This is a fantastic and overlooked climb. Up the unprotected easy slab and throuh a left-facing corner system at about 5.5. Then step right onto the headwall to clip the first of four bolts. Some of the best slab climbing in the park through these four bolts on knobby feldspar and perfect friction. Gain the ledge and bolted rap station.

Knuckle Duster

Close To The Top

Walk In The High Country

Mark of the Beast

Easier Than It Looks

Harder Than it Looks

Easy Traverse

Ascend the slab just right of where the big overlap meets the ground. Belay using the crack below the large flake at the overlap weakness. Climb the flake and mantle to then clip the first bolt. Great feldspar crystals and good friction will get you past this bolt (crux) and to a second, which is the first bolt on the second pitch of Walk in the High Country. Continue to belay at some blocks.

This route is a great multi-pitch traverse across the backside of Main Dome. Crosses several other popular routes, so you may have to wait or ask permission to cross other parties if its a busy day. This climb can definitely be a route finding challenge past P3 due to the sea of bolts on Main Dome. 

  P1-3 can be done as a standalone, topping out on several different climbs or rapping off of Easier Than It Looks anchors with a single 60m rope. 

  P1 (~30m): Climb the face using the arete formed by the right facing dihedral (4 bolts) to a set of anchors. 

  P2 (~30m): Traverse up and right across the top of the overlap (6 bolts) to a set of anchors. 

  P3 (~30m): Traverse across easy terrain to a grassy ledge (no bolts) with 2 sets of anchors (left is Easier Than It Looks, right is Mark Of The Beast). 

  P4: Continue traversing the upper shield using bolts on existing routes following a dike that angles up (guidebook says 3 bolts, 2 anchors). 

  P5: Angle up and right through a dish and a bulge (guidebook says 2 bolts).

Mark of the Beast is probably the longest, vertical, non-contrived route in the park.  The route is a well-protected three-pitch slab route that climbs the right side of the Devil�s Slide.  The first pitch is also known as Christine�s Variation and is a great 5.6 climb just by itself. 

  P1. Start at the base of a long, clean slab just left of the prominent overlap that marks the left side of the Cheap Wine Wall.  Climb past seven bolts to a pair of top anchors in a shallow dish just right of the Fatman Flake.  While there are a couple sections where the wall is a little steeper, there is no real crux.  Fun, 5.6 climbing to the anchors. 

  P2. Climb up and left from the P1 anchors past the Fatman Flake.  The crux is a steep smooth headwall that leads to the first bolt (5.8/5.9 range).  Once past the first bolt, the angle and the climbing both ease significantly.  Climb past two more bolts to a two-bolt belay on the Broadway Ledge.  Short pitch. 

  P3. Another short pitch.  Climb an easy slab up and right from the P2 anchors to a two-bolt rap station. 

  From the rap anchors on top of P3, rap with two ropes back to the P1 anchors near the Fatman Flake.  A second two rope rappel gets you back to the ground.  You could also scramble up a low angle slab and walk off the top of the dome.

From the top of the boulder, the climb follows a series of small ledges and dishes up and right, first to an overlap, then to anchors below and left of Fat Man Flake, which dominates the skyline from the start (about 110 ft up and right). If the sun is right, you can see the P1 anchors from the start. ETIL shares the P1 anchors and upper two pitches with Harder Than It Looks. For P2, climb up the flake and continue up the unprotected slab to a ledge with the P2 anchors (60 ft). P3 goes up the slab for another 100 to 130 ft (depending on where you choose to build an anchor). You can also just clip the P2 anchors and continue to the top of P3.This is a good route for a novice leader, although the start is a bit run-out (fall potential is low). Crux is probably the first 20 ft of the third pitch which is the steepest part of the slab and unprotected, although there are small crystals for footholds. Overall its an easy route to work on slab climbing.

Harder Than it Looks is located approximately 10 feet left of Mark of the Beast. Follow a line of four bolts (the first one was hard to see from the ground, I was right on top of it before I knew it was there) up the center of the slab, basically paralleling the first pitch of Mark of the Beast. Once again there is no real crux, just fun climbing in the 5.6 realm throughout. Rappel the route with a pair of ropes.

This is a traverse across Devil's Slide and Cheap Wine Wall to Beer Can Alley and then the massive ledge above the Shield and News Wall. The number of pitches is really up to the party, but here is what we did:

 P1-- Climb the first pitch of Easier Than It Looks and belay from the anchors below Fatman Flake.

 P2-- Traverse along the ledge to Mark of the Beast's P1 anchors and then to the large ledge where the Boston/Kracken anchors are. Belay.

 P3-- Rappel/downclimb/lower down and right a short distance to Beer Can Alley. Belay from so-so rock at the start of BCA or from the anchors for P1 of Dome Driver and Hartford.

 P4-- Follow BCA up and right. Belay from top anchors of a route just past the popular Cheap Wine Wall routes.

 P5-- Follow BCA up and right. Belay off top anchors for a route on the Shield.

 P6-- Follow BCA up along increasingly easy ground and end on the massive ledge.

 It is possible and sensible to combine our P4 and P5. Because it was a busy day, we just wanted to get ourselves and our rope away from all the traffic as quickly as we could, so we made P4 a very short one.

 There are two cruxes, and they are some exposed downclimbing spots on P2. They felt harder than 5.5, but maybe that was a head thing due to exposure, downclimbing, and a possible pendulum fall.

 I have a more-detailed account of the route here: summitpost.org/easy-travers…

The Devil's Slide area is one of four walls along the Backside of the Main Dome. It is located on the far left side of the wall, immediately left of Cheap Wine Wall. This is probably one of the longer approaches in the park, but the reward is a number of moderate, well-protected, and fun slab climbs that are among the longest in the park. The views from the wall to the north and west are as good as any in the park. The Devil's Slide also marks the start of a couple long girdle traverses that trace the entire length of the Backside.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Devil's Slide