Ye Gods and Little Fishes

Overview

Ye Gods and Little Fishes, often just Ye Gods, is a classic line in Seneca’s South End. This route will certainly get busy on warm weekends, but that fact is certainly something to be expected when access to the route is very easy as it avoids a large chunk of the Stairmaster. Grab your rack and a bit of creativity of movement; Ye Gods can be an awkward route for some climbers!

Flake out your rope on the inside corner of the Dropzone. Find some sheltered place to belay from and wear a helmet if there are parties above on Skyline Traverse!

Getting There

From the parking lot, cross the low bridge across the creek and take Roy Gap Road for about .25-.5 miles to the point at which the creek is directly on your left. There should be blue trail blazes at a crossing in the river along with some strategically placed stones to help you across. If you look up at that point, you should be able to spot the lovingly named "Stairmaster."

Start up the Stairmaster for about 75-100 ft. or so until you reach the base of the wooden stairs that leads you towards the start of Ecstasy Jr. There should be a trail to your right (if you are facing the stairway) that heads around the corner. Follow it around and up the boulder pile. You are now in the South End section of Seneca. You will pass a big cave on your left. You will also pass the start to Simple J. Malarkey, Tony’s Nightmare, and Totem. Around the arête that starts Tony’s Nightmare and Totem, you will be in another open area. Ye Gods is the blocky inside corner about 20-25 ft. to the left of Candy Corner.

There is plenty of space to flake out and set up a belay right at the base of the climb--no awkward slabs.

Again, helmets are a must here. When we climbed Ye Gods, the party that just finished it told us a party on Skyline Traverse let loose some rocks and did not call "rock." They were nearly hit twice.

Route Description

Pitch 1: Start up the short slab and go directly into the blocky corner 20-25 ft. to the left of the start of Candy Corner. The pitch will be sustained from fairly early on. Throw in some pro and head into the blocks. It might be tempting to try and use the blocks and the opposite wall as a sort of short squeeze chimney, but don't preclude looking around on the outside of the dihedral blocks. Halfway up, you will hit an old piton just before a finger crack on a short slab feature. Clip the piton at your own risk and keep climbing. Use the small pods on either face of the dihedral until you pull up to the first small ledge. Continue up to the belay ledge and locate the cold shuts high on the wall (these cold shuts can be a little too awkwardly high for shorter folk). (~85 ft.)

Pitch 2: Go to the back wall of the belay station and climb the left dihedral crack (located right next to the big overhanging buttress that was on your left during the first pitch). Climb through the fairly steep corner and bypass a small roof. Continue until you link up with the Skyline Traverse. (~55-60 ft.)

Pitch 3: Finish on Skyline Traverse.

Getting down: Most people come to climb the first pitch of Ye Gods. If you are among those people, just rap off the cold shuts back down to the ground. 1 60m rope will get you down. If you choose to continue upward, rap off where you would for the Skyline Traverse.

Essential Gear

- Helmet
- 60 m rope
- Cams to 4"
- C3s and/or TCUs
- 1 set BD nuts
- 10 runners (8 shoulder-length, 2 double-length)
- Cordelettes, prussiks, personal anchor kit, etc.
- Your normal climbing swag.

External Links

Images

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