Slabtastic: Royal Arches Crest jewel Link-up
I remember when I first heard about the Yosemite "Link-up". It was Dean Potter back in 2002 climbing The Nose and The NW Face of Half Dome in a day. I thought to myself how nuts it was to take a climb that most people do in a week and not only do it in a day but tack on another big climb right after it. Yosemite is full of them such as Rostrum/Astroman, EB of El Cap/EB of Middle, Serenity and Sons of Yesterday. You don't have to be Dean Potter to do them, but you do however have to be a good climber, a fast climber and willing to suffer through a very long day. As soon as I started climbing in the valley I had my heart set on Royal Arches/Crest Jewel.
This climb links up the 16 pitch 50 classic Royal Arches that starts right above the Ahwahnee Hotel, tops out above the distinct arches, hikes the slab at the base of North Dome and climbs the 10 pitches of 5.8 to 5.10a slab topping out on one of the most scenic domes one could imagin