The Line, Lover's Leap, East Wall 5.9

 
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Lake Tahoe, California, USA

  • Currently 5.0/5
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SuperTopo Rating:   
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  • 5
 (5.0)
Average Customer Rating:   
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  • 5
 (4.2)
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Rating Distribution
13 Total Ratings
5 star: 46%  (6)
4 star: 31%  (4)
3 star: 15%  (2)
2 star: 8%  (1)
1 star: 0%  (0)
R and Y

Trad climber
CA
Aug 7, 2013 - 01:18am
 
i borrowed my partners master cam offset cam to protect the crux move 20 feet off the deck. it seems like a far superior way to protect the crux. it looked like a pretty slippery nut placement. I plugged the rest of his offsets in higher up on the route. of coarse i didn't read my guidebook before starting the climb and climbed way past the traditional belay for the first pitch and plugged an anchor in at the fixed piton about 190 feet up. again the offset where invaluable here as well. first thing i did after getting home was score myself a set of metolious offsets.
Ed H

Trad climber
Santa Rosa, CA
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   Jul 30, 2013 - 12:34am
I led this in 2 pitches this weekend. It's been on my lead list for a while after followed it yrs ago. I'm a 5.8 leader venturing into 5.9 climbs, and I thought it was great - good pro, only two or three 5.9 moves - lots of rests - so go wait in line and do it! Also do Scimitar and Psychedelic Tree - they have more variety and shorter lines
The first crux is 20 ft off the deck, I used .3 BD cam, and backed it up with blue alien for good measure (this of course took most of my finger jam away!)
The rest of route is good with pro the whole way – maybe one thin move. I love the shoulder rest when pulling the roof!
LongAgo

Trad climber
Feb 26, 2013 - 05:40pm
 
Glad to see some still enjoy this route though for others, naturally, its passé. Frank Sarnquist and I did the first free ascent some decades back and certainly enjoyed climbing on the dikes and doing the occasional solid jams on this most linear of climbing lines. The roof above looked ominous as we closed in on it, especially with TM Herbert calling to us from below, "It won't go!" But of course it is an easy pull over with solid pro. I certainly hope no bolts go onto the route. It's a perfect climb for natural pro. Enjoy!

Tom Higgins
LongAgo
Stewart Johnson

Gym climber
top lake
Sep 17, 2012 - 10:06am
 
please dont climb here anymore.
MisterE

Gym climber
Small Town with a Big Back Yard
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   Sep 15, 2012 - 08:12pm
Yes, you can easily do this in 2 pitches with a long rope and runners to reduce rope drag.

I did it last week and 8 years ago - it feels a lot slipperier than I remember. I think the climb is a little over-hyped, as well - Fantasia is much better, if a different kind of climb. Hospital Corner, at on grade harder is much better also, IMO.
oldnutz

Trad climber
OAKLAND
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   Sep 15, 2012 - 07:31pm
It is a great, sustained crack...try to keep moving as there aren't many places to rest. It felt like you could link up P2/P3 with a 70m rope...didn't try but P3 is just a couple of moves through a roof and you're done.

There are a number of loose blocks behind flakes on P1, and lots wafer-thin flakes on P2...be very careful!

<spoiler alert>
The roof near the top of P2 is much easier if you traverse right 6' and find big jugs and dykes to haul on instead of trying to follow the crack on the left.
</spoiler alert>
tuolumne_tradster

Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
Sep 20, 2010 - 10:59pm
 

looking up from the base (photo courtesy Frank Baker)
[Click to View Linked Image]
looking down from the top of p1
[Click to View Linked Image]
Profile view
[Click to View Linked Image]
Simmeron

Trad climber
Reno, NV
May 29, 2009 - 07:53pm
 
There are some loose exfoliated flakes under the roof on pitch 3. I climbed this last week and all I had to do was stare the thing down and it jumped off. The flake was flat and slightly smaller than someone's face and looked like it was part of the rock face. Because of the exposure we got to watch the flake sail all the way to the ground.

