“Tits
and Beer”, or “T&B” as it is commonly called,
is the easiest climb on the massive Sun Wall. The generally moderate
climbing is spiced up with a few hard moves high off the deck
that have caused many an epic day for the aspiring leader. Make
sure you are solid at this grade before you give this classic
a try. The approach for “T&B” can be accomplished
one of two ways: Either hike up the Sunwall Trail then head right
along the base of the rock to the end of the Sun Wall, or hike
up the Slickrock Falls trail to the South Face and walk to the
extreme left then scramble down the gully to the lowest point
of the rock. From here the route is directly overhead, but unless
you want to climb the direct start which is a runout 5.11, you’ll
need to go up hill to the left, scramble onto the apron then traverse
right until you can build an anchor and start the 1st pitch proper.
Traverse up and to the right over flakes and edges until you reach
the two-bolt anchor beneath a large vertical crack. This pitch
is about 5.3. When setting up an anchor you may want to back up
the bolts with natural gear. The crux of pitch two is almost right
off the belay. Climb the face (5.9) then start jamming the crack.
The protection gets better and the climbing eases up as you get
into the crack. From here you continue up the obvious line until
the crack becomes an offwidth. The safer, but more awkward approach
is to climb the offwidth. The easier, but runout approach involves
climbing the face to the left. Either way build an anchor beneath
the big bulge. Begin pitch three by traversing left under the
bulge until you can pull up and over. Watch for crucial TCU placements.
This is the crux of the climb and has sent many climbers rappelling
to the ground in disgust. Keep in mind it is only 5.9… Once
over place gear and start traversing right and up over the bulges
until you are under a large blank bulge. Either build an anchor
directly over the last belay, or continue traversing right along
the base of the bulge until you reach a water groove. Make sure
you protect your second on these traverses! The crux for the 4th
pitch is the crack in the water groove and it is supposed to be
5.7, but it feels much easier. Once you are established in the
groove and the climbing has backed off you need to decide how
to finish the climb. The original route continues to the top by
way of several low angle slab pitches. You then descend back to
the base by rappelling the “Southender” route (The
tree lined gully to the right.) The quicker and more enjoyable
finish involves a long (200+ foot) traverse across the bulges
and grooves to the anchors above “Irish Jig” and “Ruby
Tuesday”. For this finish climb up the crack until the angle
lessons then start traversing right. The climbing is very easy,
but it is still important to place ample gear for the protection
of you, and your second. You are aiming for the bolts, which are
located beneath a large, slightly overhanging “shield”
on the wall’s far right end. Keep in mind even if you are
using a 60 meter rope you will still have to build a natural gear
anchor about fifty feet from the rappel. Remain roped up and lead
the last few feet, then rappel on two ropes to the base of the
South Face.
Gear:
Two 60 meter ropes,
(You might want to consider using half ropes to help reduce rope
drag, especially for the crux 3rd pitch), Standard free climbing
rack consisting of nuts, small tri-cams, and a set of small and
mid-sized camming devices up to #3 Camalot.
Guides/Topos:
Selected Climbs
in North Carolina, Lambert & Shull, 2002
The Climber’s Guide to North Carolina (3rd Edition), Kelly,
1995 |
