North America, United States, California—Yosemite, Phantom Pinnacle, Center
Phantom Pinnacle, Center. In early May 1965, after several futile starts, Joe Faint and I made a new route up the center of Phantom Pinnacle. We began from a large ledge at the bottom of the face. A short section of direct aid brought us to a thin ledge beneath a prominent ceiling, which we passed on the right via a chimney. From a ledge at the top of the chimney a difficult step let us enter a very hard crack. Above this pitch we found an odd-width jam-crack, the beginning of one of the finest pitches of the climb, a steep pitch on jug holds, leading to a fascinating layback beneath the next ledge. From the ledge we traversed left around and then up a huge, columnar block. A short section of direct aid brought us to an extremely difficult jam-crack at the top of which we traversed right into the summit cracks, (NCCS IV, F9, A3.)
Christopher Fredericks, unattached