A Dream of Ultraviolet Unicorns

Ultraviolet Unicorns adds several pitches of quality climbing above Dream of Wild Turkeys and is a great option for those hungering for a little more action after completing that route. And for the adventurous souls who want to top out the main Black Velvet Wall, these pitches get you very close to the summit via good climbing on good rock thus keeping the adventure chossaneering to a minimum.

The entire route, including DOWT, can be rapped with a single 80m, but it is quicker to summit Black Velvet Peak and walk off. This involves a rope length (probably best broken into a couple shorter pitches) of very easy, but very loose, 4th class/low 5th terrain, followed by 2 minutes of 3rd class scrambling. It can all be done in approach shoes but requires some care and route finding.

Note: “17 pitches” reflects pitching everything out. Linking pitches, especially on DOWT, is commonplace and easy to do thus significantly reducing then overall pitch count.

P1-10: Climb DOWT to the bushy ledge at the top, clip the recently replaced anchor (only stop here if rappelling), and scramble another 20’ through some scrub oak to a short, right-facing corner. Belay here off a bolt and a 1-2” cam.

(The DOWT pitch breakdown is as follows: 1) Short easy pitch to a stance with broken Mussy Hooks. 2) Long diagonal crack to a stance. 3) Short bolted traverse rightwards to a good ledge at the base of a major left-facing corner. 4) The wide, left-facing corner to crux slab moves. 5) A nice pitch of steep facing climbing with two options: left and up or up then left. 6) Another nice pitch of steep climbing to a ledge. Some DOWT parties choose to rap from here. 7) A short 4th class pitch that weaves right then back left through ledges to the base of the next headwall. 8) A steep pitch of great face climbing. 9) Another steep pitch of good face climbing. Most DOWT parties choose to rap from here. 10) A seldom-done pitch of gear-protected face climbing on slightly crunchier rock and the final “official” pitch of DOWT.)

P11 (4th class, ~90’): Boulder up the short corner, scramble out right across ledges, then back left and up to the base of a narrow, inset panel of nicely varnished rock. Walk right under this panel (being careful not to fall into a booby trap) to a belay at a nice rock “seat” in the short chimney that marks the right edge of the panel.

P12 (5.10b/c, 130’): Step onto the panel and climb an attractive, discontinuous seam protected by bolts and gear. Extra 0.3-sized cams for this pitch are helpful (the placements may be tight for Camalots so similar, but slightly smaller, cams such as 0.3 X4’s or Z4’s, Green Aliens, Blue Metolius, Red C3’s, etc. are better). Belay at a good ledge.

P13 (5.7, 85’): Step left to a left-facing corner. Climb up this keeping watch for a bolt on the righthand arete which indicates where to exit the corner. Once out on the arete, romp up the face to a good stance.

P14 (5.10b/c, 120’): Move right across the slab and up into a hanging stembox. Follow this through a cruxy steep section to a shallow, left-facing, right-leaning corner. When the corner ends, face climb passing two bolts and belay at a stance.

P15 (5.8, 85’): Move out right from the belay and climb a dirty and occasionally loose face up to a belay on an airy, triangular ledge out left.

Rap from here with a single 80 (using Prince of Darkness anchors will ensure the rope remains safe from the notorious rope-eating corner of Dream of Wild Turkeys), or commit to continuing upwards, topping out, and walking off:

P16-17 (5.2 PG13, ~260’): Depending on comfort, at some point climbers may wish to break this stretch up into shorter pitches, switch to approach shoes, or even unrope altogether. Pad up the low-angle slab to another anchor near a small tree. Continue up the easy face above, wandering left around a corner through an obvious notch. Continue left across a short, smooth slab and then up into a nice, clean chimney. Above the chimney climb more or less straight up a short, featured face to a large ledge. From here two or three minutes of third class scrambling terminates abruptly on the impressive sub-summit of Black Velvet Peak. Walk off as per Epinephrine.

Climb Dream of Wild Turkeys - all of it. Continue.