About ten years ago after a full day of climbing with my friend Rob we were sitting at the local brewery about to finish our second pint when a disagreement on the length of the classic Upper Refuse ramp came up. At this point I had likely guided the route over a hundred times and was intimately familiar with every move, variation, and gear placement. I claimed that the traditional 3 pitch ramp section of the route (excluding the scramble off at the very top) could be done in one well executed 60 meter lead. Rob called BS. We asked the bartender to keep our tab open and hopped in the car and drove to the top of the cliff to settle this disagreement.
I racked up and we jogged down the climbers descent trail to the Barber Wall area and scrambled over to the base of the route. I blasted up the variation that can be done in one rope stretching 60m pitch, belayed Rob up, and we drove back to the brewery. After the first sip of a fresh pour Rob looked at me and said “I guess you can climb Upper Refuse in one pitch”. We had only been away from our seats for an hour and 15 minutes.
The following contains MASSIVE SPOILERS regarding how I climb this in one pitch. Gear placements and moves will be described in detail. If you haven’t enjoyed an on-sight of this classic moderate trad route I would suggest skipping this section. If you want all the beta though here you go!
Rope Suggestion: I’m a big fan of the Sterling Nano 8.9mm rope. Super light weight and it’s triple rated (single, half, or twin use). Of course this post is about doing this with a 60 meter rope… if you have a 70 meter you could likely do any variation and still easily reach the end of the ramp (but watch that rope drag!)
Difficulty: The traditional route follows a path rated 5.5 on the Yosemite Decimal System. The variation I will describe is a grade harder, or 5.6 in difficulty. If this rating is near your traditional lead limit, or your partners following ability, I highly recommend you take advantage of at least one of the two cozy belay ledges on this route and break the climb up into 2 or 3 pitches. Climbing this in one long pitch will be more tiring then breaking the pitches up and having little breaks during your climb.
Route: From the starting ledge (accessed from either climbing a route below like Fun House or hiking down from the top and traversing the large Barber Wall tree ledge, use caution on the last 3rd class step to the ledge, there is a safer variation to this approach a few feet before the exposed slab approach) start up the obvious ramp just to the right of the intimidating Black Crack.
While there are a couple places a new leader should place gear here the climbing is pretty secure 5.3 face climbing on positive holds. I wait to place my first piece, a .3 Black Diamond C4, until I reach a splitter vertical crack in the left side wall. This piece is bomber and the crack is shallow enough that there is no potential for the cam to walk. I clip this one direct to the sewn sling on the cam, no extension needed.
Continue up the corner another 10 to 15 feet until you spot one of the best nut placements you’ve ever seen, again on the left hand side in a vertical crack. A few different sizes will work here, including some small CAMP Tricams, but the Black Diamond #12 (green) is perfect! I extend an alpine draw on this because it is a nut.
The climbing steepens a little but the holds stay positive. Continue up until you reach a comfortable stem and a vertical crack with a small tree growing out of it accepts a bomber Black Diamond .5 C4 Camelot. Like the first placement this one can be clipped directly into the sewn sling, no extension needed.
Make a few balancy moves to the right (now you are directly above the traditional belay ledge) and reach up to some big jugs and a great vertical crack on the left. Place a Black Diamond #1 C4 Camelot and clip it direct, no extension needed. You are about to make what I think is the crux move of this variation. Look for a small but good foot down to the right on the small arete itself. Commit to that foot, find anything even remotely decent for your left foot, and reach high and right to get a secure hold on the arete. Many make this move harder by trying to stay in the corner but that crack doesn’t continue. The best route is to move right with both hands as early as possible.
Now you have a dozen feet of easy climbing in the traditional chimney section of the route but you won’t be staying in the chimney long. As soon as you reach the small roof on the right tuck your Black Diamond #2 C4 up under the roof and place an extended alpine draw on it. This extension is crucial as without it your rope with be running over the lip of the small roof and causing massive drag. Once you get the sling out of the way of your feet pull out to the right of the roof on a great side pull and decent friction foot hold. As you rock over more to the right you’ll see a vertical crack that was obscured from below. It isn’t intuitive, but get your left hand, thump UP, into this crack. Trust me, you’ll get it once you’ve done it. I stem out far to the right here for great feet and a hands free rest if need. Make a few moves up the crack (optional to sling the small tree or place a cam here) and gain the spacious pitch 2 belay ledge.
Leaving the ledge there are options for smaller cams and solid nut placements here. In the past I’ve skipped this placement but in the video I opted to place a slightly over cammed Black Diamond .4 C4. The layback moves up the left side crack are not very strenuous and once you stem back to the right side crack you can reach up and grab the pine tree and the business is pretty much over.
Easier climbing again and then pause. Do not go left into the corner, but move out right on good feet and small hands (and great exposure) until below a short vertical crack. An optional Black Diamond .3 C4 can be placed here which I’ve found very useful when I’ve had to finish this climb in light rain, but it can be skipped. Make one move up to a very solid left hand and stance. Here close to the arete you’ll find about as perfect as a Black Diamond .75 C4 Cam placement in a horizontal that you could ever hope for. The rope is heavy at this point as you are almost out of rope. I extend this one with a quickdraw.
Finish the climb by climbing the left arcing crack to the top. Laybacking the crack and getting both feet in the crack for one or two moves will make it feel more secure. Look for an amazingly thin undercling on a flake to the left just before you top out. Find the good top out hand hold and resist the urge to use your knee on the last move… theres some nice small footholds there, finish it in good style!
Here many climbers miss seeing the piton anchor. It is low to the ground a few feet in front of you. Leaves often obscure it. The pins are quality, but can easily back them up with a Black Diamond #1 C4 or a .75.
Look back down the route and let your partner know you are off belay (they likely already removed their belay device and are standing at the first move because you are out of rope). Communication is quite easy here because you have line of sight.
Here’s some FPV of me climbing this yesterday showing each gear placement discussed above and the final anchor!
Well that’s the beta for climbing Upper Refuse in one 60 meter pitch. I think it climbs really well this way but again urge you to be familiar with the route before attempting this. If it’s your first time on the climb I would suggest you be a solid 5.8 traditional leader before trying to link all these pitches.
Exit: A few slabby moves allow you to basically hike off to the left from this ledge. If you would like a cooler finish as soon as you reach hiking terrain look for a weakness to the right and make some fun low fifth class moves to the very top and belay from the fence while tourists look at you oddly. I’ve come up with some great jokes to some of their questions over the years.
Me: After setting up my anchor and letting my partner know they are on belay… “How did you all get up here?”
Tourist: “We took the easy way!”
Me: “Oh there is a hiking trail?”
Tourist: “No…. we drove….”
Me: “There is a road to the top!?” <- said with a look of confusion and amazement…
Tourist: “Umm…. ya….”
Me: Yelling down to my partner who just started climbing “Hey Bob! There is a road to the top!!!”
Me: Looking at the tourists…. “I can’t believe Bob told me this was the only way we could get to the top of this cliff. I’m going to kill him when he gets up here!”
See you in the mountains,
Northeast Alpine Start
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