In July, Tad McCrea and I made the long trek up the East Lake Trail, aiming for the east face of Sky Pilot (ca 12,960’), just south of Longley Pass. After hiking 17 miles from Road’s End, we camped at Lake Reflection and set off early the next morning to find the seldom-used trail toward Longley Pass. Skirting the lake on its right side, we followed occasional cairns for three miles until we reached a talus field below the east face of Sky Pilot.

We began at the lowest point on the face and climbed a moderate slab to reach cracks, which led to a right-facing corner system. I started the second pitch with 20m of steep 5.10 and pulled a 5.11- bulge, but got stopped by a loose flake caked in grass. Although I was only 5m below an easier ramp, I opted to lower down and retreat instead of spending time cleaning.

The following day we hiked a bit farther up and right along the base of the east face to access the left-leaning ramp, which brought us to just above my high point from the day before. We climbed the obvious right-facing corner system for two pitches and continued up cracks and systems on the face for five more pitches. Overall the rock was really high quality. As far as we know, the east face had never been climbed. We called the route Certified Tantric Shaman (1,000’, IV 5.10+).

For future parties wanting to repeat the route, cleaning and completing our original start would make for the most logical and direct line and would be an incredible addition to the climb.

– Whitney Clark