Also, it seems that some of the loose rock on pitch 2 has been cleaned up; it wasn't as loose as I remembered it being from two years ago.
Norwegian

Trad climber
dancin on the tip of god's middle finger
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   Oct 17, 2008 - 04:55pm
trip report - rope solo

http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=685775&msg=688364#msg688364
TBizzle

climber
CA
May 7, 2008 - 01:13am
 
There is lots of loose rock on the top 2/3 of P2. A ~30lb flake about 10' below the big release from a few years ago came off as my partner was standing on it today. There is also still a ~50lb block around the corner higher on the pitch that is itching to come out. Pitches 1 and 3 are fun and clean, but be careful on P2!
Petch

Gym climber
knapsack crack
Oct 24, 2006 - 02:08pm
 
My partner tried pulling off the block yesterday since no one was on the wall. He was able to get it 2/3 the way out, then it became jammed and couldn't be removed.
chris_winter

climber
Oct 12, 2006 - 01:26am
 
someone needs to clean off the loose rock on pitch 2 asap. its a blind reach to a large loose flake, and its gonna take someone out if someone doesn't step up and clean it off safely. if i wasn't in oregon, i'd do it.
crazyfingers

climber
CA
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   Aug 29, 2006 - 01:39pm
Climbed this route for the first time last weekend. Seemed more like 5.8 to me. The climbing was fun and you can make it better by choosing not to grab some of the jugs, but jam instead. There is some extremely loose rock on the second pitch (did the route in two pitches) that is marked with a chalk "X".
If this climb was rated 5.8, I think people would appreciate it more.
luca

Trad climber
milano italy
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   Oct 23, 2005 - 03:47am
I did with my daughter marta 12 years in july and we was learning placing pro. one slow party ahead of us. I think don't need any rebolting. beautiful route, but scimitar is better
luca
boo-boo --

Trad climber
Reno Nv.
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   Jun 7, 2005 - 11:06am
I don't get the dissing on this route. If you are a 5:11 climber it won't grip you like a 5:11. If you are a 5:9 climber that wants to pretend that you are a 5:11 climber then you will probably have to diss on the route. If you are a 5:8 climber and give it a go (it was my first 5:9 climb) you will probably climb it at 5:10. After the first slippery crux, you'll over grip the rest of the first pitch and have barboqued chicken wings when you get to the belay. If you are following you will have a 10' rope stretch if you fall at the first crux, unless you are a scinny 5:11 climber, in which case, why are you following anyway. I dig seeing "the line at the Line" because it means that I never have to wait for my favorite 5:9s. Cymatar, much more fun, and better booty (lots of baling). And the best is Psychodelic Tree. It's like a 5:9 bears reach and has the best top out sequence for any 5:9 in the world. The little dust brushing you do is never where your gripped.
Chris McNamara

SuperTopo staff member
Jun 4, 2005 - 11:33am
 
yeah, that note appears on every page... because i was too busy at the time to post the details of what we replaced on every single route page. we did not and will not place or replace bolts on the line.
David

Trad climber
San Rafael, CA
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   Jun 2, 2005 - 09:41am
Unlike the guy below I don't think there is anything dicey about this climb. Don't let the chest thumping below scare you off. It would be a great first 5.9 gear climb for almost anyone.

btw. No one is talking about adding bolts. That ASCA note appears on every route page in the database I think.
chainsaw

Trad climber
CA
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   Jun 1, 2005 - 07:02pm
I sure hope the ASCA doesnt waste any time bolting anything on the line. As all us locals know, those bolts will get chopped as fast as they are placed. History repeats itself. Yes the belay is a bit dicey gear wise. So are the opening moves. But that means that you should either know what you are doing or stay off this climb. Traditional climbs are typically not bolted for a reason.... Is it possible that the rebolting referred to was on the awkward .10A next to the line called labor of love? It really doesnt matter because any bolts on the line will surely be gone long before I climb it again.
NinjaChimp

climber
someplace in-between
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   Jun 1, 2005 - 12:42am
While I won't give in to the extremes of the previous post, I do agree that this route is way overhyped. This was my second lead on gear a few years ago and found it rather unmemorable aside from that. I won't waste my time doing it again, but I don't think that climbing once was a waste of time.
huge_schlunker

Gym climber
big ego,ca
May 31, 2005 - 12:41am
 
This super lame route follows a 'striking' feature? the crack isn't even what you climb. the route is feather bagged to the hilt, one move close to the deck and another on the exit moves with a lot of unmemorable crap inbetween. Classic route for sackless wienies to compare c*#k size over how many times they did it and how 'uncrowded and pristine' their experience was on this worn out path of no glory. The most 'striking' thing about the line is the grey path so many parties have worn on an otherwise black cliff. Way to ruin the naturaly occuring lichens you eco-groovy 'out in nature' f*#ks.
Do something proud, climb a challenging route and leave this overated slab climb to the weak and the worthless climbers that overun the leap every weekend.
Chris McNamara

SuperTopo staff member
May 16, 2005 - 02:21pm
 
Climbed this route on Saturday May 14. The rockfall did not affect the climbing route. As mentioned below, it is just left of the route on the second pitch.

