Trip: Exfoliation Dome - Snake Charmer 5.11-

Date: 9/6/2012

Trip Report:
Last week a group of friends and I finished up a new route on the witch doctor side of Exfoliation Dome: Snake Charmer 5.11- III 6p (9,10-,10,11-,10,10).  Topo here

The climb follows flakes and cracks that wind a fairly strait and sustained route up the far left hand side of the main wall. An easy approach will get you to the base in less than an hour and a half. 

Ralph an I had attempted this route ground up 6 years ago, but were turned back by excessive moss and dirt after a couple pitches. It laid dormant in the back of my mind until this summer when Elliot suggested we take another look. The recon showed that it was sufficiently rad to warrant a return to polish the line. Big thanks to Ralph, Elliot, Fitz, Austin, and Zac for all your hard work and keen visions.  

Sweet! Way to finish up the long standing project!

Any action shots of the route?

Here are few photos of SnakeCharmer.

Overview from base and top:


Pitch One (5.9):


Pitch Three (5.10):



Pitch Four (5.11-):




Pitch 6 (5.10):

Awesome!
Glad to see some folks hitting up that side!
Super Cool!

That looks amazing!

Cool, that looks like fun! Gonna have to get up there.

Looks very cool.

Wow! I knew that line was gonna get grabbed someday. Nice job!

Great looking pitches in there. That 1st pitch crack/flake and the 11- section look beautiful.

Sweet looking route. I love the topo photo overlay.

That's a great looking line I've stared at many times. Well done!! So cool that Exfo's getting some new lines and ongoing interest.

MH

I don't know which looks better, the route or the topo. Thanks for putting this together! I'll look forward to checking it out

yeah dudes, nice line! thx for all the documentation (hope it drives traffic!) and the addition to my to-do list.

Way to go guys! Looks great.

oh wow, that looks fun!

nice work gentlemen.

looks superb!

Who said Darrington is all slab!

FYI: a team went up recently and reported that a significant rockfall occurred to the left of the route in the past week. Be aware that there could be rock dust and small debris that ricocheted over on the first couple pitches. Given the location of the rock fall I doubt (though could be totally wrong as I have not been there to see it yet) that any bolts were effected, though the final rappel-only ones may have been. You can easily skip this station by rapping back to the top of the first pitch anchor if need be. 

Here's a picture of the offending rock fall(big white scare in the center left). If anyone heads up there in the next couple of weeks. I left some gear on the first pitch and would love to get it back. Otherwise, I'll be heading out there with a friend on the 30th to access the damage (if any) and hopefully finish the route.

the route has some good climbing but i would recommend jumping on it soon. the route still harbors some semi-loose blocks and dirt/lichen. without traffic, the witch doctor will quickly reclaim it.

the fresh rock scar is a shortly left of the third pitch anchor. all the rap stations survived. i cleaned the offensive baubles near your rap gear. lunger has your gear and will contact you soon.

thanks for your efforts dave, et al.

posted a TR on our climb yesterday. very cool route fellas!

jpark42, please PM me to retrieve your gear.