Tenaya Canyon, New Route. While some Club members are painting their names across the skies above the world’s great mountain ranges, others toil in obscurity among the well-worn furrows of our home ranges. Thus my partner Tim Laidman and I happened upon a new route in Yosemite’s Tenaya Canyon. We climbed consistently easy to moderate slabs immediately west of Snow Creek and east of the Snow Creek Slabs route described by Roper. This casual cruise allows one to enjoy the delightful music of this creek as it cascades over polished granite and boils through a series of small falls and pools before disappearing into the forested canyon below. This climb offers a variety of possible routes parallel to the creek. In fact, it is not a climb so much as a game, the idea being to climb as close to the creek as possible, where the rock is steeper and smoother, the moves harder and the chance of falling into the swift-moving stream greater. The less bold climb further from the stream, following long cracks and flakes to obtain protection.

The creek has a lower and an upper section divided by a small pool. The upper section is steeper and more interesting, with a section of 5.8 cracks and flakes at the start. At the top of the slabs, the canyon narrows and is overgrown with jungle. Exit left to the Snow Creek trail.

Paul Minault