Mount Moran, East South Buttress. From a bivouac below the south buttress of Mount Moran, on July 25, Herb Swedlund and I prusiked up the fixed line I had left off the end of the second terrace. We then scrambled about halfway along the terrace to a point equidistant from the beginning of the Blackfin and the South Buttress routes proper. We diagonaled to the right up prominent "open books," coming to a great slab just below some ominous-looking roofs about 600 feet up, where with our retreat perhaps cut off we faced another 600 feet of steep, down- sloping slabs. The long first lead ended with a few direct-aid pitons; the second was a beautiful, moderate jam crack. The third presented perhaps the only route-finding problem, following the direct-aid crack on the right instead of going straight up. The fourth lead took us onto the great slab, which was easier to traverse than it looked; then we passed the overhangs with fifth and sixth class climbing to reach a square-cut ledge. The lead off this ledge ends in a blank wall that required a four-bolt ladder and a knife-blade piton. The remainder of the climbing was pleasant fifth class mainly in cracks. The climb ends in an arête, a parallel feature to the top of the South Buttress route. Climbing time was eleven hours. We used about 50 pitons, some 20 for direct aid. The route is significantly more difficult than any other existing route on Moran, but probably not as difficult as Satisfaction Buttress on Disappointment Peak.

David B. Dornan, Yosemite Climbing Club