Mount Conness, “Flakes of Fury,” Tuolumne Meadows Area. On July 11 Chris Vandiver and I climbed a new free route on the right side of the 1200-foot-high southwest face of Mount Conness. “Flakes of Fury” was named for the consistently crumbling, loose rock and the need to lieback vigorously on such fragile stuff. We began midway between the original route and the massive gully that marks the face’s right side in a prominent moderately vegetated 5.8 groove. A loose 5.10a overhang led to rotten flakes and a lichen-encrusted squeeze chimney. A pair of prominent 5.9 dihedrals took us to a pair of small ledges. A final 5.10a lieback and overhanging flake pitch was followed by a large right-slanting fourth-class pitch, which in turn led to the low-angle summit ridge. Rockfall danger was fairly high and shelter was minimal. We took neither bolts, pins nor aid slings and completed the nine-pitch climb in 9½ hours. (IV, 5.10.)

Eric S. Perlman