On June 24, Damien Nicodemi and I climbed a new route on the east face of Flatiron Butte, located to the north of Yosemite National Park in the Hoover Wilderness. The stunning prominence of the face and the solitude of the cirque where the peak is located were the primary attractions. The route begins in a left-facing corner beneath the obvious pine tree on the left side of the face, roughly 200' left of Et Tu, Brute!/Brutus of Wyde (Musiyenko-Taylor, AAJ 2015).

We climbed the path of least resistance, primarily following corner systems, many of which ended up being vegetated. Every pitch was freed by at least one member of the party. In the few instances where the leader had to hang on gear in order to remove vegetation from the cracks, the follower was able to free the pitch clean.

Golden Triangle (1,500’, III/IV 5.10) features good rock quality interrupted by brief sections of loose rock on wandering ledges, but we believe with some traffic this route will clean up quite nicely. Cruxes are found on the third and sixth pitches. Aside from a sling found on the pine tree at the top of the first pitch, there was no other evidence of human activity; we left no permanent protection or anchors on the climb. We both found the route to be very enjoyable, despite sections of loose rock and vegetation.

– Ryan Evans

Click here for a report about more new routes on Flatiron Butte in 2016 and a photo-topo of all known climbs.