A view from Yosemite Lodge, with the lower two tiers of Five Open Books on the left, the 1500' (500m) Upper Yosemite Falls thundering down in the middle, and Yosemite Point Buttress on the right.
A view of the crag basking in the sun from Yosemite Lodge, with the 1500' (500m) Upper Yosemite Falls thundering down behind. Of the 3 tiers of the crag, the lower tier is called the Five Open Books, the middle tier is called Second Tier, and the top tier is Third Tier (inspirational nomenclature eh?). The Yosemite Falls hiking trail passes along the top of the second tier and makes for a very quick descent if you've gone that high. Columbia Point Lookout is on that trail, above the Second Tier.
Me on pitch 1 of Commitment (** 5.9), which starts behind the tree and is then a beautiful face crack. The second and third pitches continue up the obvious corner system above.
Another view of the first pitch of Commitment, showing the hideous offwidth layback corner alternative on climber's left (right of shot).
Nic roars up the great easy second pitch corner laybacking on Commitment.
Nic post crux on the sustained 3rd pitch of Commitment, with a 120m drop below. Apparently it's better to veer to climber's left about there rather than continue up the corner which (as we can attest) gets a little grunty to finish.
More Internet Sites on Five Open Books Climbing
TheCrag.com As always. Record your Yosemite ticks here, and see what everyone else is climbing.
TheCrag.com As always. Record your Yosemite ticks here, and see what everyone else is climbing. 