Across
the Universe Mount Willard
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The
route with belays marked
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Rack- standard rack and two ropes for the descent. Have a wired nut with a cable that slides through the nut available to hook over a bolt stud on the first pitch.
This is a beautiful route on Mount Willard in Crawford Notch. It offers four pitches of excellent, steep slab climbing with outstanding views of Crawford Notch. The last pitch, the Milky Way pitch, is a superb pitch of 5.9 steep slab climbing. The entire route is on excellent rock and it is probably the best climb in the notch. The second pitch has a single move of 5.10 which is quite difficult for its grade and much harder than anything else on the route. This is easily overcome by a quick pull on the bolt that protects the crux and is usually done this way. So, don't let the 5.10 rating keep you from doing this climb if you're up to the 5.9 climbing on the last pitch.
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First
pitch
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To approach this climb, park at the head of the notch just past the narrows at a large turnout. Hike along the railroad tracks back into the notch for approximately 15 minutes to a narrow clearing that comes down to the tracks from the rock. This is the start of Cinema Gully in the winter. Go up this narrow clearing (or a small path approximately 100 feet before this gully) and walk along the bottom of the the rock to the right until you are underneath the right hand edge of a long overlap that is about a hundred feet above the ground. Start the climb at the second large oak tree you come to that is near the base of the rock.
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Pitch
2, at the base of the crux overlap
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Pitch 1- 90 feet, 5.8 Climb up through the trees onto the smooth face. Climb towards a bolt stud and then up past two more bolts to a bolt anchor.
Pitch 2- 140 feet, 5.10 Move up and right to the overlap aiming for a piton and a bolt that mark the crux. Pull over the overlap (and maybe pull on the bolt too) and continue up easy ground to a double bolt anchor. At the crux there is a hidden piton just after the bolt in the hole to the left.
Pitch 3- 160 feet, 5.4 Climb straight up the low angle face (runout but easy and on good rock) to a ledge with single bolt. The bolt can be backed up by gear for a belay.
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Nearing
the top of pitch 3 (here combined with pitch 4)
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Pitch 4- 30 feet, 5.2 Traverse easily to the right to a fixed anchor above the bushes that mark the start to the last pitch. This pitch can be combined with pitch 3 if you have a 60 m rope.
Pitch 5- 150 feet, 5.9 The Milky Way pitch, a really good one, not to be missed. Climb the steep slab past six bolts and a fixed piton to a double bolt anchor. It's possible to keep climbing from here, but the climbing is not really worth it.
Descent- Rappel the route with three or four rappels. The second rappel from the fixed anchor at the start of the Milky Way pitch to the anchor above the overlap diagonals quite a bit. From the anchor above the overlap it's possible to reach the ground with long ropes.
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The
Milky Way Pitch
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© Chauvin Guides International, P.O. Box 2151, North Conway, NH 03860 Voice: 603-356-8919