Description
Optimismus goes straight up black water streaks(seen in pic below) to reach the main bowl of Spiral Route below the Notch. as long as its dry, Optimismus is a steep, quality route.
p1- pitch one and two can be linked in a streacher 60m pitch but this landed me in a not so hot belay spot protection wise. either way p1 starts off with steep offwidth and stemming. great pitch. 5.9.
p2- head up and left with some nice face moves before the belay at a horizontal break. 5.7.
p3- climb straight up a steep stem box to right facing corner ending on a nice big ledge. kinda loose 5.8.
p4- traverse right on the ledge to a nice but sharp left facing corner. stem and jam the corner and continue up to the Spiral Gully bowl. cool 5.7.
from here there a several choices to finish on but East Buttress 5.8+, South Ridge 5.8 or Spiral Route 5.3 are among the best options.
Protection
bring one to two sets of cams to #3 camalot. a #4 camalot could be used in spots but is not needed.
Routes in Notchtop
- 7Optimismus5.9Trad · Alpine