Instead of following the right-leaning crack of "Open Gate", head straight up the beautiful chimney that's the entrance of the alley/corridor. On this one you can take advantage of the back wall and enjoy this excellent rock quality. As the chimney widens, shift onto the face and diagonal left and up to the anchors used by "Lil Angel."

Lil' Devil

Trundling Angels

Mormons

Stairway to Heaven

The correct answer

Lil' Angel

Drink the Cool-Aid

In Alignment

Open Gate

Gatekeeper

Heaven

Hale Bopp

Heaven Can Wait

A short, fun sport route on very nice quality rock. Climb easy ground to access a ledge and clip the first bolt. Straight climbing on clean rock through 4 bolts leads to the top.

The flake at the end of the crack seems fragile, but may be solid.  As a new climb be aware of possible loose rock.

Fun face climbing on the right side of the face.  Protects well on gear.  10- at start and a bit easier to the top.

The prominent and narrow arête that points to the southwest towards the northern side of this area. Just to the right of "In Alignment" and starts about 20-30 ft to the right. Climb the lower crest of this arête through easy ground protecting with gear. Clip the first bolt as the gear thins and the climbing gets more challenging. Stay on the arête crest to maintain the exposure and the grade. Clip 3 more bolts and protect with solid gear through the steeper crux section. Easier ground with good gear leads to the anchors. Recommended to belay from here rather than top-rope. Easy access to "Heaven" via a ledge 3 meters below the anchors.

Fun mixed face climbing with a committing mantle crux move early in the pitch.  Look for a good cam placement just before the mantle.  One bolt protects the exposed opening moves.

Start below a vertical crack above the ledge on the far north part of the main level of this area. Good quality rock and solid gear lead through this crack to a couple ledges with broken rock and easy climbing. From the base of the upper face, ascend the middle of the face using small cams and tricky footwork through hollow sounding (hence we placed no bolts), but good looking rock. Belay from top and rap the route, or scramble to the north to access "Heaven" and the anchors of "Stairway to Heaven" and "In Alignment."

Farthest left climb of this region to date. Start on relatively poor rock with easy climbing using gear and two bolts before the roof. One bolt protects the roof move while another gets you to a gear protected crux to easier ground. Above the steep lower section access the right leaning face and continue on the oddly aligned formation to the standard anchors. Finding planetary alignment is a must for this climb!

Three stars and 5.9 if you climb this without touching the back wall. Rock quality is superb and the right leaning diagonal crack offers a delightful line up through this corridor. Follow this crack up about 30-40 feet to where it runs out and then head straight up thinly protected face to access anchors on top of this formation. Note that this climb is ideal free soloing practice as the back wall is so close that you can lean up against it, or stem from up higher if you get into trouble. Also good practice if you're ramping up your trad leading.

Start at the base of a narrow arete and climb past one bolt to access vertical crack and clean face climbing past good horizontal placements and a nice bulge. Rock quality at base is not great, but the bolt helps protect opening moves and we cleaned up the loose stuff quite thoroughly. Upper rock is excellent and provides a taste of what Gabriel's Watch is like.

Start below a roof in a wide crack.  Climb up the left side of the crack before you can transition onto the formations left side, pulling a small bulge near the top.  Standard anchors. You can access this climb from both "Stairway to Heaven" and "In Alignment." You can also scramble your way up to this level through the corridor direction to the left of "Lil' Angel" and "Gatekeeper."

The low angle looking prow that rises up to the east of Lil' Angel and uphill. Good protection and varied climbing, from horizontal gear to vertical cracks and nice bulges makes this an interesting line on good rock. There are biners on the anchors, but we would recommend belaying from the top and will likely replace with rap rings soon. Rope pulls fine. Head straight up the axis of the arete/prow with a slight left deviation to use the vertical crack.

Climb the arête located on the far right of the north-facing face and buttress of Heavens Gate, lower than the corridor. Prominent chimney is to the left of this arête and line of bolts should be obvious. Begin on poor rock, thin holds and delicate-tricky moves through the first 3 bolts. Clip the fourth and get ready for prolonged bulging crux where footwork is key. Standard anchors with biners for lowering or top-roping. Note that we have climbed the chimney in various ways to get to these anchors and it offers quality rock and fun chimney practice. Thin protection in the chimney.

This is the area just north of Easter Island Head that is a magical combination of buttresses, fins, and walls spanning several different levels of elevation. A narrow corridor between formations led to the name for this area. Rock quality varies depending on sun aspect, similar to other areas, but there is a surprising amount of truly fantastic rock here.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Heaven's Gate