One of the mythical Sierra places I had always wanted to check out was the Spring Lake Wall, tucked in to the north of Sawtooth Pass in Sequoia National Park. Eliot Bernhagen and Tad McCrea were keen to join forces, so in August the three of us hiked in.

On our first day, we completed No Fun Allowed (1,200’, IV 5.10d R), which featured several top-notch cracks in the middle of the wall. The price of admission was a very chossy and not so well-protected 30-foot section on the second pitch, and another section on the third, which could use at least one bolt to protect a 5.10a-ish move after a long run-out. At that point, I wasn’t sure if the route was worth it, but I continued climbing, doing a significant run-out on 5.9–10a terrain. (If anyone wants to add fixed pro to this route, you are welcome to.) Three more pitches of great splitters and another pitch of typical Sierra low 5th took us to the scenic cumbre. [Editor’s Note: In 1975, Vern Clevenger and Galen Rowell climbed That’s a Sheer Cliff (IV 5.9, see AAJ 1976), which follows one of the many dihedrals in the center portion of the wall. The exact line is unknown, but it is likely right of the 2019 route.]

On the following day, Eliot and I wanted to repeat one of the good-looking established climbs on the wall while Tad went for a hike. We managed to eliminate the aid that had been used on the first pitch of the One that Got Away (1,500’, IV 5.11a/b, Kalman-Siadak, 2015, see AAJ 2016). This route ascends a variety of nice splitter cracks once you’re past initial 400’ choss scramble (one of the worst I have encountered in the Sierra!). It appears it might be possible to traverse into the route above this initial band on a long, sloping ledge from the right. 

– Vitaliy Musiyenko