HOWEVER: almost all the debris landed at the base right at the start of the route. So, you might be at risk of more rock falling on you and your belayer while on the first pitch.

I checked out the rockfall release area briefly. i didn't see any precarious flakes waiting to fall. but you never know...
Trad

Trad climber
northern CA
May 10, 2005 - 12:43am
 
On Saturday (May 7) a friend and I were thinking of climbing the Line until we got there and found a rather large chunk of granite that had recently (well, sometime since last October) fallen from the route and landed right at the belay stance. Various smaller pieces of rock were scattered around from the impact. We climbed some other routes instead but on the way out I snapped a photo to compare with a picture I took a few years ago. If I figured out how to post photos here it should appear below:

[Click to View Linked Image]

After comparing this with the topo I'd guess the rock fell from just below the 5.8 bulge on the 2nd pitch. I'd always assumed the Line was pretty safe because of all the traffic, but I guess this is a reminder that geological processes don't stop just because the guidebook shows a line of ink on a piece of paper. Well hopefully it IS still pretty safe, but we didn't feel like trying to make that determination. Maybe the thing to do would be rap down from the top and check it out first.

malabarista

Trad climber
northern CA
Aug 8, 2004 - 06:23pm
 
The crux move 20 ft off the deck can be well protected with nuts. The first pitch is sustained and awesome, but the pro is so good there is no need to fear any section. Hidden, incut holds can be found just when it seems that the climbing might get difficult. I'll be back on this route.
dufas

Trad climber
CA/NV
Aug 2, 2004 - 02:23pm
 
Three parties on the east wall, all of them on Bear's Reach made it a bonus day with no lines. I must be living right, because over the past 8 years or so I've done The Line four times and been the only party each time. It's just as fun each time.

Saw falcons that were nesting on Eagle Buttress playing in the sky below the second belay, saw them catch a smaller bird and doing incredible aerial acrobatics and playing tag most of the day. The pair flew closer than 10 feet below me. Awesome.

johnhl94563

Trad climber
Orinda
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   Jun 27, 2004 - 09:28pm
Ah you guys started too late and on a weekend. My partner and I did this climb on a Friday in June. No lines, and we were the 2nd climbing party on the wall at 9:30am.

I found this climb a nice challenge. In other words, I sewed it up :-( This crack will suck up your entire rack and still take more. I found the first pitch to be somewhat sustained in difficulty and quite steep, but mostly dike hiking with a short lieback and a short jamming section. I belayed the first pitch on a small ledge about 45 meters up which allowed me to get right below the summit roof with about 6 - 7 meeters of rope left on the second pitch. Not knowing if that was enough, I belayed again right below the summit roof (very cozy sloping ledge) and kept looking at the roof HOPING there was a nice hold above it. We finished it making a VERY short 3rd pitch.
Colt45

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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   Oct 31, 2003 - 02:19am
Both pitches are awesome, but the first pitch is just incredible--both for the great climbing, and the textbook stopper placements that you can get at pretty much any point. We belayed high after the first pitch, which let us zip to the summit in one more pitch in a 60m rope-stretcher. We were in line a couple of hours to get on this route, but it was definitely worth the wait!
Chris McNamara

SuperTopo staff member
Aug 25, 2003 - 11:04am
 
The American Safe Climbing Assn. may have replaced anchor bolts on this climb. To find out visit the ASCA Replacement Page

The ASCA is a non-profit organization dedicated to replacing unsafe anchors. To learn about helping the ASCA click here


DONATE NOW
Mike

Intermediate climber
Mill Valley, CA
Oct 20, 2002 - 09:09am
 
Very good 5.9 first pitch, but the second pitch is mainly 5.8-5.7. We did the second pitch from the small 1st belay station with a 60 meter rope, with about 2-3 meters to spare. Cool in the morning; you can get started at about 10.
Lover's Leap, East Wall - The Line 5.9 - Lake Tahoe, California, USA. Click to Enlarge
The most striking line at The Leap.
Photo: Chris McNamara
 
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