaned before long. Otherwise, the corner is scruffy in places but will clean up nicely. Once it does, this will be a three-star pitch, for sure.

Ascend a moderate face past two bolts to a ledge.  Clip the third bolt (reachy) and ascend a short vertical face to a large, sloping ledge.  Gain the ledge & step right to an easy left-facing corner that angles up right.  Follow the corner to another ledge and the 7th bolt.  Pull onto a sloping shelf & traverse left to finish.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in The Grendel