Twu Wuv

Notes from Zach Lovell on a new route:

Twu Wuv climbs the southern-most/looker's left buttress of Pyramid's east face. Ian McEleney and I made an attempt on April 4, 2025 but ran out of time to complete the buttress, making it approximately 800 feet up before bailing to the south. The first ascent was made on April 9, 2026 and climbed in 10 pitches over the course of a full day.

While this could become a summer route, a decent amount of loose blocks and chossy (by Sierra standards) gullies makes ice and snow a welcome glue. The steeper climbing is all on excellent rock and is some of the best-protected mixed climbing I've seen. As is often the case with "skatey" granite, rock shoes would likely decrease the difficulty one or two notches, but as a mixed route it's fairly sustained in the M3-M4 range with brief stretches of M5 depending on the conditions found and the exact path climbed. Endless, small variations exist.

Mixed grade equivalent (though shorter): Great Dihedral, Hallett Peak.

P1 - 50m Start on right side of buttress, off-width to handcrack, weaving to right side ramps for belay

P2 - 60m Ramps left back to ridge, climb boulder problem off ledge to more moderate climbing, belay at ridge crest/climbers right

P3 - 45m One of the cruxes, tips crack in corner to slab, belay at base of a short headwall with a couple splitter cracks

P4 - 50m Starts with short bulge/boulder problem into the crack slab, best to belay just above railroad tracks. we belayed just below.

P5 - 50m Starts near rail road tracks, follow cracks straight up, at off width do climbers left traverse and end on large blocks at crest

P6 - 55m Gorgeous headwall edges, more amenable than it looks.

P7 - 25m Ridge run, classic!
P8 - 45m Techy traverse right into chimney features, mindful here of loose blocks, they can be reasonably avoided.
P9 - 45m Sustained splitter crack to blocks and choss, caution on this pitch if blocks aren't buried in snow.
P10 - 25m Step to summit scramble

Rack: Stoppers, cams from 0.3 - 3 BD, optional 4, no pins